7 Tips for Caring for Your Jewelry
Your jewelry is meant to be worn! Learn these quick tips on how to keep your pieces ready to impress.
These easy tips on how to care for your jewelry should keep them tarnish-free and enhance your good looks whenever you display them!
1. Store Your Jewelry in Optimal Conditions
2. Wear Them, Not Tear Them!
3. Clean Estate Jewelry Like A Pro
4. Keep Pearls and Opal Gems Shining for Life
5. Avoid These Homemade Jewelry Cleaning Methods
6. Keep Your Jewels Safe When Traveling
7. Know When to Ask For Professional Jewelry Care
Store Your Jewelry in Optimal Conditions
The way you store your jewelry is crucial for their long-term well being. Taking a few, simple precautionary measures should keep them safe from scratches or permanent damage.
An unwritten rule of jewelry care says that you must keep it in a dry place, away from sunlight. Exposure to heat and air can damage most of the precious jewel materials. Your best choice is to store jewels and pendants in a jewelry box when not wearing them.
Knowing how to choose a jewelry box is also essential for the good of your precious stones. Pick one that is made of natural wood and has little or no chemical treatment. The interior of the box should feature partitions for brooches, earrings, and bracelets. This way, your jewels will not tangle or damage during storage.
You can add a piece of cloth material to the jewelry box to increase the safety of fragile beads or trinkets. Additionally, you can add packs of silica gel or chalk to absorb any humidity and keep silver jewels free of black spots. If you do not have access to a jewelry box, you may keep your jewels in non-airtight ziplock bags.
Regardless of where you choose to store them, you should always separate them depending on their materials. For example, to avoid tarnishing, you should always keep gold jewelry apart from silver jewelry.
Wear Them, Not Tear Them!
Storing jewels in perfect conditions is important. However, you should take them out and put them on frequently. It may look amazing in its display box, but jewelry is ultimately made to wear. So, flaunt your diamonds and your necklaces whenever circumstances allow it.
Depending on how many jewels you have, you can rotate and accessorize them with your outfits. Just remember to always put them on after dressing, and take them off before you undress. Another thing to keep in mind is that you should not wear jewelry when doing any activities that may damage it.
Take off your jewels when doing sport. Excessive humidity and sweat can damage their quality. Swimming in saltwater can lead to black spots on silver jewelry. Also, fragile pieces like earrings and bracelets are easy to lose or you can quickly break them when they get stuck in your clothes. Avoid using jewelry when you apply skincare products or sunscreen lotion. Perfumes, hairspray, and makeup can also damage the quality of your jewels in the long run.
Make sure that you take your jewelry off when showering, washing dishes and cooking. Precious stones and metals can lose their shine when they come in contact with chemicals, intense temperatures or certain foods that are highly acidic.
Clean Estate Jewelry Like A Pro
Estate jewelry is precious and requires the same care and appreciation like brand new jewelry does. In some cases, previously owned gemstones and diamonds need even more attention due to their high value and historical importance. Nevertheless, caring for vintage jewelry is easy, and you can do it in the comfort of your home.
After using jewelry, you should gently wipe it with a piece of anti-tarnish cloth right before putting it back in its safe box. This way, you can brush off any dust, moisture or oil particles that might have settled on it during the day.
You can easily restore and retain the shining of silver estate jewelry at home. All you need is a silver dip substance that you can find at any vintage jewelry store and a piece of a soft cloth. Immerse the jewelry in the concoction and leave them there for a few minutes. Then take them out and rub them clean with the cloth. Use this substance only for silver jewels, and avoid at all costs using it on gold jewelry.
If you want to keep platinum and silver jewels from tarnishing, you should polish them frequently. Soak a piece of anti-tarnish cloth in a mixture of warm water and baking soda. Rub it on the surface of the jewelry and let it dry off before putting it back into storage. Repeat this simple cleaning method once per week to maintain the glistening of your pendants and brooches.
Keep Pearls & Opal Gems Shining For Life
Whether you buy them at an auction or from an estate jewelry online shop, pearl and opal jewelry should be a fantastic addition to your collection. Gems may seem a bit intimidating to the casual jewel barer. One might think that taking care of opals or pearls is tricky, but you can easily do it at home if you wish to restore their shine. As long as you know a bit about the materials, you should be able to clean them with minimal effort.
Pearls result from a mix of aragonite, conchiolin, and water that oysters extrude in their bodies. They have a specific shine and textures, and multiple cultures from all around the world consider them luxury goods.
Opals contain mostly amorphous silica and water. They are very fragile and can suffer damage from scratches and shocks. Their bright colors and unique textures recommend them for several vintage art deco jewelry pieces.
Due to their natural provenience, pearls are highly vulnerable to acid and ammonia. Therefore, you should always use cleaning products that do not contain these substances. To clean pearls and opal jewelry you first must use a magnifying glass to identify any smudges on their surface. Next, soak a non-tarnish cloth in a mixture of dish soap and warm water. Rub gently each pearl or side of the opals, and leave them on a dry towel for the moisture to evaporate.
Avoid These Homemade Jewelry Cleaning Methods
Cleaning jewelry at home is generally simple and cost-effective. With a bit of research and consideration, caring for your jewelry should be easy even for inexperienced users. That being said, there are plenty of so-called homemade remedies that you can find online, and which may damage your jewels permanently. You should keep an eye out for bad or ill-intended advice from people who lack experience in treating fine estate jewelry. Here are some homemade jewelry “cleaning methods” that you should avoid:
Instant Jewelry Drying
This seemingly harmless tip may lead to heat-induced defects to your jewels. Never use a hairdryer to accelerate this process, especially if they contain pearls or opals.
Alcohol / Citrus Jewelry Cleaning
Some people advise the use of vinegar or lemon juice to clean jewelry. Professional jewelers recommend that you keep your jewels away from alcohol or acidic substances to maintain them damage-free.
Abrasive Cleaners
When you buy vintage jewelry, you might be tempted to use abrasive cleaners to wipe off any smudges. However, this method may produce irremediable scratches on its surface. So, avoid using rough dish cleaners to polish them.
Keep Your Jewels Safe When Traveling
Another important aspect of caring for your jewelry is keeping them safe while traveling. It often happens that you want to bring your most precious jewels along when leaving on vacation. However, keeping them in a toiletry bag or snuck inside your clothes can cause them a great deal of damage. Packing your large jewelry box seems almost impossible and even unnecessary. So, how can you travel with your vintage jewelry lot without damaging it?
The answer is simple, and it comes in the form of a smaller, but efficient jewelry box. Choose one that has compartments for each type of jewelry that you may need on your trip: earrings, necklaces, brooches, and rings. Most of them have a design that suits jewelry of various types.
Know When to Ask For Professional Jewelry Care
The easiest way to care for your jewelry is to know what’s in your jewelry box. Discover the materials that compose your favorite pendants and bracelets. Find out how easy it is to clean them, and what substance can damage their appearance. Perform regular checks of your jewels, and take a bit of time every week to make sure that they are ready to wear whenever you might need them.
When everything else fails, seek professional help. Look for an estate jewelry online store and ask for their expert advice. This way, you get access to more tips for caring for your jewelry and to a reliable source for vintage jewelry that you can add to your collection.