My grandmother died recently and I took some of her jewelry in the great split-the-stuff-up-athon. There are a few nice pieces which need to go to the jeweler for repair, but most of what I got are attractive costume pieces.
How do you go about cleaning stuff like that? It isn’t even vintage, just, you know, Monet or whatever. For example, there’s a necklace with an enamel (?) pendant on one of those twisty chains, and the chain has a good bit of corrosion going on. Is there an easy way to just zap that? The pendant itself could use a swab or two - what’s safe? My understanding is that costume jewelry can be a lot more fragile than the real thing and I don’t want to ruin anything.
Plain ol’ toothpaste is a pretty gentle abrasive. Take a a little dab and work it into the chain with your fingers in an inconspicuous spot, like near the clasp. If that doesn’t do anything obviously bad, try it on the green part.
A swish in warm, soapy (like Ivory Liquid) water should be safe for your enameled pendant. If it has any places that are particularly dirty, you can use a soft toothbrush to give it a gentle scrub.
The biggest thing with costume jewelry is knocking stones loose or causing cheap plating or pearl coating to flake off. Monet is good quality. You shouldn’t have those sorts of problems with it.