I am attanding a wedding on Sat. so I broke out the bling this afternoon and :eek: it’s dirty. Yuck! Hate dirty jewelry.
I’m in Germany where ammonia/ammonia based cleaners apparently do not exist. What can I use to clean my jewelry. The best I could think of was denture tablets or vinegar. Please help.
I use toothpaste. It really works. I have sensitive skin so cleaners will irrate my skin no matter how I rinse.
Just grab an old toothbrush and scrub away. You will really get them shining.
just plain water and a toothbrush will do a nice job, too. the main part is to get the filmy deposits off the stones (if present). they’ll sparkle nicely once they’re scrubbed. liquid hand soap should help with any greasy residue that might be on them.
if pearls are present, DO NOT use anything more abrasive than a soft cloth and water. otherwise, you’ll scratch off the nacre and eventually ruin them. regular jewelry cleaners are much too harsh for them also (and will probably just darken/dirty/weaken the silk they’re strung on, if it’s a pearl necklace).
if you happen to have one of those sonic contact lens cleaning machines, i’ve heard that putting jewelry in the chamber (with liquid, of course) does a good job. (probably similar to a real jeweler’s sonic cleaner.) EXCEPTION! DO NOT PUT OPALS IN A SONIC CLEANER. they’re likely to shatter, due to their high water content. pearl necklaces are not good candidates either, as above.
if you have any of the old-style “rhinestone” jewelry, you don’t want to soak it. artificial gems that are glued in place might be loosened and fall out. similarly, if you have any sort of composites (opal-on-onyx cameos or similar “layered” items), they shouldn’t be exposed to prolonged wetting either.
if you have tarnished silver, a silver polishing cloth (pre-treated) should work. i’d hesitate to use any chemicals like Tarn-X on silver that contains non-durable stones (non-durable meaning soft like turquoise, color-treated, or oiled like emeralds), but silver polishing cremes might be milder. they’ll likely leave a mess on any stones, of course…which takes you back to Step 1 above.
gold and platinum shouldn’t tarnish, so it’s usually anything set into the metal that most needs the touchups.
lachesis