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Jewelry offers all sorts of distinct beauty to our wardrobes. We all have jewelry that has sentimental meaning and/or expresses our personality. Buying a beautiful piece of jewelry can be an investment, one that you’ll want to protect and keep beautiful for years to come.
These instructions are for general cleaning and are safe for most types of jewelry. For specific types of jewelry, see the additional jewelry cleaning articles below.
You Will Need:
- Mild dish detergent
- Small bowl
- Soft cloth
The Cleaning Process:
- Close the drain of the sink or insert a strainer into the drain. The last thing you want is to see your precious jewelry slipping down the drain.
- Check your jewelry over for any loose parts. Pay careful attention to clasps and settings looking for any loose stones or prongs.
- Fill the bowl with about 2 cups of warm water.
- Add a few drops of mild detergent and mix.
- Place the jewelry in the solution and allow it to soak for up to 15 minutes.
- Use the soft cloth to gently wipe away dirt and build-up.
- Rinse thoroughly with clean water.
- Dry with a soft cloth.
Use a simple soft toothbrush with a small amount of toothpaste. Wet the toothpaste and brush and apply to your rings or any jewelry where you have hard to get to areas. They shine up great, looking brand new!
If you have fine jewelry that needs cleaning – like diamonds set in gold – I have a great tip given to me by a jeweler. Get out your older espresso machine – one with a manual steam arm. Fill the machine with water and close as you normally would – but without any coffee. Once the steam is ready – take your ring or necklace or item and hold it in a long pair of tweezers. Open the valve for the steam and hold your item under it. Clean an area and then change your grip on the item and clean another area. Polish it with a dry cloth. It will SHINE! (I don’t recommend this for costume jewelry that may have stones held in with glue – it might melt the glue.) It definitely gets the gunk out.
A lot of people will suggest toothpaste – and it does get your jewelry clean – but the fluoride in it will also damage the metal.
My husband suggested this a while back and I’ve been doing it ever since… WINDEX – it leaves my rings sparkling, and the diamonds crystal clear.
Fill a mini bowl with Windex, leave your jewelry covered by the substance (you can also just spray and wash off immediately). I like to soak the jewelry while I’m getting ready to go out. When you’re done, just rinse with water (not necessary, since you don’t rinse windows with water when cleaning) and wipe dry with a paper towel, or drying object of choice.
And presto – pretty sparkly jewelry.
If it’s too dirty, I scrub lightly with a toothbrush. 🙂 Good luck!
To clean jewelry, all you need is a bowl of fairly warm water with a squirt of Fairy washing up liquid and a toothbrush. Leave jewelry in a bowl for around 10 minutes. Remove and brush jewelry with a toothbrush. Rinse with warm water and dry jewelry with a dust cloth. Rub to polish. Works great!
Sit diamond rings in a shot of vodka for about 15 minutes, brush with a child’s toothbrush (softer the better), then rinse under water and dry. Sparkles!