With proper care, your fine jewelry can dazzle for decades. But how do you care for different types of metals? The experts are here to help. From homemade jewelry cleaners to professional treatments, here are some jewelry cleaning tips to keep your favorite pieces looking as good as you for a lifetime.
Gold
Daily wear can cause yellow gold to lose its natural luster and sustain minor surface scratches. While professional treatments are required to buff away obvious surface abrasions, you can use a proven home remedy to clean gold jewelry and restore its warm shine.
Simply prepare a cleaning solution by mixing warm water and an ordinary degreasing dish soap. Soak the jewelry in the solution for about 30 minutes. Use a very soft-bristled toothbrush to remove stubborn dirt. Rinse with clean water and blot dry with a soft, lint-free cloth. You can use a polishing cloth to remove any further tarnishing.
When cleaning gold jewelry, avoid abrasive toothpaste or baking soda mixtures, which can carve tiny scratches in the metal.
White Gold
White gold is plated with rhodium to brighten its finish. Exposure to household chemicals and daily wear can erode this plating and expose the yellowish-white tone of metal underneath. You can have the jewelry professionally replated to restore the bright white luster. In the meantime, keep your white gold jewelry looking great by cleaning it just as you would yellow gold jewelry. Do not use chemical detergents that contain ammonia, chlorine or other harsh ingredients.
Rose Gold
To achieve its romantic pink glow, rose gold is alloyed with copper and other metals. This can make it react poorly to harsh cleansers. You can remove dirt and oils from rose gold jewelry by polishing it with a microfiber cloth. The best at-home jewelry cleaner for rose gold is lukewarm water and mild dish soap.
Sterling Silver
Exposure to humidity and air will cause sterling silver to dull and tarnish over time. This is why it's best to store your silver in air-tight containers away from humid environments. The safest way to clean silver jewelry is to gently rub it down with a quality silver polish that contains ingredients that dissolve tarnish while leaving a protective coating to help keep new tarnish from developing. Avoid any questionable at-home silver jewelry cleaner recipes you often see on the internet.
Platinum
Unlike white gold which has rhodium plating, platinum is naturally white and won't lose its pale color over time. Still, daily wear can cause the durable metal to obtain a patina or matte-like finish. Many love the look of this uniquely compelling sheen, but you can have platinum jewelry professionally repolished. In the meantime, clean the jewelry at home using dish soap and water. Avoid detergents that contain harsh chlorine or other abrasive chemicals.
You can restore your sterling viler, platinum and gold jewelry to its original luster by scheduling a professional cleaning at Helzberg Diamonds. Schedule a consultation to learn all the ways we can help keep your jewelry looking beautiful for decades to come or read our at-home jewelry care tips.
frequently asked questions
Scratched gold requires professional repolishing to remove obvious abrasions. You can prevent scratches from forming by regularly using a soft, microfiber jewelry cleaning cloth.
Harsh chemical cleansers and abrasive scrubbing can damage rose gold. It's generally best to schedule a professional cleaning if you don't get optimal results using soap and water at home.
While it is incredibly durable, platinum isn't invulnerable to scratching. Despite what you may have read on the internet, safe polishing requires professional treatment. Because the polishing process removes metal, it should only be performed a few times over the life of the jewelry piece.