The Cuttings Blog

Cleaning your jewellery regularly will help to keep it in good condition. If you wear your jewellery every day, it’s regularly exposed to dirt, water, soap, food and many other things that can affect the jewellery over time if it isn’t well looked after.

Here are a few tips for keeping your jewellery in great condition at home. However, it is useful to note that the wrong method of cleaning could do more harm than good, so if you are in any doubt, or if the jewellery is very dirty, then it’s best to take it into a jewellers to get it professionally cleaned.


Gold

Gold can have a gentle clean at home with a bowl of water combined with a few drops of washing up liquid. Soak the gold for just a few minutes, before removing and brushing with a soft toothbrush. Make sure the bristles are not too hard as this could bring damage to the surface of the jewellery. If the gold is very dirty or tarnished, you could use a few drops of ammonia to get off the tough stains.

Silver

Sterling silver is quite easy to keep clean if you wear the jewellery all the time; it’s when the jewellery is left alone for a while that it tends to tarnish. This can usually be polished up with a special sterling silver cleaning cloth. These are inexpensive and easy to get hold of from jewellers. If the silver is very tarnished, you could use some baking soda and water to polish it, but make sure to rinse it off thoroughly afterwards.

Diamonds

Diamonds are durable and not easily damaged during cleaning, but you have to be careful of the setting they are in. You can clean diamond jewellery in a number of ways – the first is by submerging it in a bowl with half cold water, half ammonia. Soak for 30 minutes before removing and removing any dirt with a toothbrush. Pat dry with a lint-free cloth rather than air drying, as you could end up with ugly water marks on the jewellery. Another method for diamond jewellery is with a liquid jewellery cleaner from a professional jewellers; this comes in a pot that you dip the jewellery in to.

Platinum

Platinum is one of the easiest metals to clean, because it is so durable. You don’t have to worry too much about chemicals damaging the appearance, and scratches will only appear if you scrub it very harshly. You can clean platinum jewellery in the same way as gold: with a bath of water mixed with ammonia or washing up liquid, followed by brushing it with a toothbrush.

Pearls

You have to be careful when cleaning pearls, because the nacre surface is much more delicate than other gemstones. Never soak the pearls in harsh chemicals or scrub them with an abrasive brush, as it’s easy to damage the delicate surface. Instead, use a lint-free cloth soaked in water and a small amount of soap.

Hopefully you now have a better idea of how to clean your jewellery. But if you are unsure and would like to speak to a professional, please just give us a call or pop into one of our shops.