How to clean your gold and silver jewelry so that it never loses its shine?

How to clean your gold and silver jewelry so that it never loses its shine?

Gold and silver are materials that are very resistant to oxidation, but with the passage of time and external agents, your jewelry can darken. Today we give you the keys to recover their characteristic shine and color at home, easily and without damaging them.

Gold and silver are the metals that most captivate in a piece of jewelry, since their shine and color make them a precious treasure full of timeless symbolism. Elegant and sophisticated, they usually accompany us in our daily lives, which can make their color, over time, appear more dull.

By following some basic specific care guidelines, we can maintain the shine, color and beauty of our favorite jewel intact. Give your gold or silver ring, pendant or bracelet its look from the first day!

When should you clean your jewelry?

For your jewelry to shine like the first day, we must apply some basic care, anticipating the ravages of the passage of time. That is to say: we should not only clean the jewel when it loses its shine, but take care of it before doing so. In addition, we must prevent corrosive products from coming into contact with the jewelry, to avoid even greater damage.

Although there are many tricks to clean our jewelry at home, the ideal is to do a basic and gentle cleaning to avoid dislodging any incrustations it may have.

How to clean your gold jewelry

1. In a container add warm water and neutral soap, mixing well. Subsequently, immerse the jewelry for approximately 10 - 15 minutes.

2. After this time, clean the jewelry well with a soft brush to remove any traces of dirt. Always rub carefully and without applying excessive force. Also, be very careful if the jewelry has any type of inlay, as it could come off.

3. Subsequently, rinse the jewelry by submerging it in warm water for a couple of minutes and gently dry it with a chamois or soft cloth that does not leave fibers attached.

4. Finally, let them dry freely on a cloth with the same characteristics.

How to clean your white gold jewelry

To obtain a white tone in gold, 75% of 24-karat gold is mixed with 25% of other white metals such as silver, platinum, manganese, palladium or nickel. A layer of rhodium is usually added to white gold to increase its shine. Therefore, your cleaning process will be different:

1. Prepare a mixture containing half a cup of vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda.

2. Immerse your jewelry in that solution for a couple of hours, and then rinse with warm water.

3. Dry with a cloth very carefully, and your jewelry will be as good as new!

How to clean your silver jewelry

Unlike gold jewelry, silver jewelry tends to darken over time, turning its characteristic bright color into a dull dark gray. This is due to a chemical reaction between silver and sulfur found in the environment.

To leave your jewelry looking like new, at Joyerías Carbal we give you the following tips:

1. Soak a cloth in a mixture of vinegar with baking soda or lemon and clean your jewelry carefully. Better to clean in a ventilated place.

2. An alternative to the previous advice is to leave the jewelry inside the container along with pieces of aluminum. This will act as a magnet to extract dirt.

Another option that will also help you clean your jewelry without damaging it is a specific silver cloth, which you can find on websites like Amazon. This will leave it polished thanks to the composition of its fibers, and they usually have a fairly affordable price.

Although this type of cleaning will eliminate stains from daily use, sometimes the jewelry will need care that goes beyond that, so it is recommended to take it to an expert jeweler to evaluate the needs of the piece. In addition, a specialist will be able to polish the pieces that are scratched and restore the shine of the first day.