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Care and Cleaning
For Your Jewelry
We all love beautiful jewelry, there's nothing nicer than a bright new bracelet
or ring to draw attention and make us feel just gorgeous! To keep those
baubles beautiful you need to know a few things about jewelry:
It can be made of gold, silver or other metals including gold filled and gold
plated.
Gold is a very soft metal that needs to be combined with harder metals to hold
a shape and to be worked into designs.
Pure gold is so soft that your fingernails can gouge it so it is combined with
other metals like copper and nickel to harden it and control the color. The
percentage of pure gold in gold jewelry is indicated by Karat such as 14K or
18K or 12K
Gold is nearly impervious to the elements we might expose it to, but silver is
a very reactive metal.
Humidity and pollution can combine to tarnish the finest silver, skin oils
contibute to the problem as well.
Gold filled is a process to "encase" another metal completely in a thin layer
of true gold, usually 14K or 12K which is a harder gold than 14K because it
contains less actual gold.
Gold plated jewelry has been plated with a micro-thin layer of gold bonded to
the metal through an electroplating process.
Cleaning Gold:
If your jewelry contains any stones you should only use warm soapy water with a
few drops of ammonia in it, dip the piece and rinse, then wipe it with a soft,
lint-free cloth like the cloth from a soft old cotton T-shirt. If it is gold
only you can use the same method, but it is safe to soak the piece a little
longer than you can when there are stones. Some stones like turquoise are very
porous and can absorb chemicals and become discolored. Other stones like
diamonds are so very hard that nearly nothing can damage them. Never use
abrasives (or toothpaste!!) to clean gold, it can be scratched and become dull
looking.
Cleaning Silver:
Tarnished silver can be easily cleaned with a quick dip in ammonia, but be
aware that the cleaning is caused by a reaction of the silver to the ammonia,
never soak a piece in ammonia or it can be damaged. A quick dip and wipe with
a soft cloth is best, repeating the dip if needed. Always rinse off the ammonia
when you have finished and wipe again with a soft cloth. Never dip porous
stones in ammonia. If your silver jewelry has soft stones, use baking powder
and a soft brush to clean the piece (never baking soda!) It is safe to store
silver jewelry in a jar with baking powder to prevent tarnish and always have
your favorite silver pieces clean and ready to rinse, wipe and wear.
Gold Filled and Gold Plated:
These metals can be cleaned the same as you would for gold, just keep in mind
that the more often they are worn and cleaned the shorter their life will be.
A tiny amount of the metal is removed with each cleaning so treat them gently.
Ultrasonic cleaners:
Small ultrasonic cleaners are sold, usually along with special liquids for
cleaning your jewelry. These can be handy, but be sure to read all the
instructions because not all jewelry can be cleaned this way. Some gemstones
are porous and can be dulled by soaking in various chemicals. Gold plated and
Gold Filled jewelry should not be cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner because the
cleaning process vibrates the piece and links are abraded against eash other,
metal on metal being vibrated rapidly is like using steel wool to clean your
jewelry.
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