Watered-down Windex will clean metal and gemstone jewelry safely, at a fraction of the cost of specially marketed jewelry cleaner. In fact, you can create a mild detergent that will clean jewelry with any number of household items such as ammonia, dish soap, laundry detergent, toothpaste, etc. Just mix your cleaner of choice with warm water. Let the jewelry soak in your homemade cleaner for around 5-10 minutes (longer if it is a first cleaning), then rinse it with warm water and dry it off with a soft, clean cloth.
Here are a couple of considerations to keep in mind…
- Pearls & Opals: adjust the approach outlined above for sensitive stones like pearls and opals. Instead, use warm water, soap and a toothbrush to get the job done.
- Strands: If stones are on a strand, you should skip the detergent altogether so it doesn’t get soaked up by the strands.
- Toothbrushes: They’re great for cleaning jewelry, but be sure to be very gentle so you don’t loosen the gemstones.
Do you have any other great jewelry cleaning tips? Let us know!
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A LOZO expert posted this tip. |