Jewellery care tips
Silver jewellery care tips
Silver jewellery can tarnish so to keep it looking its best you can either use a silver cloth or a silver dip to clean it. Commercially available silver dips contain chemicals which can be ‘‘Harmful to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.’’ They also come with packaging, often plastic that needs to be disposed of correctly so a homemade remedy is a much more eco-friendly choice.
Another issue with silver dip products is if your jewellery has pearls or emeralds, you would need to keep it out of a silver dip as the chemicals will harm these gemstones.
Caring for pearls
Keep pearls away from perfume and store them in a covered location away from other jewellery. Other gemstones and metal will scratch pearls if they touch.
You can use a toothbrush and warm soapy water to clean most jewellery. Emeralds and pearls need to be treated gently.
You can buy an ultrasonic cleaner that will ‘buzz’ your jewellery clean. Again, Emeralds and pearls cannot go in the ultrasonic and you should take extreme care with gemstones like Tanzanite, Quartz and Flourite.
Checking a gemstones setting
To tell if a gemstone is loose in its setting, hold it up to your ear and tap it with your finger. If you can hear a rattling sound, the stone is loose and you will need to go to a jeweller to have the claws tightened.
How to best store jewellery
When storing jewellery, try and make sure items are not touching each other or they will scratch.
You should avoid keeping opals in direct sunlight as they contain water and might dry out.
If earring butterflies become loose, squeeze them together to tighten them.
We hope these tips help you to keep your jewellery safe, clean and looking amazing. If you’d like to get more jewellery tips from us as well as news and views from the world of ethical jewellery why not sign up for our newsletter?
The ethical jewellery blog is an independent jewellery blog created by jewellery designer Edward Fleming and features guest article and products from brands, jewellery makers and experts in sustainability and ethical jewellery.
