Simple Jewelry Care Tips That Work

Think you need fancy cleaners and special storage containers to keep your gold and silver jewelry looking like new?

Think again!

Specialty cleaners and luxe microfiber bags can indeed keep your jewelry in excellent condition, but there’s no need to dish out a bunch of money when you already have exactly what you need at home.

Here are a few of our favorite jewelry care tips that are as simple as they are effective—no special materials required.

Clean Tarnished Silver Jewelry With Ketchup

Silver is a beautiful, bright metal. That is until it begins to tarnish, and unfortunately, silver can tarnish relatively quickly.

If you have a piece of silver jewelry that's beginning to look discolored, plop it in a small bowl of ketchup.

Yes, ketchup.

Let it soak for five to ten minutes before rinsing it off. If it still appears tarnished, put it back in the ketchup a little longer, checking on it frequently to ensure the high acidity doesn’t accidentally damage the surface.

Ketchup works for gold-filled and plated jewelry too! Over time, the molecules of the base metal underneath the gold can potentially transfer to the top layer, making it look dull. Ketchup can polish the metals, making them look new once again.

Clean Gold With Water and Dish Soap

At Adorn512, we proudly offer gold-filled jewelry, but we also have 14k solid gold pieces that deserve a little extra TLC.

Although gold can technically tarnish, it's much more likely that your solid gold pieces are looking a little lackluster simply because they're dirty. Rings, earrings, bracelets, and other jewelry items are exposed to oils on your skin, sweat, dust, makeup, and more that can easily be cleaned with soap and water.

Create a mixture of five parts water and one part dish soap. Soak your gold jewelry for three hours before rinsing and polishing.

Store Jewelry in Ziplock Sandwich Baggies

Gold and silver jewelry tarnish because they are exposed to air. That can’t be helped while you’re wearing your pieces, but you can slow the process by storing your jewelry in baggies when they aren’t being worn.

Ziplock sandwich baggies will do! Squeeze as much of the air out as you can before you seal the baggie to prevent oxidation. Your jewelry will retain its shine and luster until you’re ready to wear your pieces again.

Use Baby Powder to Untangle Necklaces

Life is busy. We don’t always store our jewelry the way we’re supposed to, which means necklaces can get tangled.

Keep delicate chains from getting damaged as you untangle them by sprinkling a little bit of baby powder on the chains first. It softens the surface of the metal, making it easier to wiggle apart even the tiniest of knots.

With the proper knowledge about the kind of jewelry you have in your jewelry box and the things you already have at home that you can use to care for your pieces, you can make sure your jewelry lasts a lifetime.

Want to learn more about taking care of your jewelry? Check out more jewelry care and maintenance tips here!