Cleaning Your Jewelry

Oh no! Your Jewelry has Tarnished!

You've been wearing your favorite pieces on repeat and now you see that they have lost their shine.  What to do?!  As long as your jewelry isn't gold plated there is no need to panic. 

How Does Tarnish Happen?

ALL jewelry, even solid gold, gets a build up of sweat, dirt, and oils that can dull its shine. 

Can Your Tarnished Jewelry Be Cleaned?

Yes!  Except for gold plated that is.  

Why Gold Plated Jewelry CAN'T Be Cleaned

The layer of gold on gold plated jewelry is 0.5 microns thin and that is why the color rubs off so quickly. Attempting to clean it would further strip away the already damaged layer. Once the layer has worn off the only option is to have the gold re-plated. 

Cleaning 14k Gold Filled 

Gold Filled jewelry has a very thick layer of gold (100 times thicker than gold plated) that is fused to a center of jeweler's brass making it extremely durable and tarnish resistant.  All the gold content is on the surface of your piece and since gold doesn’t rub off, neither does gold filled making it safe to clean regularly. 

For regular cleaning, simply wipe your piece with the soft polishing cloth included in your order.  If you know it’s been exposed to skin/hair products or sweat, rinse your piece with warm water and pat dry thoroughly.  You can use mild hand soap and a soft toothbrush to give it an extra scrub.

If your jewelry needs a deeper clean we highly recommend using a treated polishing cloth that removes dirt and grime. Don’t worry – you won’t polish off the gold! That only happens with gold plated jewelry.

Cleaning Solid Gold

If you wear fine gold you might not even have realized that your piece has lost its "just new" shine over time.  Due to its high gold content of karat gold jewelry takes even longer to tarnish than gold filled and can be easily cleaned.  Use a polishing cloth or a solution and you will see the shine return.  

Cleaning Sterling Silver 

Happily, the more you wear your silver jewelry the less you have to clean it! While people have different body chemistries, in general, the oil from your skin acts to protect silver from tarnishing. That said, sterling silver will still tarnish over time so it’s likely that you’ll have to clean your silver at least every few months in order to keep your pieces looking shiny bright.

Use this treated polish cloth for regular cleaning and this cleaning solution for fast and easy deeper cleaning.

Cleaning Pearls

Pearls are durable but soft so go easy when cleaning your piece. Use a slightly dampened soft cloth regularly to wipe each pearl.  Every fifth wear or so, clean more thoroughly using mild soapy water. Wipe the pearls with a wet soft cloth following up by wiping off any soapy residue with a clean dry cloth.

Clean Jewelry Regularly

Over time tarnish can erode metal so clean your pieces regularly so that tarnish doesn't have time to build up.