How to clean gold at home: effective methods

Even if a woman (and a man too) has only one wedding ring, he still needs to have a bath day periodically. Or at least clean it.

Everyone washes their face several times a day, but they forget about the ring or chain. But microbes and dust accumulate on them, and the gold itself fades over time, becoming covered with microcracks and stains.

Of course, if you have a whole box of gold jewelry, and some of it is even exclusive, then it is best to turn to specialists for help. This is especially true for those jewelry that consists not only of gold, but also ennobled with precious stones, pearls, or very expensive, carved, with many small links.

Professionals will expertly clean gold jewelry, which will become as good as new after cleaning.

You can also purchase a special product at a jewelry store that is designed for cleaning gold jewelry. Most likely, you will be offered jewelry cosmetics from. But if you still decide to clean gold items yourself, then at least buy special wipes for polishing gold items in the store. Their price is reasonable. After all, those rags that you have at home may simply not be suitable for this job.

And for those who still want to clean gold jewelry themselves, below are methods for cleaning gold jewelry and recommendations on how best to do it.

Important!

But first you must remember that cleaning gold without stones and with stones are significantly different from each other ! After all, if an ordinary wedding ring can be cleaned with soda and toothpaste, and can also be dipped in boiling water, then a ring with a precious stone requires a more careful attitude.

For example, when cleaning with abrasives, scratches may appear on the smooth surface of the stone, and when in contact with boiling water, the color may change. This means that if you are going to clean a gold ring or earrings with precious stones such as amber, opal, emerald, pearls, then they cannot be mechanically cleaned using chalk, toothpaste and other substances.

The main methods of cleaning gold jewelry - liquid solutions with the addition of active substances: soap, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, citric acid and others - must be applied carefully to gold jewelry with stones.

After all, if hard precious stones (diamond, beryl, aquamarine, topaz, quartz) react well to contact with ammonia or hydrogen peroxide, then soft stones (turquoise, coral, pearls) cannot be cleaned with either vinegar or ammonia.

You also need to be careful with white gold , which can be damaged by too vigorous cleaning. Therefore, it is also cleaned with liquid soap, ammonia or alcohol.

What to pay attention to before you start

Not all remedies are good. And not everyone is suitable in one case or another.

Therefore, before starting work, you must keep in mind that:

Some places may be difficult to reach. For them, an additional brush is used;
If you have stones, especially precious ones, it is better to resort to separate methods of cleansing. They will be discussed separately;
Any solution made must completely cover the item.

First of all, you should consider which common cleaning methods are suitable for a particular type of metal.

Nuances: a small auxiliary table

Before you figure out how to clean gold - with vinegar or something else, you should familiarize yourself with the basic nuances.

The table provides data on what type of cleansing is suitable or not suitable for a particular type of jewelry.

Type	Vinegar	Alcohol	Paste	Soda	Soap	Brush
yellow	+	+	+	+	+	+
red	+	+	+	+	+	+
white	—	+	+	+	+	+
matte	—	—	—	+	+	—
with inserts	—	+	+	—	+	+

With this information, it will be much easier to keep your jewelry in good condition.

So, first, let's look at the options with vinegar. Which, as can be seen above, is suitable exclusively for yellow and red gold.

Cleaning gold with soap

Method 1 . This method is the simplest and most easily accessible. To keep your gold jewelry as good as new even after a few years, they need constant care. If you always wash them in soapy water, you won't have to resort to more drastic measures.

To do this, pour hot water into a bowl and add soap or dishwashing liquid. Whip up a rich foam and dip your gold jewelry into it.

After one or two hours, rinse them in clean water and place them on a napkin to dry.

If the jewelry is poorly washed, take a soft toothbrush and lightly scrub the jewelry with it.

Method 2 . Grate the laundry soap and add the same amount of chalk to it. Pour in some hot water to make a thin paste. Rub this mixture onto your decorations. For this purpose, you can use a soft toothbrush. Polish clean jewelry with a soft, dry cloth.

Method 3 . Prepare a small amount of soap shavings. Add to it the same amount of Vaseline, crushed chalk and water. You will get a thick paste. Apply this paste to a soft cloth and clean your gold items. Then wash them well to remove any greasy film and dry them.

Purchased professional products

Modern manufacturers offer a wide variety of professional products designed for cleaning gold jewelry. Among them are the following:

Microfiber cloths. They have a special impregnation that helps remove black spots and dirt. The use of wipes is for cleaning, polishing and adding shine.
Gold care products in the form of paste or gel. Their use protects the surface from staining for a long time.
Balms. Cleaning gold jewelry using products of this type helps remove small scratches from their surface, as well as add shine.
Solutions. One of them is Aladdin solution. The kit includes a container with solution, a soft brush, tweezers and a napkin. The amount of solution is enough to perform 5–8 cleanings.

Cleaning gold jewelry with baking soda

Method 1 . Pour some baking soda onto a plate and add enough hydrogen peroxide to make a paste. Clean the ring with this mixture, and then rinse it in clean water.

Method 2 . Sprinkle the gold jewelry with a thin layer of baking soda. Then pour vinegar and rinse with clean water. This method cannot be applied to gold jewelry with pearls or other precious stones.

Method 3 . Mix table vinegar with soda in a 2:1 ratio and immerse gold jewelry in this liquid for one to two hours. Then rinse with clean water and dry with a soft cloth or special napkin.

Types and causes of pollution

The main reason affecting the contamination of gold products is the presence of impurities in each alloy (silver, copper, etc.). However, there are a number of other factors:

prolonged contact with skin leads to oxidation of the precious metal;
components contained in decorative cosmetics, perfumes and creams leave marks on jewelry;
dirt and street dust quickly “stick” to gold items;
Increased sweating also negatively affects the appearance of jewelry.

Loss of appearance of a gold-containing product most often manifests itself in two forms: oxidation of the metal or its contamination.

Cleaning gold jewelry with ammonia

Method 1 . Add a few drops of ammonia to a glass of water and immerse gold jewelry in it. After an hour, take them out and rinse them in clean water. If the jewelry is very dirty, you can add a little liquid soap to this composition.

Method 2 . Pour equal amounts of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia into a glass of water. Add a little washing powder to them. Place gold jewelry there and leave for five minutes. Then remove them from the glass, rinse them in clean water and dry them with a soft cloth.

Method 3 . Pour a glass of water into a small saucepan, bring to a boil and add a tablespoon of ammonia and some liquid detergent, for example, dishwashing detergent. Dip gold jewelry in this water and leave for two hours. Then take them out and rinse in clean water. This method helps clean heavily soiled jewelry.

Method 4 . Place heavily soiled gold jewelry without stones in a small container and fill it with ammonia. Leave it for several hours without fear of ruining it. Then remove the jewelry from the solution and rinse under running water. Dry.

How to clean gold plate?

First of all, we recommend finding out how thick the gilding layer is on your jewelry and what its composition is - this is usually indicated on the tag. Then a simple rule applies: the thinner the coating, the more delicate it is. Therefore, it is better to abandon any abrasive methods, aggressive substances and concentrated solutions.

Try cleaning the gold plate with soapy water and a soft sponge, cloth or microfiber. Polish the jewelry using light circular motions, but not too hard. If it doesn’t help, add a drop of ammonia to the liquid and repeat the procedure.

There are no problems with a thick layer of gilding - it is almost as good as pure gold in terms of characteristics. But if you have even the slightest doubt, be sure to first test any method on the inside or any other inconspicuous place.

Photo: adeslaenud.ee

Did you like the post? Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen, it really helps us in our development!

Cleaning gold with toothpaste or tooth powder

Since these substances are still abrasives, they need to be cleaned very gently, only lightly polishing the product. Diamonds respond very well to such cleaning. To do this, you just need to squeeze a small amount of paste onto a soft toothbrush or cloth and rub the ring with it. You can only use white classic toothpaste without a whitening effect.

Tooth powder can be diluted with lemon juice. After cleaning, the ring is washed in clean water and dried on a rag or paper napkin.

Prevention

To make rings, bracelets, earrings and chains sparkle and delight you with their appearance, you need to adhere to simple operating rules.

Remove jewelry before dirty work, contact with household chemicals, sports and cosmetic procedures.
If moisture gets on the gold, be sure to wipe it with a cloth.
Clean your accessories at least once every 2 months.
It is better to store jewelry away from sunlight in a wooden box with soft walls.

Sources

https://adella.ru/home/cleaning/chistim-zoloto-v-domashnih-usloviyah.html
https://zhazhdazolota.ru/dragotsennosti/uhod/kak-pochistit-zoloto-v-domashnih-usloviyah
https://metalloy.ru/obrabotka/chistka/zolota
https://tvjam.ru/livehaki/kak-pochistit-zoloto-v-domashnikh-usloviyakh/
https://CentrBalans.ru/chistka/zolota.html
https://vsvoemdome.ru/dom/hozyajstvo/kak-i-chem-pochistit-zoloto-v-domashnih-usloviyah

Cleaning gold jewelry with chemical reagents

Method 1 . If you accidentally dropped iodine onto the ring, you can clean it in this way: put one teaspoon of hyposulfite in a glass of water and stir. Immerse the ring in this solution for fifteen minutes. Then rinse and wipe dry.

Method 2 is suitable for cleaning matte gold. Mix 8 parts bleaching lime, 7 parts bicarbonate of salt and 2 parts table salt in a bowl. Add 1/3 cup of distilled water. Place the decoration in the mixture for a few minutes. Then take them out, wash them with alcohol and leave them on sawdust or a paper towel to dry.

Method 3 . Mix 16 parts chalk, 4 parts white lead, 6.5 parts clay, 0.5 parts bloodstone, 1.5 parts magnesia. Use this powder to clean your gold jewelry.

Method 4 . Mix 80 g of iron oxide (kolkotara) and 30 parts of ammonia. Clean your jewelry with this mixture.

Method 5 . If stains appear on the gold ring, they can be removed with a borax solution. To do this, moisten a cloth with the solution and wipe the ring.

If the surface is matte

Matte jewelry is becoming more popular every day. Nevertheless, caring for them also requires delicacy.

All kinds of brushes, fabrics with a rough surface, as well as aggressive abrasives should not be used. This will ruin the matte surface.

It is better to resort to these means:

Ammonia. Place the jewelry in an ammonia solution for 1.5-2 hours. After the expiration date, rinse and dry.
Salt and soda. Take lime (1 teaspoon) and dilute it in water. Add half a teaspoon of baking soda and a pinch of salt. Let it brew for 3-4 days. Then place the jewelry in the liquid for 3-4 hours. As always, rinse and dry.

These methods must be effective. But it’s still better to give the matte item to professionals.

Reviews

I have a friend who is a jeweler and I constantly ask for advice. From the latter: he told me that soap is not such a safe method, because it leaves an invisible film on the product, it needs to be washed thoroughly. Now I try to use the mildest products (for example, toothpaste, without additives).

Nastya Grineva, Beloretsk

Maria Dubtsova, Krasnodar

Cleaning gold with my lipstick. If on the road I find that the ring has turned pale, I immediately take out a napkin. I apply lipstick and rub the jewelry with this product. I do this regularly, and therefore I don’t have to put in too much effort to restore the attractiveness of the ring.

I didn't like the effect after using salt. The ring seemed to have become cloudy. But I found a mistake - I didn’t leave it in the solution, and apparently scratched it when I rubbed it. I had to take it to the workshop for polishing.

Nastya Rybina, Tula

Rules of care

When cleaning gold at home, follow these rules:

Abrasive substances are not suitable if there is a risk of damaging the jewelry.
Chains, thin bracelets, and other delicate items must not be subjected to rough cleaning.
To clean items with gemstone inserts, use gentle methods.
When cleaning a room, you need to remove the rings from your hands.
Before going to bed, you need to take off all your gold jewelry.
Wipe with a soft cloth each time after removal.
Keep jewelry away from chemicals and cosmetics.
It is not recommended to store products in cardboard and plastic boxes!

You need to care for jewelry correctly, then it will not fade for a long time and will delight the owner with its brilliance and grace.

Pros and cons of professional polishing: jeweler, electrochemical and ultrasonic cleaning

Pros of professional cleaning:

high efficiency, because special equipment and professional line products are used;
restoration of various products, including those requiring care: diamonds, pearls, agate, etc.
the composition of gold is taken into account when working with it, which allows you to preserve the properties of the polished metal and prevent the development of negative processes;
the ability to restore the product in a short time.

Polishing a gold ring at home. Main stages

If a gold ring or ring needs to be polished, the “front” of the work should be determined. Stages:

preparatory work: mix the active components, the resulting solution is used to soak gold rings, this allows you to partially remove dirt and remove darkened areas;
grinding – smoothing the surface of gold;
additional mechanical cleaning.

Polishing a gold ring