How to clean gold and silver at home in a minute

You may call it a materialistic approach and even be skeptical, but there is nothing more mesmerizing than the sparkle of a diamond - and when the gem on your ring begins to fade, it becomes very sad and unpleasant. We won’t put it off until later and will hasten to make you happy - the situation can be easily corrected! Moreover, you will not need to get lost in search of something supernatural, but just take a look around your home. We assure you that these methods are also simple and safe, both for you and for your beloved jewelry.

The rings should not come into contact with: hairspray, nail polish, polishes and bleaches. All of them contain substances that are hazardous to your jewelry and can damage them.

So, the three fastest and easiest ways to clean precious metal rings with stones using the products that everyone has in their home.

Cleaning gold easily and simply

Family rings and chains, bracelets and earrings acquire a special chic over time. They darken slightly and even at first glance look expensive and solid. But sometimes they become too dull and a coating appears on the surface. In this case, the question arises in all its glory - how to clean gold at home, without turning to jewelers, and return it to its former shine and beauty? There are quite a few ways to clean gold, but the simplest, most affordable and effective are:

• Boiling soap solution. It is enough to boil the product in water with powder, soap or dishwashing detergent for 5-10 minutes to make it shine again.
• Coca Cola. Excellent for cleaning gold items. Simply soak your jewelry in this fizz for 30 minutes, then take it out, rinse it with clean water and wipe it with a flannel.
• Salt bath. Take 2 tablespoons of salt and pour half a glass of water over them. Place the jewelry in the resulting solution for 12 hours, then remove it, rinse and polish. They will be as good as new.

Rules for wearing silver and gold jewelry

Before you start studying the various recommendations that will tell you how to clean silver and gold at home, learn to follow some rules for wearing precious jewelry made from these metals.

Important! Find out for yourself:

• How to wear women's rings on your hands correctly?
• What does it mean if a man or woman wears a ring on the middle finger of their left hand?

A few simple recommendations will help prevent various kinds of troubles and contamination that may arise during improper wearing and storage of rings, bracelets and other types of jewelry:

• Pay close attention to rings, especially those that have various decorative inserts. Pendants and earrings are the least susceptible to any negative effects.
• Absolutely every person’s jewelry collection includes those that are intended for daily wear. As a rule, they require much more careful care.
• The owner of various jewelry should not forget to remove all jewelry while taking a bath, bathing procedures, as well as visiting the pool and sauna.
• After using various whitening cosmetics, perfumes and even soaps, characteristic marks may appear on jewelry. Therefore, avoid getting these products on your jewelry.
• When doing sports or doing household chores, silver and gold jewelry must also be removed.
• Try to develop a habit - after you have removed your jewelry, wipe it with a suede or flannel cloth, and then put it in the box.

How to clean silver at home

Unlike gold, which simply tarnishes slightly, silver can develop a layer of black patina that detracts from the appearance of the item. But there are effective ways to clean silver that do not require expensive pastes and powders. You just need to find easily accessible products in your closet that are found in every home. To remove blackness you can use:

• Powdered chalk;
• Dentifrice;
• Baking soda;
• Ammonia;
• Salt;
• Lemon acid;
• Vinegar.

Something from this list will certainly be found in the far corner of the closet and you can proceed directly to cleaning the product.

Why does gold turn black on the human body?

Gold turns black for the following reasons:

1. Cosmetics, detergents. They contain various compounds, the contact of which with metal leads to darkening of the metal. Most often, rings darken because women wash dishes and use creams.
2. Iodine is a product in great demand in Russia. Before treating the skin with an antiseptic, women remove their rings, but in the pool they swim in jewelry. Iodine compounds are also contained in water, contact with which leads to the formation of stains on the surface of the product.
3. Discharge – sweat and oil are released through the skin pores. Particles stick to fabric, objects, and any surfaces. Jewelry with traces of sweat attracts dust and dirt. This leads to the formation of plaque and even a film on the surface of the product.

Cleaning silver with baking soda and foil

If the silver has become very dark, you can use a very effective cleaning method - using foil and soda. All you need to do for this is cut out a piece of food foil, place it in a saucepan and spread silver items over the surface. Fill it all with water so that the decorations are completely hidden and place the container on the stove. When the water boils, you need to pour a tablespoon of soda into it. A violent reaction will begin and foam will form - don’t be alarmed, as a result of the chemical process, silver jewelry will be cleaned just perfectly and can be removed within 10 minutes. Polish them with flannel and no one will distinguish old jewelry from new.

When baking soda is added, abundant foaming will begin - this chemical reaction will completely remove all contaminants.

How to clean a stone ring

Jewelry with stones requires more attention when cleaning. Some of them are not afraid of “chemistry”, while for others even water is undesirable.

• Diamonds, cubic zirconia and zirconium are cleaned with ammonia or soapy water.
• Turquoise, coral and pearls are wiped with a soft cloth
• Ruby, opal, lapis lazuli, amber are washed in a soap solution with a low pH level (use, for example, baby soap)

Be careful if the stone is not inlaid, but glued to gold or silver. This ring cannot be soaked. The glue will become limp and the pebbles will fall out.

Citric acid is a great remedy!

You can clean silver with citric acid in just 15 minutes. To do this, you will need a glass liter jar, into which you need to fill half of the water. Place the jar in a water bath and let the water boil. After boiling, 100 grams of citric acid is poured into the container and (!) a piece of copper wire is placed on the bottom of the jar. After this, you can dip your jewelry into the resulting solution. The product must be kept in boiling water for 15 minutes. Then dry and polish them with a soft cloth.

Advice! The copper wire can not be placed at the bottom of the jar, but can be used as a loop/loop for stringing products. After you put all your rings, earrings and bracelets on it, it will be very convenient to place such a bunch in a boiling solution of citric acid and remove it from it.

How to clean gold: effective ways

To answer this question, three nuances should be taken into account:

• Product quality;
• Pollution level;
• The presence of other elements (gilding, stones, etc.).

Before you start cleaning silver, you should remember that using any aggressive means is only appropriate for things that are entirely made of silver.

If there are stones or some kind of coating on this or that object, then it is wiser to use gentle products. It is better to entrust the cleaning of any miniature jewelry to a specialist.

Today you can buy a variety of cleaning agents for silver. They can be liquid or paste-like.

When cleaning silver, you should avoid using hard brushes or sponges to avoid damaging the items.

It never hurts to know how to quickly clean gold at home. For example, in case there are literally a few minutes before leaving, and the only pair of earrings or pendant that matches the look looks, to put it mildly, unmarketable. There are always suitable means for cleaning gold at home - don’t waste time and restore the attractiveness of your jewelry.

Ammonia

Cleaning gold at home with ammonia or ammonia is the easiest way to get rid of cloudiness of the precious metal and stains on jewelry. To effectively clean gold from blackness, you need to make a solution of water and ammonia with the addition of shampoo. Recommended proportions for a small container of warm water: 0.5 tsp.

Gold rings in ammonia solution

In this way, you can soak gold with some stones: the ammonia solution perfectly removes dirt and oxides from hard-to-reach places. To dry, simply place the jewelry on a paper napkin or towel.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is also an effective and affordable liquid for cleaning gold. For minor stains, it is enough to wipe the jewelry with a cloth soaked in peroxide. In other cases, a more aggressive method is recommended:

1. Make a solution: 1 glass of warm water, 30 mg of hydrogen peroxide (3%), 1 tsp. ammonia, a small amount of liquid soap (by eye).
2. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
3. Immerse gold items in a container with the solution and leave for 3-5 hours.
4. Rinse the jewelry with plain water and dry it on a napkin.

You can clean a gold chain, bracelet or ring using regular white 9% or apple cider vinegar, with the addition of soda or lemon. Please note that only yellow and red gold can be cleaned with vinegar; this method is unacceptable for white, matte or inlaid with stones.

You can use a toothbrush to clean gold.
In some cases, it is enough to simply soak the items in vinegar for 10-15 minutes and then rinse with water; in others, you will need to walk over the surface with a toothbrush.

Baking soda will help clean gold from dirt, but it does not always cope with difficult stains. Most often, boiling with soda is used for cleaning:

1. Place foil at the bottom of a small container of water and place gold on it.
2. Heat water and add soda - 1 tbsp. water 1 tbsp. soda
3. Boil for a few minutes.
4. Clean with a brush.
5. Rinse with plain water and dry.

Soda is not used to clean jewelry with inserts: it can cause tarnishing of the stones, and the soda solution can also leave a whitish residue in hard-to-reach places on the fastenings.

Salt is typically used as an addition to vinegar or baking soda cleaning solutions. Due to the strong abrasive nature of salt, we do not recommend mechanical cleaning of soft gold items.

Lemon acid

To dissolve plaque, you can clean gold in citric acid:

• Dilute citric acid in boiling water;
• immerse the products in the solution for 5-6 minutes;
• rinse and dry jewelry.

Toothpaste

You can clean darkened gold at home even with the most ordinary toothpaste. Using a soft brush, evenly distribute the paste over the surface of the decoration and remove dirt with gentle movements.

You can clean gold with toothpaste

Paste GOI

GOI paste
This is a special composition for cleaning gold from impurities and giving it shine, developed by the State Optical Institute. There are 4 types of paste; you should choose a specific option based on the expected result:

• No. 1, No. 2 – polishing to a mirror effect;
• No. 3 – cleaning of medium complexity to an even matte shine;
• No. 4 – rough cleaning with surface grinding and removal of scratches.

Method of use: as with toothpaste. GOI paste is not used for white gold.

Cleaning silver with ammonia

This is probably the easiest way to clean silver. You just need to buy a bottle of ammonia (10%) at the pharmacy, pour it into a suitable container and place silver jewelry in the liquid for 15-20 minutes. After which the products must be removed, rinsed in running water and polished to a shine.

In fact, cleaning silver only seems like a difficult task. You will need no more than an hour to put your jewelry in order, and you can do everything yourself, without the involvement of expensive specialists - jewelers.

How to Polish Gold

In some cases, it is better to entrust the polishing of jewelry with complex designs to professionals, but you can handle simple jewelry yourself. To make a gold ring shine like new, use the following techniques:

1. Soak the jewelry in hot water with shampoo or soap for 7-8 hours, and then polish with a soft toothbrush. The method is suitable for both shiny and matte gold.
2. Soaking for 10 hours in an ammonia solution (25%), which can be purchased at a pharmacy, will help to add shine to gold.
3. Polishing gold from scratches is done using a cleaning paste for gold items - factory-made or homemade from Vaseline, powdered white chalk, water and soap shavings. Buff with a soft toothbrush without applying pressure.
4. Apply GOI paste to the felt, wipe the product with unidirectional movements without pressure: this will help restore shine and effectively polish scuffs and scratches.

The cost of home polishing of gold jewelry is several times lower than professional polishing. But when polishing yourself, it is important to take into account the characteristics of the metal: dullness, color and quality of gold, the presence of jewelry inserts, blackened or rhodium-plated coating.

04.07.19

Cleaning diamond jewelry

Best ways to clean diamonds in gold:

1. Ammonia: exactly 9 drops of the substance per glass of water. Immerse the product in the solution for 3 hours. Then remove and rinse thoroughly.
2. Coca Cola: place the products in a glass of drink for 2-3 hours. Rinse with tap water and polish with microfiber.

Be sure to watch: Determining the authenticity of jade: key differences from other minerals

Diamonds are also cleaned with a special paste that can be purchased at a jewelry store.

Rules for caring for silver products

To ensure that silver jewelry always delights you with its brilliance and beauty, you need to follow simple rules for its use.

1. It is better to store silver items in a separate closed box, and preferably so that they do not come into contact with each other. For this purpose, there are special cases for jewelry with soft compartments.
2. It is necessary to remove rings and chain bracelets before heavy physical labor, such as lifting weights, working in the country, in the garden, as well as work using household tools. This should be done not only to protect jewelry from mechanical damage, but also to ensure your own safety, because the ring or chain may get caught on something during operation.
3. As mentioned above, you should remove jewelry before using cosmetics, as well as before swimming.
4. If you do not plan to wear silver jewelry any time soon, you should wipe it with a dry microfiber cloth, wiping off any grease or sweat on the item. This way it will last longer unspoiled.
5. When cleaning silver, you should be careful not to use any scratchy cleaners. It is also worth cleaning the rhodium-plated product carefully, since the rhodium layer is very thin and is easily erased. This element is sprayed onto silver to protect it from oxidation so that it does not lose its appearance longer.