I love to give my jewellery collection a spring clean every now and then. Every metal will discolour over time if not cleaned and polished. 

When you have a search of cleaners there are many brands and options out there now on the market, that it can become confusing, so I have popped my favourite way of cleaning my pieces to help you and they do not involve chemical dips. I am not a fan of those to be honest, most are not suitable for gemstones anyway. I like to keep my routine simple.

Dish soap, yep just plain old ordinary washing up liquid and warm water (not boiling but a touch more than hand hot). Pop your pieces into this soapy solution, for heavily tarnished pieces you may want to let them soak a little. Use a soft baby toothbrush to give them a gentle scrub and then rinse. Use a sieve to save losing your favourite pieces down the plug hole.

Dry them thoroughly with a soft cloth and then use a polishing cloth to shine up. Make sure to use the right cloth for your metal, silver = silver cloth, gold = gold polishing cloth. 

 There are a few pieces you need to take extra care with, Pearls for example should only be wiped with a soft damp cloth and then thoroughly dried before storing away.

Here are some top tips for keeping your beautiful pieces looking fantastic:

• Put your jewellery on last after all perfumes, body sprays, hair products and getting dressed. Pieces can snag easily on clothes when dressing and the chemicals in products can speed up tarnishing.
• Take off your jewellery first, when changing this saves snagging anything delicate that could potentially damage your piece.
• Take off jewellery before, swimming, showering/bathing or in the sea. You’d hate for your favourite piece to slip off and be lost to the ocean and ingredients in body soaps etc can make your pieces dull and lack lustre.
• Store your jewellery in an airtight bag in a jewellery box away from strong light and heat (windows and radiators for example)
• Pearls and Opals are delicate gemstones store them in fabric bags in your jewellery box, so they do not get scratched by harder gemstones.
• Wipe pearls with a soft damp cloth after each wear, dry thoroughly before storing away.
• Either bag necklaces separately or lay flat in a jewellery box to save tangles in their chains

I hope you find the inexpensive tips helpful for keeping your jewellery collection looking its best and if you ever need any more help or advice just pop me a message. I am happy to help.

Now go clean those beautiful pieces of yours and pop on a comment here if you found this helpful today.

Shell x

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