Keep Your Jewelry Gleaming and Glamorous

The longevity of everything, including jewelry, is dependent on how well it is cared for. We’ve got a few tips and tricks to help you get the best use of your favorite accessories.

Storage: Ideally jewelry should be stored in box which may or may not be lined. Said box should keep the pieces separated to prevent scratches and must protect against direct sunlight and moisture.

Polishing: This tip applies primarily to silver jewelry. Silver pieces need to be polished to prevent tarnishing or reverse it. Liquid and paste polishes may prove messy to use, which is why disposable silver wipes are recommended. In the absence of these, multi-layer cloths, which have one cloth to clean and remove tarnish and a second one to shine.

Cleaning: You can clean your jewelry by washing it with dish soap and some warm water. After which, for silver, jewelry should be rinsed and dried with a dry cloth. For gold jewelry, the pieces should be soaked in the solution for a few minutes, a toothbrush can be used to gently scrub. After which it can be rinsed off and dried.

Another cleaning technique would be to use baking soda. A mixture of water and baking soda should be made in the ratio 1:3. The resulting paste should be liberally rubbed into the jewelry before being rinsed off and the jewelry dried. The baking soda cleaning method is advised for silver jewelry.

Additional tips include 

- Taking off your gold jewelry while showering or washing your hands to prevent soap residue from building up. This will cause jewelry to tarnish faster. It is also important to keep your jewelry dry. Take it off when exercising to avoid perspiration build up.

- Wiping down your gold jewelry after every wear or every few wears. 

Note: All actions performed on jewelry should be gently done. This includes wiping, brushing or rubbing.