If you’ve never had a piece of jewelry in your possession before, maintaining and keeping it safe can be a complicated process. Or, if you’ve never gone out of your way to maintaining jewelry before for a variety of reasons, maintenance can be a struggle. In any case, jewelry needs proper and regular maintenance, and if it’s not met, it can lose its splendor and might even break.
If you are new to jewelry maintenance, it can be easy to make mistakes when taking care of your jewelry, even though you have the very best of intentions when doing so. You might think that the best quality pieces of jewelry, like the ones from ItsHot.com, don’t need that much maintenance since they are made to be stronger and from genuine jewels, and metals don’t break or scratch that easily.
You can be right in some cases, but even the most exquisite and expensive pieces of jewelry need proper maintenance. That’s the case for a lot of expensive jewelry. Not only that, precisely because they are expensive, you need to take better care of them since they are not cheap. That said, If you are wondering how to keep your jewelry safe and sound for a long time, here are some tips.
Keep Them Away from Chemicals
Various chemicals can discolor and can even cause harm to precious metals and gems like gold, silver, and platinum. When we say chemicals, it can mean many things, and some of them are common household chemicals like hairspray, perfumes, lotion, and even cosmetics. The damage caused by certain chemicals is not only limited to the colors and can also damage their surfaces like scratches and the like.
That said, you’re fine jewelry should be kept away from these substances at all times. For example, if you’re planning to go swimming in a pool, it would be best if you remove all your bling before you dive in. Also, when you’re planning to go out, wear your bling last. People commonly put on their jewelry before wearing their colognes, which might be harmful to your jewelry.
Invest in Proper Storage
Improperly storing your jewelry is like not putting the meat that you bought in the refrigerator. This will make the meat rot and, if eaten, can cause food poisoning. In this case, your jewelry will be damaged if left neglected, and by the time you decide to put it on again, it will be ugly and will be an eyesore.
That said, you should invest in a good jewelry box, preferably with padding and with separate compartments. Why? If you just stuff your jewelry in a single box, it will bump with one another and will cause damages like scratching and even breaking, especially if the jewelry box itself is not padded.
Not only that, gems have different structural integrity. Some are hard stones, while some are soft. And if you let them bump with one another, there’s a good chance the harder stones will scratch the softer ones.
Not only that, but when it comes to pearls, it’s always better to lay them flat in the box rather than hanging them. If you hang them constantly, the silk holding the pearls together will stretch and eventually wear out. If that happens, things will get messy, and you might not find all of your pearls. That said, you can opt for a professional to have your pearls restringed periodically to avoid wear and tear as much as possible.
Be Careful of Ultrasonic Cleaners
While you can buy an ultrasonic cleaner for an affordable price, you should remember that you can’t put everything in it. Many types of jewelry should not be put in an ultrasonic cleaner for the risk of damages. Certain types of gemstones, organic gem materials like ivory, amber, pearls, and gems that are forged are some things that can’t be placed inside an ultrasonic cleaner.
Not only that, but jewelry assembled with many pieces has a huge chance of breaking because of the vibrations caused by the ultrasonic cleaner. If you’re able to, you can ask a professional’s help to clean your bling instead of using a machine. While a professional’s service is certainly more expensive, you can rest assured that your jewelry is safe.
Or You Can Clean It Yourself
Luckily for you, if you don’t have the budget to hire a professional or buy an ultrasonic cleaner’s service, you can still clean your jewelry yourself with household items you have in your house. Most metals and gems can be cleaned with warm water, dish soap, and a soft brush. You can also use a soft toothbrush or a lint-free cloth. You can put your jewelry in a mixture of mildly warm water and dish soap and softly scrub it with your brush or cloth.
Make sure that after you scrub it, you rinse all of the remaining soap from the jewelry. Also, make sure that after cleaning it, you pat it dry extensively. Leaving it with traces of water can destroy your collection. Wait for an hour or so after you pat it dry, and then you can put it back in its case for safekeeping.
One thing you should also take note that some precious metals and gems are routinely treated to maintain their glamor and shine. That said, it’s important to know if your gems and metals can be treated by a professional and how often should it be treated.
Finally, when cleaning precious stones or pieces of jewelry that has intricate designs and little pieces, beware of sinks. This is common sense, of course, but you won’t believe how many people have accidentally drained their jewelry or parts of their jewelry down the drain. It might sound stupid, but this can happen.
Takeaway
Maintaining your jewelry can be a hassle if you don’t know what you’re doing. They are delicate and expensive, and surely, you don’t want anything bad to happen to them; thus, you go out of your way to keep them safe no matter what. Whether you have them for outfits or have sentimental value, you should always keep them clean and safe.
