There’s a common misconception that if silver jewellery tarnishes (turns brown or dull in colour) it’s not genuine silver or has ‘gone bad’ and is ruined. This being the reason that many people prefer gold to silver as gold does not tarnish. That’s why we’re here to show you the best DIY Jewellery Hack for cleaning jewellery at home!
Silver tarnish is natural and is simply the process of the silver reacting to exposure to oxygen and is completely reversible. That’s why it’s often advised to keep jewellery in a box when it’s not being warn. In this blog we’ll go over how to clean both your ordinary silver jewellery at home as well as your opal jewellery.
Cleaning Opal Jewellery Hack 1
It’s important to remember not to clean your opal jewellery with any type of abrasive as this will damage the surface of your opal and in order to repair the opal/ restore it back to its ‘ natural lustre it will be to be repaired by a opal cutter (we can help with that).
The best at home methods for cleaning Opal jewellery at home is as follows:
First: wash your opal jewellery in soapy water with a soft tooth brush focusing more on the silver metal then the opal itself (if you’re unhappy with the lustre of your opal, it can be repolished by an opal cutter quite easily-opals can become dull in shine over time with ware and tear, little knocks and brushing against the opal can cause micro scratches that wear through the polish).
Second: follow up by polishing the ring with a polish cloth in circular motions- this you can do on the opal as well without fear of damaging it (you might find you have one lying around as they are often thrown in with jewellery orders or if you ordered from Us, it’s included in the care kit that comes with every ring :).
Cleaning Jewellery (non opal) Hack 2
If you feel like your jewellery is on the more severe side of being tarnished, it wouldn’t hurt to do a bi carb soda scrub before completing the above steps. To do so, simply get a small bowl and make a mix of 2-3 teaspoons of bi carb soda with enough warm water to cover. drop the piece of jewellery in the mix, stir and leave it sit in the solution for a couple of minutes before scrubbing with a toothbrush. If you like, you can do the old can of coke trick but it does take longer to take effect and in my experience isn’t as effective as the above method.
Follow with the above steps by washing the jewellery in dish soap and then finishing off with a hand polish using a polish cloth. If you don’t have one they can be purchased online quite easily from here.
The main thing to remember is that no matter how much wear and tear your jewellery has seen, any competent jeweller can repair the scratches/ general wear tear that happens over time and can bring your jewellery back to its’ brand new condition.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Shop our Jewellery range or custom order your own one of kind piece today here.
