Cleaning gold at home

At all times, gold jewelry was a symbol of luxury and wealth, although nowadays they are available to almost everyone. And if you look at gold jewelry prices in a catalog or jewelry store, you can be sure that what only kings used to wear and know can be bought now for relatively little money.

Although gold is a noble metal, even on it, over time, various contaminants appear, from which the product loses its original appearance. Not everyone knows how to properly clean gold jewelry without the risk of damage. You can, of course, take the product to a special workshop, but in order to save time and money, it is better to clean the gold jewelry at home.

How to clean gold at home?

In order for the decoration not to lose its brilliance, it is necessary to remove it during homework, especially if you are going to work with abrasive products. Do not allow the gold jewelry to come into contact with bleach - it can simply discolor it.

There are several ways to clean gold at home:

1. In a glass of warm water, dilute 3 teaspoons of granulated sugar and place gold jewelry overnight. This method will return the gold shine, but not clean from dirt.
2. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of simple laundry detergent in a glass of water and soak the ornament in such a solution for 1 hour, then rinse it with water and dry it.

Cleaning gold products with stones at home

If your gold products are decorated with precious stones, then they should be cleaned especially carefully, because here you need to be extremely careful, especially if the stones that decorate the product react poorly to high humidity, for example, turquoise, opal, pearl, amber, malachite, moonstone .

Here are some ways to clean gold jewelery with precious stones at home:

• Rings and rings with precious stones can be cleaned with a cotton swab, previously moistened in cologne. You cannot clean the rim of the ring with sharp objects, because it can be damaged.
• If the stones are glued, they should never be immersed in water, you can wipe them with alcohol, and then with a damp cloth moistened with plain water and dry.
• If a grease film has formed on the product, it can be removed with gasoline using a soft toothbrush. Wipe the product with toothpaste or powder is not necessary; scratches may remain on the product.
• Each gem has its own specific hardness, on which their cleaning largely depends. Stones like quartz, aquamarine, topaz, sapphire, diamond, ruby, emerald and beryl have a hardness factor higher than 5. Jewelry with such stones can be cleaned with a soft cloth moistened with detergent solution, and then simply rinsed with water.

• But such gems as kakopal, malachite, turquoise, apatite, moonstone have a hardness factor below 5, they can be cleaned similarly to the previous method, only soap solution should be used instead of powder.

Cleaning gold with ammonia at home

Many people have probably heard about cleaning gold jewelry with liquid ammonia, but obviously not everyone knows how to do it right.

You can simply clean the gold decoration with ammonia, and then wash it off with a solution of soapy water. Or, wipe the decoration with ammonia with the addition of chalked crumbled flour and rinse in soapy water.

Tools for cleaning gold at home

• To clean gold jewelry at home, you can buy a special paste or use ordinary toothpaste.
• You can also make another very effective tool for cleaning jewelry from gold at home. Take equal proportions of petrolatum, water, soap chips and chalk (in powder form). Mix everything to the consistency of guta paste, then apply it on the decoration and wipe with a soft cloth. After decoration, rinse with water and dry.
• There are lots of popular recipes for cleaning gold at home. For example: take the usual lipstick, apply it on a cotton pad and clean it with a decoration, and then just polish it.
• To remove dark spots from gold jewelry, you can clean the gold with vinegar or onion juice, and then simply rinse it with water and dry it. If you clean your gold jewelry in this way, they will not lose their original luster.

• If the surface of the jewelery is heavily soiled, it can be wiped with a woolen cloth moistened with borax solution, then rinsed and rubbed to a shine.
• Chemical methods of cleaning products made of gold should be resorted to only when there is a need to preserve the matte surface of the jewelry, since it will immediately be erased from the use of powders.

Cleaning white gold at home

• An alloy of nickel or palladium with gold and copper is called white gold. It acquires white color due to the addition of nickel instead of silver. Products from such an alloy are covered with rhodium, which is superior to gold itself in value. And even if it is a fairly stable chemical element, it can also wear off over time. For this reason, white gold decorations can only be cleaned with a soft cloth.

• White gold products are usually cleaned with a solution of ammonia. In order to prepare it, you need to take 1 part of ammonia, 1 part of water and mix everything. You can also add some simple hair shampoo. Soak in such a solution a piece of white gold for 30 minutes, then rinse it with water and dry well. If water remains on gold, it can harm it.
• White gold items can be cleaned with grease using a 25% aqueous ammonia solution. Remember that white gold jewelery cannot be cleaned with different pastes and powders, it can negatively affect them!

See also:How to clean cutlery from nickel silver?

Now you know how to clean gold from dirt and jewelry care at home, and which one you choose for yourself is up to you. Let your gold jewelry always amaze you and those around you with its appearance and magnificent brilliance over the years!