How to Clean Gold
Gold jewelry doesn’t come cheap, so it’s important that we take good care of it. While it may seem like you need professional help when handling this precious material, think again. Gold doesn’t tarnish or rust, but it does get dirty from oil or smudging. To clean gold, you just need a couple of items that you can find in your household. When choosing the materials to clean your gold jewelry, make sure that you take into consideration the gemstones, too, because gemstones have varying degrees of hardness and resistance to scratching or chemicals.
Mild Detergent or Soap Cleaning
Mix in mild detergent or soap with warm (not boiling) water in a bowl where the jewelry can be submerged in the water. Leave it there for a few minutes, until you are sure that the dirt has sufficiently softened.
Using a soft bristle toothbrush, gently brush away at the surface of your gold jewelry, with particular attention to hard-to-reach nooks and crannies where dust loves to settle, like the prongs in rings or clasps in bracelets and necklaces. When you’re done, you can either submerge the gold in your mixture of detergent and water again or give it a good rinse with tap water. Wipe dry with a lint-free cloth or place it on paper towels and let it air dry.
Window Cleaner Solutions
Use glass or a window cleaner and give your gold a few quick squirts. Using a soft bristle toothbrush, brush your gold jewelry clean and give it a good rinse with your tap water. Wipe dry or leave it to air dry.
Commercial Jewelry Cleaner
If you’re still feeling a little unsure about what exactly to use when cleaning your gold jewelry, it’s probably best that you use commercial jewelry cleaner, especially for hard-to-remove stains, such as hard water stains. One good brand is Tarnex.
What Not To Use
There is an old wives’ tale of using toothpaste as a cleaning agent for gold, but toothpaste actually may cause abrasion to your gold items. It can also get stuck and become hard to remove in the smaller nooks and crannies of jewelry.
You should also avoid using bleach, as it causes gold to break down. Avoid using baking powder when cleaning gold, since it can cause metal degradation over a long period of time. You should also avoid using scouring pads when cleaning gold. Remember that gold is a soft material and using harsh scouring pads can cause damage.
Make your gold and golden jewelry look new again with these few and easy steps. You can also invest in buying good jewelry cleaners so that your gold jewelry is clean and shiny all the time.