We tell you why gold jewelry darkens and how to clean them properly. We suggest how to clean products with stones and white gold. We give advice on pollution prevention.

Spectacular gold products need care. Not everyone knows how to properly clean or polish them. To do this, it is not necessary to carry your jewelry to the workshop. You can perfectly clean them at home using the simplest means. We have collected effective tips from jewelers on cleaning gold at home. They will help you get a good result.  

We tell you in the video what home remedies will help to clear gold

All about self-cleaning jewelry made of gold

               

Why do gold jewelry darken

Unfortunately, over time, shiny jewelry fades, becomes covered with spots and scratches. This is an inevitable process, which is aggravated by several factors. 

How to clean the gold to make it shine

We have selected the most effective of the many available tools. 

1. Peroxide + ammonia

If the spots are barely noticeable, just rub them with a cloth soaked in peroxide. For serious contamination, a different recipe is used. Pour 30 mg of peroxide and the same amount of ammonia into a glass of warmed water. Drop a few drops of liquid soap. Stir thoroughly. Dip the jewels into the liquid. Leave it on for three to five hours. Rinse things under running water and wipe dry. 

2. Vinegar

This method is only suitable for yellow and red gold alloys. It is impossible to clean white matte or stone-encrusted metal like this. Take a 9% vinegar solution, it is called table vinegar. Lower the products into the liquid for 10-15 minutes. Rub with a soft brush, rinse, dry. Similarly, cleaning with citric acid is carried out. The only difference is that its crystals are dissolved in boiling water.

3. Ammonia (or ammonia)

It removes darkening and old dirt well. Let’s look at how to clean gold at home with ammonia. Pour 1 teaspoon of ammonia and shampoo into 250 ml of warmed water. Stir and lower the golden objects. Leave them in the liquid for a while, stir occasionally and shake the chains and rings. After cleaning, rinse them under running water, dry them. For very strong contaminants, you can increase the concentration of ammonia. But you need to do it carefully. It is important to clean inlaid objects with extreme care, not all stones are “shown” ammonia cleaning. 

4. Salt

It is by no means used for polishing or cleaning. Only for soaking. Here is an effective recipe for how to clean a gold chain. Dissolve 3-4 tablespoons of salt in 250 ml of hot water. Soak the gold objects, leave them overnight. Rinse under running water. 

5. Soda 

Soda boiling is used to clean heavy impurities. Take a small saucepan or similar dishes, cover its bottom with foil, lay the gold. Pour a glass of water, add a tablespoon of soda. Put the saucepan on the fire, bring to a boil, boil over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Rinse the products. If there is dirt left, gently walk with a soft brush. Better dental. Rinse and dry again. 

6. Toothpaste

Suitable for mechanical cleaning. It is best to take a gel paste of white color, without bleaching and other additives. You can add a drop of vaseline to it. This will mitigate the possible abrasive effect. The paste should be squeezed onto a soft toothbrush and gently clean the object. Then rinse it thoroughly.

7. GOI Paste

A special device developed by the State Optical Institute. There are four types of mastic. No. 1 and No. 2 are chosen for polishing, No. 3 for combating medium-complexity pollution. No. 4 is used in the most difficult cases. The method of application is similar to toothpaste. You can’t clean white gold with GOI paste. 

8. Soap + chalk

Another composition for cleaning. Grind the chalk into a fine powder, grind the laundry soap. Instead of the latter, you can take ammonia. Mix in the same proportions. Drip water, mix until you get a homogeneous mastic.  

To restore the shine to the jewelry, use lipstick, onion juice, egg white mixed in equal parts and beer as a polishing agent. Cleans the white non-rigid eraser well. He carefully removes oxides from the metal.

How to clean gold jewelry

In order not to spoil the thing during cleaning, you need to know what material it is made of. After all, different alloys are used for jewelry. In addition, products with inlays, carvings and other complex decor require special care. All this should be taken into account when choosing a cleaning method. The cleaning process consists of three stages. Step by step we will analyze how to clean gold at home. 

How to clean white gold

Jewelers call white alloys with the addition of silver, nickel, palladium. This changes the characteristics of the metal, so other means are chosen for cleaning. Vinegar or citric acid is strictly prohibited. In general, all aggressive chemicals are undesirable. The best option is how to clean such gold jewelry at home, soaking in a soap solution or cleaning with toothpaste. 

There are other gentle methods. Heat 250 ml of water, dissolve two tablespoons of sugar in it. Lower the contaminated products into this solution, leave them there for 9-12 hours. Rinse well under a water jet. You can use a different mixture. Mix ammonia with hydrogen peroxide in a ratio of 2:1. Lower the chains and rings into the liquid for half an hour. Rinse and dry.

How to Clear Gold with Stones

Such items should be taken care of very carefully. It is more difficult to clean dirt here than on smooth earrings or rings. They accumulate in hard-to-reach corners: on the fastening of the stone, in the corners of the decor, etc. Therefore, you can not do without a brush. For the best effect, moisten it in gasoline or any alcohol. Sometimes they act differently and pre-soak the jewelry in a soap solution.

Before choosing a remedy, you need to know how the stones “react” to different influences. So, ruby, topaz or garnet do not tolerate elevated temperatures. You can not soak them in a hot solution and boil them. Turquoise, malachite and opal are “sensitive” to abrasives. They can not be cleaned with dental or soda powder, salt. Any chemical solvents, alkalis or acids are strictly prohibited for coral, pearls, amber, ivory.

Preventive measures

In order for your favorite jewelry to always delight with beauty and brilliance, you need to follow a few simple rules. If you do them, you will have to clean jewelry much less often. 

The best thing to do is to wear jewelry just before leaving the house. After returning, they should be removed immediately. Then they will retain an attractive appearance for a long time. It is good from time to time, for example, once a year, to give jewelry for professional cleaning.  

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