We all love to flaunt those shiny and glittering gold ornaments all the while. But with time and use, we dread and worry about the loss of shine on our jewelry. Having to go to a smith or expert will have undesirable expenses and costs. Not to forget the loss you can incur with the chemical cleaning process that can strip away layers of gold. Forget all those and believe in basics! With our latest guide on how to clean gold jewelry at home, we give you the best methods of making your ornaments shine and glitter.
These unique ways of cleaning gold jewelry are sure to renew the beauty of their ornaments and make them as good as showroom pieces!
Why Gold Ornaments Need Special Care and Cleansing?
Our gold ornaments do not retain the same shine as we have purchased it years back. They are prone to wear and tear scratches, and dust. The gold may get discolored over time, due to its exposure to oxygen elements and air moisture. With regular usage, one also requires to know methods of cleaning gold at home. However, this does not imply that one can treat and clean all by themselves in a novice manner. Gold has specific methods to clean, in turn avoiding UV, chemical exposure, and moist on the metal for more extended periods. Hence, jewelry requires special care in polishing, and we need to follow specific procedures and steps to get the shine back in the sustainable and right way!
10 Simple Methods on How to Clean Gold Jewelery at Home:
How to clean the gold by yourself? There are several methods on how one can go ahead and clean their jewelry. We have curated unique and best ten expert methods that can help you do the job by yourself!
1. Dish Soap to Clean:
Cleaning jewelry through dish soap or detergent has been a traditional way ever since. We have been noticing our mothers doing the same routine. While it is quite easy to follow this routine, this process works well for removing simple dust particles and dirt accumulated around ornaments. This is a universal procedure followed by many and can be used to cleaning gold earrings, chains, and other ornaments at home.
Things required:
- Dish soap / detergent
- Lukewarm water
- Toothbrush
- Soft cloth
How to clean:
- Take a bowl of lukewarm water
- Add in few drops of liquid detergent or dish soap
- Let the jewelry soak in this mixture for half an hour. This helps to work on loosening the dirt and hard stick particles around the ornaments
- Scrub with the help of toothbrush gently
- Rinse with running water
- Now dry the jewelry with a soft cloth. You can even let it air dry.
Suitable for: Gold jewelry including earrings, rings, and simple chains; silver jewelry
Warning: Do not use hot boiling water in any case. The temperature change may adversely affect the metal. Also, do not follow this method for ornaments with precious stones.
2. Ammonia for Wash:
Ammonia is popular as quite powerful in cleansing and polishing gold at home with its chemical treatment properties. It helps to remove even oily and greasy particles deposited in the jewelry very well. One can even clean large and heavy pieces of gold ornaments through ammonia. However,due caution should be taken while using this ingredient to prevent wear and tear.
Things required:
- Ammonia
How to clean:
- Add one part of ammonia for six cups of water
- Gently mix the water
- Soak in the jewelry in water. Do not soak it for more than a minute
- Use a strainer to let the jewelry out from the water immediately
- Rinse it under running water
- Let the ornament dry
Suitable for: Gold jewelry
Warning: Do not use this method too often. In addition, do not clean metals and ornaments with pearls and diamond in ammonia.
Read: How to Clean Specs Glasses
3. Wiping with a Soapy Cloth:
If you have very precious pieces of jewelry, one should exercise caution while cleaning the gemstones properly. We must understand to clean them in the right way – not submerging them in any chemical liquid or detergent. Given that the precious jewelry has glue associated with stones, one must take special care while cleaning the same. Hence this method of wiping with a moist soapy cloth, mildly, can be regarded as the best diamond cleaner which can help to clean the jewelry right.
Things required:
Soapy wet cloth
How to clean:
- Add a tiny amount of dish wash in small bowl
- Take a small cloth and wet it inside the solution
- Rinse the jewelry through rubbing it softly around
- Do not scrub the jewelry hard
- Let the ornaments dry
Suitable for: Jewelry with precious stones, platinum and gemstones, cleaning a diamond ring, earrings and other jewelry
Warning: Do no use warm water at any cost as it may loosen the glue, which is used to stick the gemstones..
Read: Trending Gold Necklace Designs in 10 Grams
4. Boiling Water to Shine:
While it is unusual for us to think of cleaning gold with hot boiling water, let us tell you that this trick would do for pure gold ornaments, which are very dirty and greasy. It is quite an easy method to wash gold at home and can get rid of impurities at one go!
Things required:
- Boiling water
How to clean:
- Bring the required amount of water to boil in a saucepan
- Submerge the jewelry in
- Wait for the water to cool
- Dab in a soft towel and let it dry.
- You can use metal bowls for best results while using hot water
Suitable for: Pure gold ornaments and jewelry
Warning: Do not use this for gemstones and jewelry with glued stones
5. Using Toothpaste for Brightening:
Another easy way to clean gold ornaments at home by yourself is with the help of toothpaste. This can easily clean the required metals at one go and help to remove dirt and grime in no time. This simple method can be done ‘n’ number of times and does not have a limit or cautions to work on. It comes under a basic cleansing routine for the ornaments and can be followed as one wishes to.
Things required:
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
How to clean:
- Mix and dissolve toothpaste into a bowl of water
- Scrub with the help of toothbrush on required ends and edges of jewelry
- Rinse with water
- Dry with towel
Suitable for: Gold jewelry, rose gold jewelry and pearl jewelry
Warning: Do not do the step of scrubbing with toothpaste for more time if you are cleaning silver jewelry
Read: How to Clean Smelly Water Bottles
6. Soda to Clean Gold:
Soda is a natural method to clean and bring in ornaments to shine. It is a popular way to clean one’s jewelry at home easily. One can use either pure soda or even any aeriated cool drink like Sprite or 7 UP at home to do this step. Make sure you dissolve heavily concentrated soda in water.
Things required:
- Soda
- Water
How to clean:
- Dissolve and mix soda along with water in a bowl
- Submerge the jewelry in the gold cleaning solution
- Soak for up to ten minutes
- Rinse through running water
- Scrub with a toothbrush if required
- Dab and clean with a soft cloth to dry
Suitable for: Gold; white gold and silver jewelry
Warning: Do not soak the ornaments for more than ten minutes in Soda.
7. Baking Soda for Shiny:
Baking soda is another age-old solution that was prevalent from ages to clean dirt and grime from several things, including harsh metals. This same ingredient today can be used on gold jewelry to get it with miraculous shine. Here is how to clean gold jewelery properly using baking soda.
Things required:
- Baking soda
- Water
How to clean:
- Add one cup of water and three teaspoons of baking soda
- You can reduce the part of baking soda if you do not want a very heavy cleanse and tarnish
- Make a paste-form of this jewelry cleaning solution
- Wet the ornament and start scrubbing it with baking soda paste
- Rinse well
Suitable for: Silver Jewelry and Gold plated jewelry
Warning: Do not use this step for precious metals that are glued into ornaments. Do not scrub harshly.
8. Vinegar to Fix:
How to clean gold jewelry with vinegar? White vinegar is another amazing ingredient that can help to clean ornaments and gemstones easily. It is readily available in any grocery store and helps to reduce the dirt and particles accumulated around the edges and helps to dissolve the same into the water.
Things required:
- White vinegar
How to clean:
- Just drop the piece of jewelry which is to be cleaned in bowl or jar of vinegar
- Let it soak for around fifteen minutes
- If required, you can even scrub with a soft brush
- Rinse it off
- Let it dry
Suitable for: Gold jewelry, silver jewelry, gold plated jewelry
Warning: None
Read: How to Remove Rust from Iron
9. Beer to Remove :
Running to an event and suddenly realized on having dull jewelry? If you do not have any gemstones or glued in stones on your jewelry, then beer maybe your best friend to clean your gold ornaments easily. You can do it in a matter of a few minutes and get your ornaments to shine and glitter. Beer helps tarnished jewelry to get back to the original form in a quicker period without the wait!
Things required:
- Beer
- Soft cloth
How to clean:
- Put some beer lager on a soft cloth
- Rub and scrub on the jewelry with the help of cloth
- Run through edges and corners properly
- Use a clean cloth again to dry
Suitable for: Plain gold jewelry only
Warning: Use it only for plain gold ornaments without any stones
10. Aluminum Foil:
If your ornaments are in very bad shape and require deep cleansing, you can first work on a DIY jewelry cleaner at home by yourself before thinking to visit an expert. Without any harsh chemicals and ingredients, you can use aluminium foil along with other ingredients to clean up the silver jewelry at home. Wondering how? Here is the science behind! The chemical reaction with aluminium and silver metal helps sulfur atoms transfer from silver to aluminium. This creates aluminium sulfide and cleans up the metal.
Things required:
- Bowl with aluminium foil
- Hot water
- Salt
- Baking soda
How to clean:
- Pour hot water in aluminium foil
- Add salt and baking soda of one tablespoon each
- Place the required ornaments in solution
- Let the jewelry touch aluminum well
- Leave it for five minutes
- Rinse it and scrub if required
- Let it dry
Suitable for: Cleaning Silver jewelry, silver necklace, rings, chain and oxidized metal jewelry
Warning: Do not use this tip to clean diamonds and other precious jewelry. This is made to only deep cleanse silver and related metal jewelry.
Cleaning gold jewelry is now super easy with the steps mentioned above. Depending on the state of your metals and gold jewelry, you can take a call on which home remedy is best suited to clean your ornaments. These tips and tricks of cleaning gold and other ornaments are quite easy to do at no cost. Let us know how well these suggestions worked for you!
