How To Make Your Gold And Silver Jewellery Shine Again
Posted on: 03/07/2017is there any way for me to make it look as beautiful as it once was?”
At F.Hinds we receive a huge amount of questions from our customers about their gold and silver jewellery not glistening and shining like it did when they first bought it. This comes as no surprise, as gold and silver are precious metals so they require a lot of careful looking after. During the day we come in contact with a variety of different chemicals- detergents, hand wash, perfumes, washing up liquid, bleach and a range of household cleaners, not to mention the natural chemicals that your skin produces during the day. These different chemicals react with your gold and silver jewellery causing it to discolour and change.
When this happens most people panic, come rushing into one of our stores and intently ask a dozen questions about what’s happening to their expensive precious pieces. Does this sound familiar? If you’re one of these people, don’t worry- this is fixable! And if you’re looking for the perfect easy solution you’ve come to the right place!
The Key To Cleaning Your Jewellery
The key to cleaning your jewellery quickly is to drop it into a jewellery dip like Town Talk’s Exquisite Silver Sparkle (for silver items) or their Exquisite Jewel Sparkle (for gold, platinum and diamond items). Jewellery dips are the perfect way to deep-clean your gold and silver fast, because you only need to dip your pieces for two minutes to see great results. And for those nasty chemicals we mentioned earlier- the dip eliminates them completely and also protects your items from becoming as susceptible in the future. Think of it as providing a protective shield. We also stock Town Talk Polishing Cloths which give your jewellery a lovely polished shine afterwards!
But How Do I Dip?
After reading about what a dip is and how it works, you’re probably left thinking “But how do I start dipping?” There are a couple of things you need to do to prepare your jewellery for dipping.Firstly you need to prepare your area- you want to make sure you’re working on a hard surface and have plenty of tissues to protect your surface in case the dip soaks through. If you have an old coaster or chopping board it would be even better as you won’t need to worry about spillages and drips. You also need some clean water, so make sure you’re next to a tap or have a bowl of water next to you. Once you have these things gathered, you’re finally ready!
Now it’s time to begin the dipping process, and it’s so, so simple! Drop your item into the dip (it's best to do this one piece at a time so that your jewellery doesn’t get tangled or mixed up) and let it soak for 2 minutes- or less if you don’t think it needs that long. Lift up the plastic tray after a couple of minutes, take your jewellery out and place it on the tissues. If there are any engravings or details on your jewellery, you may want to use the brush provided to gently brush over the intricate areas. When you’re ready, rinse your jewellery in a bowl of clean water or under a tap and dry it off with a tissue or a clean cloth. To give your jewellery an extra shine, buff it with a silver or gold polishing cloth to really make it glisten. Then you’re all done, and you’re precious metals are looking as good as new!
After Dipping
Dipping your jewellery doesn’t mean that it’s never going to get tarnished or discolour again; you need to take a few steps to keep on top of your jewellery cleaning. The more you commit to these steps, the longer your jewellery will stay clean for. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to dip more than once every few months- dipping too much can cause the opposite effect and end up making your jewellery discolour quicker than it should, so the longer you leave it the better! Here are our tips:
How To Protect Your Jewellery And What To Watch Out For
Even though the dips are there to make your pieces shine beautifully, they are very strong solutions that can harm your jewellery if used incorrectly (if you have sensitive skin it would be a good idea to wear gloves too). Make sure that you’re using the silver dip for silver jewellery and the jewel dip for your gold, diamonds and platinum jewellery. Watch out for pearls, costume jewellery and soft stones too, as the silver and jewel dip should never be used on soft and porous items such as these.If you’re struggling with cleaning your jewellery even after using the dip and all of our methods, you may want to consider getting your jewels professionally cleaned first, and then you can keep on top of your cleaning and polishing afterwards.
So now that we’ve walked you through the cleaning process, it’s time for you to put what you’ve learned into practice and make your jewels sparkle like they did when you first bought them! For more information on cleaning and dipping your jewellery visit Town Talk.
Do you have any tips and tricks for jewellery cleaning? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook!
