Cleaning Jewelry with Everyday Products

I purchased the cleaning clothes from HSN a few years back and use those. Sometimes my finger tips do get abit blackish when cleaning silver with them.  That’s most likely my technique. it came with 3 different clothes for different types of jewelry.  I like all of your suggestions and might have to buy some ammonia this weekend.

Diamonds and their substitutes can be cleaned with ammonia 1 part ammonia to 6 parts water.  Some gemstones too.  Opague and organic gemstones, I’m not sure about but you should go by what is standard cleaning and care for the particular stone.

I’m sure HSN has a page that discusses gem treatment and care.  When in doubt, go there.

i use a little bit of dawn dish detergent to clean my gold and gemstones. however, no soft gems- NO PEARLS, NO TURQ., NO OPALS, etc. 

for STERLING silver, i get a disposable aluminum foil pan, i put a sheet of aluminum foil in it, i pour out some baking soda on top of the foil, then i put boiling/very hot water over the baking soda.

then, i add my sterling silver jewelry to it.

again, NO PEARLS, NO TURQ., NO OPALS, etc.

i did try sparkle, sparkle once. i got it from qvc. it was okay. the only problem is that i added a pearl necklace to it because it is advertised as being okay with pearls. WRONG!!! my honora cultured white pearls necklace turned an ivory color and has stayed that way ever since.

also, do not add water to your pearls and/or then try to wipe them off with a soft or damp cloth.

i prefer just getting a dry, soft cloth and using that to polish them up. no liquids!!!

for costume/vintage costume jewelry, i take a huge ziploc bag and throw in my super dirty vintage pieces (mostly beaded necks) to get cleaned. then i add some hydrogen peroxide- enough to cover the pieces- and a splash of rubbing alcohol to it. i find that this lifts away all of the dirt- even in the tough spots. then, i rinse it off with water and leave it to dry in the sun on papertowels that i spread out on a table. i prefer cleaning my jewelry during a warm summer day. it dries evenly and quick. then, i take an air compressor and gently blast out whatever water is left before putting it away. this is a rather aggressive way- and may not be the healthiest way- to clean my vintage costume pieces but it works for me.

good luck!! xoxo  

Thanks everybody. I thought I was remembering amonia. One of the rings that comes with Joan Boyce’s 5 ring set is real cloudy. The others sparkle and shine 🙂 In fact, I have a couple of sets of these rings in different colors and this one ring is cloudy in both sets.

I’m going to buy some of the sparkle sparkle because I believe you can use that on turquoise and other earth stones . I’ve just been waiting for the price to drop and it doesn’t seem to . My mother taught me to use the half water half ammonia when I was a young girl .

Hi Pamlou- I have always mixed One part ammonia with one part water. Soak jewelry for half hour or more and using a toothbrush you can get in between the back and front and dull areas. Rinse with cold water and lay on paper towel To dry. Good for diamond rings and crystal jewelry, Gold and silver . however do not use on Turquoise ??You’re a diamond rings will sparkle and shine as I have brand-new

It depends on what the item is.

But I do keep sparkle sparkle on hand now.