How To Clean Gold Jewelry

How to clean your jewelry at home

We get it. Not everyone has time to take their gold jewelry and gemstone jewelry to the jewelry store for a professional cleaning every week. Here are some handy how-tos for cleaning jewelry at home.

All you need are a few simple kitchen items to get started…

Home hack – if you don’t have vinegar, you can use ketchup, as counter-intuitive as it may sound.

How to clean gold jewelry

Mix 1 teaspoon of dishwashing soap and 1 cup of warm water. Vinegar can be added, if desired. Soak for 15 minutes and brush gold with a toothbrush. Rinse with water and pat dry with soft cloth.

How to clean diamonds

Mix 1 cup of warm water and 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide or vinegar. Soak for 15 minutes and brush diamond(s) with a toothbrush. Rinse with water and pat dry with soft cloth.

For cleaning sterling silver jewelry (925)

Wipe silver with a soft chamois cloth. If you still need a solution, then we suggest putting aluminum foil in the bottom of a bowl. Add 1 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon of baking soda in the bowl with foil. Soak for 15 minutes and brush silver with a toothbrush. Rinse with water and pat dry with soft cloth.

If you want your silver cleaned instantly, we recommend silver/or jewelry cleaner from the grocery store. Use with good ventilation. As a side note, when you use a harsh chemical, such as silver or jewelry cleaner, it may strip off a layer of your silver and your silver may be more susceptible to tarnish easier in the future.

For cleaning oxidized silver

Mix 1 teaspoon of dishwashing soap and 1 cup of warm water. Soak for 15 minutes and brush lightly with a toothbrush. Rinse with water and pat dry with soft cloth.

Note – please make sure your jewelry is not plated because scrubbing will move some of the gold or silver plating.

For more cleaning questions, contact amy@throwingstarsjewelry.com

For more information about jewelry terms, check out our jewelry glossary.