How do you clean a fragile piece of jewelry, which can easily be ruined? Here are the rules to follow to clean a jewel without damaging it ♦
Maybe you have fragile, delicate jewels in your drawer. It is very easy: most of the jewels are not made with very hard stones, such as diamonds or rubies, which are more resistant stones (although despite this they can still be damaged). There are also materials that are damaged or scratched very easily, for example cameos, pearls, emeralds, opals, crystals. And the materials that are glued are also fragile, such as the stones that make up a pavé.
Attention, therefore: this type of jewelry must be treated very, very carefully. Especially when it is necessary to clean them, an operation that must be repeated regularly. By the way: even better than cleaning jewelry is to prevent it from getting dirty. Don’t wear them if you have to do gardening, wash the dishes, or if you are going to sprinkle yourself with a cream, or any other action that has to do with dirt and chemicals.
Fortunately, it is not difficult to clean a delicate jewel, as long as you follow these tips.
Materials to use
- Warm water
- Liquid neutral soap (to avoid antibacterials and aggressive soaps)
- Soft cloth: an old cotton T-shirt or microfibre is fine
- A soft toothbrush, preferably with natural bristles
How to do
Mix warm water (neither hot nor cold) with a drop of neutral soap in a glass or on a concave dish. When the mixture boils a little and has diluted well, dip the jewels and let stand for two minutes. If dust has settled in the cracks (for example, between a stone and the metal), use the soft bristle brush very gently. Focus mainly on the underside. Make sure to rinse the solution well, always with lukewarm water: soap residues can damage the stones. When finished, dry gently with a soft cloth.
Cameos or emeralds
We can add a separate tip for cleaning cameos or emeralds. In addition to following the instructions you read earlier, in this case you can use the oil that is used for the body of babies. Emeralds, for example, can get damaged due to micro cracks, almost invisible, but which tend to widen: a drop of oil can prevent them from further ruining.
Caution
Warning: these indications are generic. Obviously, if you have a very old or particularly delicate jewel at home, ask your trusted jeweler for advice before carrying out any operations that could ruin it. Lavinia Andorno
