How to make homemade jewelry cleaner? I want to begin refurbishing old costume jewelry to sell. Some of it looks like silver.
Angie Bollard, Stockton
There are several kinds of DIY jewelry cleaner you can make. The first is for silver that doesn’t have delicate stones mounted on it. Gather up vinegar, baking soda, and table salt. You’ll also need aluminum foil, a pan, and boiling water to make silver jewellery shine again.
Cover the inside of the pan with the shiny side of the foil facing upward and lay the pieces of silver jewelry on the aluminum foil. Combine a tablespoon each of salt and baking soda with a cup of boiling water and pour that mixture into the pan.
Next, add the vinegar slowly to the pan and let the mixture work up to ten minutes. Once you remove the jewelry from the pan and rinse it, it should be sparkly clean, with no scrubbing needed. Carefully wipe the jewelry dry with a clean cloth to ensure that you get rid of all moisture.
If your jewelry is made from brass, you need to know how to clean brass jewelry, too. Often, brass responds well to a mixture of vinegar, salt, and flour that can be made into a paste to gently scrub brass pieces clean of tarnish and stains. Other cleaners will also work, so determine what you have on hand and use what seems to work best for you.
Making a gold cleaner is just as easy. You’ll need foil again. Additionally, round up one tablespoon each of liquid dish detergent, salt, baking soda, plus a cup of hot water.
First, line a small bowl with the foil. Then add the salt, soda, and soap, with the hot water last of all. Put the jewelry inside and let it stand for ten minutes. At that point, you might need a soft toothbrush to remove debris from grooves. But overall the pieces should only need a rinse in cold water to shine.
How to care for stainless steel jewelry requires a different process. Usually, unless the pieces are really dirty and covered with gunk like sweat and dirt, you can use a simple solution of mild dishwashing soap and warm water for a homemade stainless steel jewelry cleaner.
A toothbrush is helpful to get rid of grime in items like chain links on necklaces and bracelets and beneath stone settings in rings. After gently scrubbing, rinse the jewelry in warm water to get rid of the soap and dirty residue. Dry with a clean cloth and watch your pieces sparkle once again.
Since some stones may be too delicate for these two methods, use warm water and dish soap to clean them. Check out the steps in this article: https://www.tipsbulletin.com/homemade-jewelry-cleaner/
In general, costume jewelry could be damaged by acids like vinegar or alcohols and ammonia, too. For example, only use the mildest of soaps on pearls and to clean fake jewelry. If you’re hesitant to try a homemade cleaner, the article I mentioned lists safe commercial products, as well.