We get asked about how to clean jewelry and keep it looking fabulous all the time, and honestly, nothing makes us happier!

It is absolutely heart-breaking to see a beautiful jewelry collection that has become dirty, dull and tarnished from years of neglect. Keeping your jewelry clean and fabulous isn’t difficult or expensive, so there is no excuse to not have yours looking its best!

Here are some general guidelines for appropriate jewelry care:

 The Dos:

1. Gently scrub your jewelry with a gentle cleaner and a soft bristle brush, rinse with water, and pat dry. The little jars of jewelry cleaner that are for sale at tons of stores are great, but honestly, just some plain old dish soap will work at least as well, if not better.
   
   
2. After you wear a piece of jewelry, wipe the piece of jewelry with a soft cloth and store it in a jewelry pouch or zip-lock bag to prevent scratches  and to inhibit excess oxidation. It is the contact with the air that causes metals to tarnish, so keeping the air off of it keeps the tarnish off.
   
   
3. When your jewelry does become tarnished, use a product specifically formulated for sterling silver cleaning, even if the tarnish is on gold-filled or vermeil jewelry. Just use these products conservatively, make sure to read and follow their directions (they work quickly!), and be sure to rinse the piece of jewelry thoroughly afterwards.

The Don'ts:

1. As much as possible protect your jewelry from coming into contact with lots of sweat.
   
   
2. Avoid applying hair sprays, lotions, and perfumes after wearing your jewelry. (Okay, okay…a touch-up here and there isn’t going to ruin a piece of jewelry, but do try to follow this rule as much as possible.) The chemicals in hair sprays, perfumes, etc. can corrode fragile gemstones and pearls and can discolor any plated metal or alloy.
   
   
3. Do not let acids, chemicals, or solvents like chlorine, sulfur, detergent get anywhere near any of your gemstones. In general, if you have any doubts about whether or not something can safely come into contact with your jewelry, just assume it can’t.
   
   
4. Although we recommend wiping metal surfaces with a polishing cloth, avoid doing it excessively. This will rub off the plating on any plated metal, and can even alter the texture on the surface of the metal. Also, don’t use polishing cloths on pearls, turquoise, coral, opal, and other especially soft gemstones.
   
   
5. Do not ever put pearls, turquoise, coral, opal, and other especially soft gemstones into an ultrasonic cleaner.
   
   

Do you have any other questions? 
Email us at infos@aishas.com. Our team is here to help!