How to clean a gold ring so it sparkles again: advice from jewelers

As a result of wear, silver quickly darkens and becomes dirty. This raises a reasonable question: how to clean a silver ring, chain, bracelet or other item? To restore the shine and cleanliness of your jewelry, you can use the available products that are in the kitchen, medicine cabinet or cosmetic bag of every housewife. Such methods are very effective and do not have a negative effect on the metal.

Silver jewelry looks stylish and elegant, but under the influence of external factors it darkens and loses its shine. Cleaning that can be done at home will help restore cleanliness.

The article contains popular methods and useful tips that will help you properly clean silver rings.

Reasons for oxidation of gold rings

The main causes of oxidation include:

• Compound. Gold, like other inert metals, can only oxidize when exposed to high temperatures. However, this precious metal in its pure form is practically not used in the jewelry industry. When making jewelry, copper, silver, nickel or zinc are added to gold. These additives have the ability to darken in the presence of oxygen. Therefore, products with a purity level below 585 quickly oxidize in air.
• Some chemicals: iodine. These compounds are found in creams, ointments or medicinal substances. Using such a cream or accidentally getting iodine on your jewelry will cause the ring to oxidize.
• Activity of fatty and sweat glands. During human life, the sebaceous glands produce sebum and fat, which are released through the pores. Sweat contains salts and organic substances. Under the influence of such factors, the metal becomes covered with a dark coating.

A gold ring can oxidize due to the activity of fatty and sweat glands.
There is an opinion that gold jewelry will oxidize if its owner eats a lot of meat or has kidney disease. This is explained by the fact that the predominance of protein foods contributes to the release of large amounts of nitrogen compounds. This can lead to corrosion of the precious metal.

How to prevent plaque from appearing on gold

Gold does not like bright sun and moisture, as well as various cosmetics and chemicals.

Top 4 tips on how to prevent gold raids:

1. Keep jewelry away from ultraviolet light;
2. Remove jewelry before household and physical activities, as well as before manicure;
3. Wipe the products dry if they get wet;
4. Protect rings and other jewelry from interaction with cosmetics, perfumes, and other liquid and bulk substances.

Principles of cleaning gold products

To effectively clean your jewelry, you need to know how to properly clean gold rings at home. The general principles of such cleaning include compliance with the following rules:

• Do not use abrasives or acids.
• It is not recommended to clean gold and silver items in the same container. This may cause the products to change color.
• Dry citric acid or baking soda should not be used. Before cleaning, dry powder must be diluted in water.
• Do not use sharp objects. They can easily damage the stone or the surface of the ring.
• To polish the product, use a dry flannel or soft towel. It is advisable to soak the rings in warm water before the procedure.

Proper cleaning will restore the product to its original appearance and maintain the attractiveness of the precious metal.

Boiling as a cleaning method

There is no need to be afraid to boil gold items - if you do everything correctly, they will not suffer from it. But, naturally, such methods are not suitable for those products that are decorated with precious stones, blackened or simply gilded, and not entirely made of this metal. This should be done like this:

• pour a glass of water into a fireproof container;
• add a tablespoon of baking soda;
• boil the liquid;
• Place a clean piece of paper at the bottom and gold jewelry on top;
• Boiling time - no more than three minutes.

After this, the rings are rinsed, wiped and polished. Instead of a cloth, you can use a piece of foil.

Effective Ways to Clean Gold Rings

Smooth gold rings are easiest to clean. Jewelry with relief surfaces, inlaid with precious or semi-precious stones, requires a special approach. To cleanse, it is not necessary to purchase expensive formulations. You can use improvised means that can be found in every home.

Cleaning smooth rings

There are several effective ways to clean smooth rings.

These include:

• Ammonia. For 200 ml of water take 1 tbsp. ammonia. The jewelry is soaked for 30 minutes. Then rinse under cold running water.
• Washing powder or shampoo. Using this simple method, you can easily clean gold rings. To do this, pour a few drops of shampoo, gel, or add a little washing powder into a container with warm water. Dilute until soap foam appears. The jewelry is left overnight. In the morning, wipe with a cloth and dry.
• Baking soda and foil. Line the cup with foil and place rings there. Prepare a solution: dilute 2 tbsp in 1 glass of hot water. soda Then the decorations are poured in and left for 6-8 hours. Then they are washed and wiped.
• Vinegar and citric acid. Pour 2 tsp into a bowl of water. vinegar and add 1 tsp. citric acid. The resulting composition is poured into the products for 5-10 minutes.
• Saline solution. 3 tbsp. salts are diluted in a glass of water. The rings are soaked for 3 hours. Then clean with a soft brush and rinse under cold water.

Vinegar and citric acid - a home remedy for cleaning a gold ring
Do not apply undiluted washing powder, soda or salt to the surface of the product. This will damage it. It is recommended to use only liquid compounds for cleaning.

Cleaning textured surfaces

The best option for cleaning rings with relief is to use ammonia. It allows you to effectively clean gold from contamination and does not leave streaks. A solution of water and ammonia will not harm various curls and nicks on the surface of the decoration. To wipe small parts, use a toothpick with a cotton swab moistened with this composition.

With the same success, you can use saline or soda solution, vinegar, or any detergent. You can also use a special paste for cleaning gold. It is applied to a piece of suede and the product is polished. Then washed in clean water and dried.

Cleaning items with stones

Cleaning a smooth gold ring at home is quite easy. It is more difficult to deal with rings that have semi-precious and precious stones.

Products with pearls, turquoise or coral should not be soaked in vinegar or ammonia. Such compositions cause the surface of the stone to become dull.

Cleaning products with stones is carried out as follows:

• The rings are soaked in the cleaning solution for the required time.
• Thoroughly clean the surface of the product and stone with a soft cloth. For particularly contaminated areas, use a cotton swab.
• Rinse under running water.
• Rub until shiny with a velvet cloth.

Cleaning a gold ring with stones
Gold rings with cubic zirconia and zirconium are cleaned with ammonia, soda or salt.

In order to clean a gold diamond ring you need to use liquid soap, ammonia or soda solution. Such compositions will not harm the diamond jewelry and will give it shine and transparency.

Fashionable matte products

This type of jewelry is becoming increasingly popular. But caring for them is more troublesome, because it is not recommended to use hard brushes or abrasive powders to clean such products. Therefore, professional options for cleaning gold at home are most often used. For example, using ultrasonic baths or special jewelry solutions. However, you can try other methods. These same methods work great for gold-plated jewelry.

Ammonia soaking

Peculiarity. Ammonia is safe for matte gold and can remove blackness from the surface.

What you will need:

• 10% ammonia - 50 ml;
• dry soft rags.

Sequencing

1. Place the product in an ammonia solution.
2. Leave for several hours.
3. After rinse, dry with a cloth.

Salt-soda mixture with lime

Peculiarity. Baking soda and salt are gentle not only on gold items. They are safe, for example, for both silver and copper.

What you will need:

• bleach – one teaspoon;
• water – two teaspoons;
• a pinch of soda;
• salt on the tip of a knife.

Sequencing

1. Combine all ingredients, knead well, set aside for two days.
2. Dip the bracelet or chain into the resulting mixture for one to two hours.
3. Afterwards, wash the product thoroughly and pat dry with a cloth.

Nuances of cleaning white gold

Silver, nickel or palladium are added to white gold rings. They are covered with a layer of rhodium on top, which enhances the shine and color of the precious metal.

White gold needs to be handled more carefully than regular gold. It is very susceptible to mechanical stress.

Features of caring for white gold include the following nuances:

• Do not use chlorine-containing liquids, vinegar, thinner or gasoline. It is recommended to use ammonia, any shampoo or gel for these purposes.
• Do not leave the product in the cleaning composition for a long time.

Sometimes, after cleaning, dark spots and scuffs remain on the jewelry. In this case, you need to contact a jewelry workshop. A specialist will tell you how to properly clean gold rings at home or carry out machine cleaning.

How to clean intricate jewelry with stones or engravings

Knowledge about the characteristics of stones and methods of fastening them will help you preserve the appearance of designer jewelry longer.

• Each stone has a Mohs hardness rating. Soft stones with a coefficient of less than five are afraid of active mechanical impact.
• Contact with soapy water is contraindicated for turquoise and chrysolite. Turquoise fades, and an unsightly coating remains on the peridot.
• Opal, turquoise and other stones with a porous structure do not like water; it is better to clean them with a dry soft cloth.
• Most stones do not tolerate heat. Topaz, ruby, alexandrite and garnet can lose their color, and opal can even crack.
• Jewelry with pearls should never be cleaned with vinegar. Pearls are sensitive to acids. It’s easy to remember this with the help of the legend about Queen Cleopatra and her most expensive dinner.
• Pay attention to the fastenings of the stones. It is better not to wet rings with glued stones. It is better to remove dirt with a dry or alcohol-soaked cotton swab.
• A soft toothbrush or cotton swab will help you clean hard-to-reach engraved areas.

If you are afraid of damaging your jewelry, contact a jeweler for help. Workshops or large stores will help you deal with plaque and dust using ultrasound. To ensure that such a service is not needed, it is enough to carefully store the jewelry.

Prevention

To prevent ring contamination, the following preventive measures must be observed:

• Wear rubber gloves. This should be done when cleaning and washing dishes. Detergent can cause oxidation of precious metals.
• Store correctly. Each product should be in a separate velvet bag or box.
• Do not apply cream to fingers with jewelry. They must be removed before using the cream.
• Gold rings with stones need to be cleaned by a jeweler at least once a year.
• Remove your rings before swimming in the sea, going to the spa or swimming pool. Chlorine-containing liquids or iodine contribute to the appearance of dark spots.
• Remove jewelry when working out at the gym. Active physical activity causes excessive sweating. Organic compounds found in sweat can cause changes in the color of gold.
• Do not store products in direct sunlight. Sunlight causes gold to darken and corrode.

Compliance with these rules will protect the metal from contamination and damage.

Cleaning a gold ring yourself is quite simple. To do this, you need to use only reliable and proven recipes. If home methods cannot cope with contamination, then it is better to take the jewelry to a jewelry workshop. Regular care and proper cleaning will help the product remain in its original form for a long time.

Cleaning Recommendations

When cleaning silver, follow simple rules and recommendations :

• do not use aggressive cleaning agents or substances with abrasive particles;
• Clean no more than once every 2-3 months to avoid damage to the surface;
• follow safety rules - wear gloves and avoid inhaling toxic fumes;
• After cleaning, wipe all items dry and rub them with a piece of wool or velvet.

To avoid tarnishing your silver, remove jewelry when handling chemicals, cooking, washing, or cleaning

Why does gold darken: reasons for different samples

There are many reasons for darkening of gold, but the simplest cleaning methods will help correct the situation.

There are several reasons why gold jewelry may darken:

1. Failure to comply with rules and violation of production standards in the manufacture of the product. The gold standard is determined by the content of this chemical element in the overall alloy, to which various types of impurities are also added - copper, silver, palladium. These components are called ligature. They are necessary to give products rigidity, resistance to wear, etc. Thus, if the jewelry is 750 standard, then the alloy contains 750 g of pure aurum per 1000 g. If production standards are violated, jewelers increase the share of copper in order to reduce the cost of production. As a result, such jewelry quickly loses its attractive appearance and oxidizes. Accordingly, 375 gold will turn black much faster than products with 583, 585 or 750 aurum content.
2. Blackening of the metal due to secretions from the sebaceous glands of our skin. The substances removed through the dermis have a sticky consistency, due to which, when they settle on jewelry, they attract dust particles, and over time they become covered with a thin layer of dirt. Visually it seems that the gold has darkened.
3. Use of cosmetics or medicines that contain mercury compounds. These components provoke the destruction of the top layer of gold products, as a result of which gray spots appear.

What is the best way to clean jewelry?

Dirty gold jewelry looks unsightly and can also cause harm to its owner. Dirt accumulated in the fastenings of earrings can easily lead to inflammation of the earlobe; piercing earrings require special care. Professional gold cleaning is carried out in jewelry stores, but you can carry out the necessary measures yourself at home.

Before cleaning your jewelry, you need to determine the type of contamination. Regular dirt in the form of dust can be easily removed with a simple soap solution. With contaminants in the form of metal oxides, alloy ligatures become increasingly more difficult. Thus, copper, when interacting with oxygen and moisture in the air, forms black and green spots on products.

The type of cleaning for a particular piece of jewelry can often only be determined by a professional; small areas of oxidized metal stains can only be seen through a magnifying glass. How can you clean gold at home? To avoid damaging the jewelry, it is recommended to carry out step-by-step cleaning.

Clean rings from rust: the best way

If your ring is covered with rust, it means it is guaranteed not to be made of a noble metal or its content in the alloy is minimal. Metals containing iron are most susceptible to oxidation (which is what causes rust). And that’s not all: for example, stainless steel practically does not oxidize!

But if the ring is of any value to you, you should return it to its presentable appearance. Under no circumstances should you try to remove rust from a ring by boiling, salt or exposure to any reagents. In principle, you can use WD-40 aerosol, colloquially referred to as “Vedashka” and known to all motorists, but it leaves behind oily stains and is not harmless for inserts.

Gold ring in the SUNLIGHT catalog

In this situation, it is best to remove rust mechanically, for example, using the GOI paste already mentioned today.

What to do to prevent the ring from oxidizing

As mentioned above, if the ring oxidizes, it means it contains a minimum of precious metals or none at all. Iron, when oxidized, gives the well-known rust, copper and its alloys give a blue-green coating called patina.

To prevent such a ring from oxidizing, you need to protect it as much as possible from contact with water, salt and aggressive chemicals. You can, of course, take the jewelry to a workshop so that it can be covered with a layer of a more inert metal, but in the case of cheap jewelry, such expenses are definitely not justified.

You can protect silver from the appearance of a dark sulfide layer or white gold from scratches by rhodium plating. The product is coated with a molecular layer of rhodium and becomes much less vulnerable to aggressive influences.