Jewelry Cleaning At Home Part 2

Hi I'm Brad and I'm Colbi and we're Bradley's Jewelers. And we are here today to talk about delicate gemstones that you can clean at home. Trying to keep them as clean as we can even though they're delicate so we can't put them in harsh chemicals or even alcohol to completely sterilize them. So we're going to get them cleaned up so when you do want to wear it or bring it in for repair, it's not such a danger for everybody.

Exactly, because right now we have to be very careful about what we do. We've all been home quarantining, sheltering in place and we're kind of bored so it's a good home project. You can do it with your husband and it's really fun and you can make it really romantic. Do whatever you have to do to keep yourself from going crazy.

We've got some jewelry here, we're going to give you a list. First of all we want to tell you that we're only going to use liquid soap on this type of jewelry. So, you can use whatever type of dishwashing liquid you use or hand soap. Why I like dishwashing liquid is because it is actually a grease cutter. And you'd be surprised what's inside your jewelry.

And we're going to be using a really warm or hot water. As hot as you can take it. Put it in your little ramekin and then drop your jewelry inside. Because if you do that and let it just soak, just like your dishes, you know how it gets the grease it gets the grime and starts the process rolling.

You want to use glove because you've been to the grocery store, you've been to the gas pump. Gosh, I hope you wear gloves nowadays, but if you don't – you need to put your gloves on because it's a biohazard. It really is, you don't know what's inside.

Yeah, and when you start cleaning you start unleashing the layers that are underneath so you gotta be careful with this stuff. So, we're going to have a toothbrush, of course, but this is a toothbrush that you didn't put in your mouth. For safety, always do the plug for your sink because you don't want to drop, god forbid, because then you need a plumber.

So this method is good on anything. Including if you've got a bead bracelet or even pearls, which will be a different time, but you can use it on stretchy bracelets; you can use it on jade with silk chord. So, even though we don't generally recommend cleaning this, because of all the concerns out in the community today, you may want to clean a bracelet you've worn many times.

Sure, and remember if you have anything that is strung, like pearls or any bead-type thing, know that the silk chord that's in between there needs to dry completely, at least a day, before you even try using it again. So, after you clean it with soap and water, you dry it on a paper towel and let it sit overnight.

And in the meantime, this method is really good for emerald jewelry. It's really good for pearls, for lapis, for malachite, for coral. Even for jasper, for jade and for amber; and even turquoise. So this is what you want to use for these types of porous stones.

And again, put some muscle in it to get in there in all those little crevices. Right behind the cage in the interior, you really gotta use the tip of that brush to get in there and do a good job, it's important. You really do. And you can do this two, three times if you need to. Don't just say, "oh, I did it once." Because actually it will look so nice if you do this a couple times. It will be really sparkly and it will look brand new when you put it back on. And isn't that the goal, to sparkle at home?

You know there's a really neat trick that we do too. If we want to see if any gems are loose, you can put it up to your ear and tap it. And sometimes you can actually hear the stones rattling in there. So if you hear that, don't wear your jewelry. It needs to be checked over and tightened. But at least you'll know it's clean, so when you present it, it's safe.

Another thing you can do is you can take just a household magnifier and you can literally check it out up close. Because you will be able to move with your fingernail or a pen, and you'll be able to literally see if a stone is moving. But you can also see if a prong is broken this way. And then that way, if you do have an issue, you still want to clean it but you want to be careful. And you'll know the details about your jewelry and that's important. They're your heirlooms and you want to protect them.

So, thank you for watching. Hopefully this was of some help. And if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call. Our number will be coming up at the end of the video. You can email us as well. And hopefully, if you have any questions we can answer them in the next video. Thanks again for watching, have a wonderful afternoon. Bye bye!