Jewelry Care & Repair

In earlier posts I explained how to properly store and care for your fashion and costume jewelry. Here are some tips on how to clean your jewelry, should it become yucky!



Ways to Remove Green Gunk and other debris from your vintage and fashion jewelry:


1. TOOTHPICK -- Sometimes a toothpick is all it takes to scrape small amounts of verdigris from small spots on jewelry. I'd try this first.


2. DRY TOOTHBRUSH -- Take a dry toothbrush and brush it across the gunk, removing as much as you can. 



3. METAL POLISH -- After brushing off as much as you can with a toothbrush, try moving on to  metal polish.  You can purchase most at Walmart or any hardware store.   These polishes are slightly abrasive and will removed stubborn debris.  Squeeze a pea-sized drop of polish on to a clean, soft cloth and rub softly on the jewelry.  After about 30 seconds of rubbing, check your jewelry out.  Hopefully, some of the green is off the jewelry and on your cloth.  Finish polishing your jewelry with a clean portion of the cloth. If metal polish has not worked satisfactorily, it's time to move on to "home chemical treatments".


WARNING: Some of the options below may work but I use them only as a last resort. Many times, even after the verdigris is removed, the metal underneath is no longer gold plated and may not match the finish on the rest of the piece of jewelry.  Keep this in mind before you try the treatments below. 


4. VINEGAR -- Pour a small amount of white vinegar in a bowl. Soak your jewelry for about 20 minutes.Use a soft toothbrush to clean off the debris. Rinse and wipe with clean, dry cloth.  Do NOT soak jewelry with soft gems like pearls, fake pearls, rhinestones with foil backings, glued in rhinestones. 


5. KETCHUP -- I've used ketchup in the past because it is acidic and stays in place. The warning about protecting soft gems and rhinestones applies to ketchup as well as vinegar.  Lay the jewelry on a paper towel. Squirt the ketchup on the verdigris, wait about 30 minutes, rinse the jewelry well and dry thoroughly.  If you can get over the smell and mess of the ketchup, it can sometimes work well.