That necklace or bracelet you might wear every single day that has never let you down needs some love in return. You might clean your makeup brushes or your house or do the dishes or the laundry, but do you clean your jewelry too? Believe it or not, you can clean your jewelry with items you might already have in your house. Here’s how!
Remove Tarnish From Silver: Baking Soda
Create a small bowl from aluminum foil. Add baking soda and hot water into the bowl. A process called Ion Exchange transfers the tarnish into the water. You do not need to scrub the jewelry if you choose to use this method. Once you take the jewelry out of the bowl, take a lint-free soft cloth to wipe any more tarnish away.
If you want extra cleaning power, add in salt and dish soap to the bowl. You can scrub the jewelry with something soft, but this method is not recommended for soft metals.
Alka Seltzer
For hard stones, this is a very commonly used cleaner. Simply let the jewelry soak in the water with Alka Seltzer in it. That’s it! Take the jewelry out when the tablet stops fizzing. If your jewelry is especially dirty, you can soak it for longer. However, stay clear of flavored Alka Seltzer, it can dye your jewelry.
Beer
Yes, strangely enough, beer can actually clean your jewelry too! Simply put the jewelry into the beer and it will be cleaned. This option is recommended for cleaning gold only.
Ketchup
Yes, it got weirder. Ketchup works really well at cleaning tarnish off of silver. Brass and copper can also be cleaned with ketchup.
Toothpaste
This method is to be avoided with gold and silver, or any soft metals. Toothpaste can be harsh on jewelry, but can also make it shiny and clean.
Club Soda
Jewelry can be soaked in club soda overnight to clean diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.
Denture Tablets
These tablets are meant to clean sensitive objects that go into your mouth. Due to this, they are great at cleaning jewelry. Simply putting jewelry into a cup with water and a denture tablet for a few minutes can clean them and bring them back to new.
Vinegar
Half a cup of white vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda is the recipe for this cleaning trick. Drop your jewelry into this mix for 2 to 3 hours and then rinse them with cold water. They will be clean and shiny afterward!
If all else fails, you can also simply use soap and water to clean jewelry, but some of these other items around the house do wonders to bring jewelry back to life. Some of them may be rather surprising too. Now your jewelry can receive the love it deserves.