Price Comparisons???

[JewelryQueen]

I wipe gold plated jewelry with a dampened (not wet) soft close weave (like old handkerchiefs) cloth after every use. Every so often I put the pieces into a bowl with lukewarm water and about three drops of Dawn dish soap. Any dish soap will work, but Dawn seems to get the natural oils deposited by our skin off the jewelry a little better. Let this sit for about 20 minutes, Then rinse thoroughly under cold water. If it hasn't been cleaned for a while you can gently scrub the crevices with a sift baby toothbrush BEFORE you rinse. Then dry of with a dry soft cloth.

For silver jewelry I make a paste of baking soda and vinegar and rub it on the jewelry and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then I wipe it off with a soft cloth. If it is VERY tarnished it may take twice. After cleaning (to keep from getting tarnished again too soon) put a few drops of mineral oil or baby oil on a paper towel and rub down your silver. If you get too much on just get a dry paper towel and rub it off

WARNING don't use either of these methods if there are drusy, pearls, or welo opal stones in the jewelry!

[Gemaholic]

Hey @Gemaholic - whenever you have an extra minute - can you tell me about how to clean vermeil without ruining it? I don't have any pieces yet - but the reason I'm asking is that a host suggested yesterday to put clear fingernail polish on the medal and that should protect it.... Would that be right? How do you clean vermeil? What's the best way to clean silver and platting like YG or Platinum? Steam?

Any pointers would be very helpful. I like the look of some of the vermeil pieces but never buy for hearing it will eventually wear out.

WHAT?!!!!!! which host said to do that? The clear nail polish trick is what you do for FAKE crap like those mystery metals they call silvertone and goldtone. The clear nail polish can ruin it so DO NOT DO THAT. It will ruing your jewelry! You also can't use normal jewelry cleaners on it. Use those jewelry cloths only on the vermeil spots. Think of it as a pearl. Don't get it wet, don't get lotions or hair products on it, perfume, etc. I seriously can't believe a host said to do it. Was it Adi? That is something I can see him saying.

[Gemaholic]

I wipe gold plated jewelry with a dampened (not wet) soft close weave (like old handkerchiefs) cloth after every use. Every so often I put the pieces into a bowl with lukewarm water and about three drops of Dawn dish soap. Any dish soap will work, but Dawn seems to get the natural oils deposited by our skin off the jewelry a little better. Let this sit for about 20 minutes, Then rinse thoroughly under cold water. If it hasn't been cleaned for a while you can gently scrub the crevices with a sift baby toothbrush BEFORE you rinse. Then dry of with a dry soft cloth.

For silver jewelry I make a paste of baking soda and vinegar and rub it on the jewelry and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then I wipe it off with a soft cloth. If it is VERY tarnished it may take twice. After cleaning (to keep from getting tarnished again too soon) put a few drops of mineral oil or baby oil on a paper towel and rub down your silver. If you get too much on just get a dry paper towel and rub it off

WARNING don't use either of these methods if there are drusy, pearls, or welo opal stones in the jewelry!

The vinegar baking soda method is very risky. If your jewelry has gemstones, you can risk getting those on it which can damage the stone depending on which one it is. Vinegar is actually used as a test to differentiate minerals from each other so it can majorly do damage. Some gemstones and minerals will actually disintegrate in vinegar! Please trust me on this as this is my area of expertise. I also don't recommend this for gold plated/overlay or vermeil jewelry either. I hate to sound like a SLC spokeperson, but they sell jewelry cloths here that work wonderfully on my vermeil and overly jewelry. No need to subject your overlay and vermeil jewelry to liquid if it can be avoided.

[Blossom]

I wipe gold plated jewelry with a dampened (not wet) soft close weave (like old handkerchiefs) cloth after every use. Every so often I put the pieces into a bowl with lukewarm water and about three drops of Dawn dish soap. Any dish soap will work, but Dawn seems to get the natural oils deposited by our skin off the jewelry a little better. Let this sit for about 20 minutes, Then rinse thoroughly under cold water. If it hasn't been cleaned for a while you can gently scrub the crevices with a sift baby toothbrush BEFORE you rinse. Then dry of with a dry soft cloth.

For silver jewelry I make a paste of baking soda and vinegar and rub it on the jewelry and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then I wipe it off with a soft cloth. If it is VERY tarnished it may take twice. After cleaning (to keep from getting tarnished again too soon) put a few drops of mineral oil or baby oil on a paper towel and rub down your silver. If you get too much on just get a dry paper towel and rub it off

WARNING don't use either of these methods if there are drusy, pearls, or welo opal stones in the jewelry!

I was watching the mindless entertainment of a trivia game show & it was said you could use Alka-Seltzer (w/water as directed) to remove tarnish from silver jewelry by soaking a few minutes.

And you can drop a couple Alka-Seltzer in your toilet bowl to clean.

Well it didn't clean my toilet bowl & haven't tried it on silver but wouldn't on a nice piece if I did!!

[JewelryQueen]

Gemaholic

First I respectfully acknowledge your superior expertise.

In regards to the silver cleaning method I primarily use that on silver rings and bangles that have no gemstones. Another caveat is jewelry with intentional oxidation in engraved areas as it can negate this effect. For items with gemstones I use a Q tip only on the silver areas and very carefully. For me this works quicker and better than other methods I have used. NEVER on anything with pearls or mother of pearl as it will eat the nacre right off! And as for drusy I don't even wear it if it is raining outside!

The gold plate and vermeil method was given me by my jeweler in the event I could not take the items to him to be cleaned. It can indeed be harmful for a limited type of gemstones. For example If your sapphire/ruby/etc has been oiled to make it shine more it may affect this treatment.

In any case I have CAREFULLY used these methods for years on some jewelry that is old enough to drink, and to date to no ill effect. Maybe I am just lucky.

Never put polish on any jewelry you give a hoot about! I never use a sonic cleaner with the exception of diamonds. I am more than leery of most chemical cleaning solutions.

[Gemaholic]

Gemaholic

First I respectfully acknowledge your superior expertise.

In regards to the silver cleaning method I primarily use that on silver rings and bangles that have no gemstones. Another caveat is jewelry with intentional oxidation in engraved areas as it can negate this effect. For items with gemstones I use a Q tip only on the silver areas and very carefully. For me this works quicker and better than other methods I have used. NEVER on anything with pearls or mother of pearl as it will eat the nacre right off! And as for drusy I don't even wear it if it is raining outside!

The gold plate and vermeil method was given me by my jeweler in the event I could not take the items to him to be cleaned. It can indeed be harmful for a limited type of gemstones. For example If your sapphire/ruby/etc has been oiled to make it shine more it may affect this treatment.

In any case I have CAREFULLY used these methods for years on some jewelry that is old enough to drink, and to date to no ill effect. Maybe I am just lucky.

Never put polish on any jewelry you give a hoot about! I never use a sonic cleaner with the exception of diamonds. I am more than leery of most chemical cleaning solutions.

I have never used a sonic cleaner. I almost bought one but it seems there are so many gemstones that shouldn't be put in there so it seemed too risky. Do you notice a different when you use it? I forgot which brand I bought one time of jewlery cleaner, but I forgot about my rings...a day passed. I finally remembered and went to check on them.. Oh man was it sad. The overly came off completely leaving behind a rough, unpolished, unappealing silver and two tanzanites fell out. Indeed jewelry cleaners can be just as dangerous as other methods! I'm super careful now, but I still get nervous even leaving some of my jewelry in for even a few minutes.

[OtherSideOfTheTracks]

I wipe gold plated jewelry with a dampened (not wet) soft close weave (like old handkerchiefs) cloth after every use. Every so often I put the pieces into a bowl with lukewarm water and about three drops of Dawn dish soap. Any dish soap will work, but Dawn seems to get the natural oils deposited by our skin off the jewelry a little better. Let this sit for about 20 minutes, Then rinse thoroughly under cold water. If it hasn't been cleaned for a while you can gently scrub the crevices with a sift baby toothbrush BEFORE you rinse. Then dry of with a dry soft cloth.

For silver jewelry I make a paste of baking soda and vinegar and rub it on the jewelry and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then I wipe it off with a soft cloth. If it is VERY tarnished it may take twice. After cleaning (to keep from getting tarnished again too soon) put a few drops of mineral oil or baby oil on a paper towel and rub down your silver. If you get too much on just get a dry paper towel and rub it off

WARNING don't use either of these methods if there are drusy, pearls, or welo opal stones in the jewelry!

A big THANK YOU @JewelryQueen for this valuable info! I have ruined jewelry by with jewelry cleaner. I know never to clean pearls with jewelry cleaner or my opals. I really appreciate you thoughtfully and thoroughly giving this advice. I'm going to bookmark this post.... If I can find out how to bookmark posts. Maybe I can from my phone.

Really appreciate it! You know it would be excellent if @ShopLC would add how to clean jewelry - if only they put it on the invoices.

[OtherSideOfTheTracks]

I posted before I read your post @Gemaholic ! THANK YOU too for the great info! Really appreciate you and your expertise very much!!

[OtherSideOfTheTracks]

omg....I haven't refreshed and I'm just catching up. @Gemaholic , the host that suggested the clear finger-nail polish was yesterday early morning with Peter.....6-9 AM. I think it was Loretta. I'll post when I remember for certain! BUT she did say that!!

[Gemaholic]

omg....I haven't refreshed and I'm just catching up. @Gemaholic , the host that suggested the clear finger-nail polish was yesterday early morning with Peter.....6-9 AM. I think it was Loretta. I'll post when I remember for certain! BUT she did say that!!

@othersideofthetracks are you sure it wasn't goldtone or silvertone she was referring to? I just can't believe a host would suggest clear nail polish on vermeil. That's very disturbing if she did!