You don't have to feel like your jewelry isn't good any more when it gets a little dirty.

Jewelry stores rather you buy something new or pay them lots of money to clean your jewelry, but most pieces are timeless. A good wash and a shine, and most pieces can look like new.

Drum roll please..

Here are 6 jewelry cleaning secrets that jewelry stores rather you didn't know. I use all these secrets myself and especially love secret number 6 if you are less motivated to DIY. (Don't cheat and look ahead.)

 

The Jewelry Cleaning Secrets

Good Old Dish Detergent : Cleaning gold jewelry can actually be done with some simple dish soap. Take a few drops of standard dish detergent and empty them into a bowl of warm water.

Hot water can be dangerous to precious stones. Soak the jewelry for about 15 minutes. Pull them out and scrub them with a toothbrush.

Kick It Up a Notch With Club Soda : For some dirtier gold jewelry you may need something more powerful. If the dish detergent doesn't work, you can go to plan B.

Club soda can often provide an extra kick. Make sure to use a pasta strainer and close the drain though when cleaning your jewelry over the sink.

 

What? You Said Tin Foil? : Yes you can actually clean your silver jewelry with tin foil.  Place it in a small bowl and fill it with about an inch of hot water. Stir a tablespoon of salt into the water. Take a piece of aluminum foil (4 inches by 4 inches).

You will make 4 tiny strips about 4 x 1 inches long. Pt the strips in the bottom of the bowl. Place your silver jewelry in the solution for approximately 5 minutes. Once you remove the silver jewelry from the solution, rinse it under cold water. Gently rub with a cloth to dry. Repeat the process 2 or 3 times as necessary.

Shiny Ring Stack after cleaning them with Simple Shine

No Ammonia Please : Ammonia is actually an incredibly powerful and effective chemical for your jewelry.  The problem is that its a harsh chemical which is not good for you or your jewelry.  Jewelry with soft or porous stones like pearls are delicate. They should be cleaned lightly with a soft lint free cloth. 

Synthetic pearls should be cleaned with a mild formula. Don't include any ammonia or harsh detergents. 

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Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz : For your diamonds you can actually use Alka-Seltzer to make them shine.  Take a glass and fill it up about half way. Place your ring at the bottom of the cup and then drop in the Alka-Seltzer. After a couple of minutes you should be left with a sparkling diamond. 

LAST AND IN MY OPINION THE BEST : For years I have used many of these DIY tricks to keep my jewelry clean.  I did this so I didn't have to go to the jewelry store and pay too much to have them cleaned.  

"I don't believe the finer things in life have to cost a lot of money. " 

Says Elissa Spektor.  While doing research for a better option for myself, I came across Simple Shine.  Simple Shine is a line of jewelry cleaning solutions and cloths founded by Fashion Jewelry Site owner Elissa Spektor.

Elissa started her career as a buyer at a large department store. After working there for years, she was frustrated by the red tape and bureaucracy of getting new and hot products in front of customers.  

Elissa started her own online jewelry boutique which quickly became one of the fastest growing online jewelry stores.  In less than a year it grew to thousands of customers with jewelry featured from over 30 different designers. 

In her quest to add jewelry cleaners as another offering for her customers she started looking around for options.  To her surprise and mine as well, the market was filled with less than desirable options.  

The products were all old, stuffy, and most contained harsh chemicals.  Elissa set out to create her own line.  She created a line of jewelry cleaners that embodied her standards and principals.  

SIMPLE SHINE, is natural, non-toxic, and powerful.  I'm incredibly impressed and can't speak highly enough about the line.

 

• No Harsh Chemicals
• 100% Non Toxic
• No Ammonia
• Made in the USA
• Socially Responsible

They have solutions that work on gold, palladium, platinum, silver, stainless steel, titanium, diamonds, cz's, porous stones, pearls, beads, enamel and treated gemstones.  

If you have some jewelry that could use a shine up and you rather not go the DIY route, you must try the Simple Shine products. Take a look and thank me later.

Karina Gerdaren

P.S. Look at all the testimonials and pics below from their happy customers.