Taking The Right Care For Your Charms And Jewellery

Being a recent amateur Pandora collector and part fanatic I’ve grown much attached to my small collection of treasured charms. I’ve never had much experience with cleaning jewellery and some materials that I have never had to try and clean before like glass and leather bracelets. It’s not as easy as you might think to clean metals, but something that is against your skin and exposed to air can get quite dirty, even when I work in an office all day. Each kind of metal and material needs to be cleaned in a special way with a different kind solution or cleaner. Here’s what I’ve gathered for myself from the official jewellery cleaning tips and my own research.

Gold From my knowledge, gold isn’t so bad to clean as it is the less reactive of the precious metals out there meaning it will tarnish less and can be cleaned by most things. Nevertheless, gold is quite expensive and also notoriously soft and can get misshaped. To wash it from simple dust, oil and dirt you won’t need too much. Some dishwasher detergent in water of carbonated soda water to help lift the bits of dirt from the jewellery surface. Soak it for a bit then clean with something tough but not too rough, stay away from steel wool dishwashers as gold is soft and can scratch a little easily remember! If there are gemstones then they are likely glued to the sockets so don’t submerge it in solution but clean it with brushing. I’ve also read a lot of things about using chemicals to clean the gold, but in the wrong concentrations this can damage the gold so I’d stay away from home methods and go with any jewellery store formula which I’d also default to for any unusual stains!

Silver The tarnish on silver is a chemical reaction that changes the colour of the metal to an unpleasant brown and dulls the natural brilliant shine of silver. Don’t confuse it with oxidised silver than is a deep grey, done on purpose to some Pandora charms and bracelets! Tarnish results from general wear and accumulated dirt. You’ll not want to go too hard on silver with an abrasive cloth or brush as it can scratch, dulling the metal. From my experience the best way to clean tarnish is with the boiling water, salt and baking soda method that chemically reverses the change in metal! This means none of the precious silver needs to be rubbed off. Dry just by dabbing with a soft cloth. Again go to a jeweller of professional cleaner to get your more expensive charms or those with gemstones cleaned. For my couple of silver rings I’ve gotten a jeweller to clean the metal and stone carefully.

Leather From a local store I was able to find a leather cleaning solution. The instructions were simple and fairly straightforward to clean with a soft cloth. I’ve only used it for daily maintenance of my charm bracelet when I wear it and haven’t had to deal with any major stains yet (fingers crossed!). From what I know cleaning with soap is also a good way is you use only the suds when mixed with water. Also, don’t dry with heat as this can shrink the leather and make it last not as long.

Mostly I guess the best cleaning method is keeping your bracelets and charms stored safely and away from serious stains and scratches. I always remember to take mine off when I’m off at the beach or somewhere unsavoury for my jewellery! If you’ve got something really unusual happening with your bracelet or jewellery then Pandora usually does a great job at with their service policies.