Jewelry is one of the most prized possessions for millions of people all over the world. It has also become a very popular collectible, which acquires its value if it has an interesting story behind it. This normally means that at some point or another, it needs to be cleaned or taken care of in general to make sure that this special piece doesn’t get damaged by things like scratches and dirt. But how often should you clean your jewelry?
Before we answer this question, let’s first see what kind of responsibility lies with the wearer when it comes to taking care of his/her jewelry collection. Generally speaking, people are advised not to wear their fine jewelry while doing anything physical that might cause damage, such as sports or chores. No matter how careful you are, there is always the risk that this will happen.
On top of that, it’s generally advised not to clean jewelry too often because this can damage the stones and the metals used in their making. Most precious metals are very sensitive to acids found in things like soap, which means that if you clean your jewelry with regular body soap or something else that contains acidic ingredients, the metal might start degrading over time. If you clean your jewelry too often using abrasive methods such as scrubbing it with a brush under running water, you’re also increasing your chances of damaging it. If you have expensive jewels on your item of jewelry, it doesn’t make much sense to clean them with cheap household items or popular cleaning methods such as hot water or ultrasonic cleaners.
The cleanest, safest and most effective way to clean your jewelry is by using a soft brush, some warm water and dish detergent. This solution will clean the dirt off of your jewelry without damaging it or making it look dull in any way. That being said, if you wear your jewelry for one day only and take good care not to let it come into contact with anything dirty, there is no need to clean it every time because all the sweat residue, skin oils etc. are also removed after just one use. It’s recommended that you clean your jewelry once a month at the maximum because letting it sit unwashed for too long could lead to its color fading away or getting discolored completely due to dirt accumulation.
As you can see, cleaning jewelry is not a simple task and takes some time and effort. With all that in mind, it’s best to clean your items of jewelry when you clean yourself (every week) and go for once-a-month cleanings when you want to make sure everything is clean and sparkly.