April 30, 2018
Here find some basic tips to clean your metal jewelry.
First try using hand soap and warm water. Use a washcloth to gently clean the jewelry. It’s usually not a good idea to let fake jewelry soak in water for a long time as it can ruin the look or finish of the jewelry. Or, pour hot water into a bowl. Place salt, soda, and dish-washing liquid into a bowl.
Below find more tips for the specific metals we offer in our shop.
Brass
There are a couple of ways to clean your brass naturally and more gently, and the ingredients are in your kitchen. The first natural cleaner for brass is ketchup. Yes, ketchup. The mild acid in tomatoes removes tarnish and dirt from brass. Rub ketchup onto item with a soft cloth, rinse with warm water and dry thoroughly. You can also soak small brass items in a bowl of tomato juice to clean them. Put them in the juice and let them sit for five minutes (longer, if they’re really dirty.) Pull them out, rinse with warm water and dry thoroughly.
Lemon juice also contains a mild acid that will clean brass. There are two lemon-based cleaners you can make that will leave your brass shiny and bright. For light tarnish, cut a lemon in half and sprinkle it with table salt. Rub the salted lemon over the surface of the brass. Once you’ve covered the surface with the lemon juice and salt mixture, wipe with a soft cloth and buff till the piece shines. For heavy tarnish, make a paste using two parts cream of tartar to one part lemon juice. Apply the paste to the item and let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes. Rinse the item thoroughly with warm water, then buff with a dry cloth.
To prevent your newly clean brass from tarnishing, rub it with a thin coat of mineral or linseed oil. Also, avoid touching brass items as much as possible because the oil on your hands will hasten tarnishing.
Knowing how to clean brass will keep it shiny and beautiful, with a minimum of work.
Copper
Here some tips to clean your copper pieces:
Vinegar, Flour and Salt -The first natural cleaner to answer the question of how do you clean copper uses that standby, vinegar. Mix 1/4 salt, 1/4 cup flour and enough vinegar to make a thick paste. Use a soft cloth to rub the paste on the surface of the copper. Buff till it shines. Rinse with warm water and dry thoroughly.
Lemon Juice and Baking Soda Mix – You can make another natural cleaner by mixing lemon juice (or vinegar) and baking soda into a sudsy mixture. Apply to the copper and buff with a soft cloth. Rinse with water and dry.These mixtures work because the acid in the vinegar or lemon juice strips the oxidized patina from the copper and the salt acts as a mild abrasive to remove the grime. You can also use lime juice instead of lemon.
Ketchup – Grab a bottle of ketchup for the third natural cleaning idea. Yes, ketchup. This is how to clean copper with a condiment. The acid in the tomatoes cleans grime off copper. Rub a thin layer of ketchup on your copper item and buff till it shines. Rinse and dry.
Vinegar and Salt – Dissolve salt in vinegar. Use a soft cloth to apply the liquid solution to the item, then buff till the copper gleams. Rinse and dry. If dents in the copper are holding any grime, use a soft toothbrush to scrub the copper.
Boil It – If none of the cleaners we’ve suggested work, put one cup of vinegar, one tablespoon of salt and three or four cups into a large pot and bring to a boil. Put your item in the pot and boil it till the tarnish falls off the item. It may need more scrubbing when you pull it out of the pot, but you’ll need less elbow grease to get the shine back.
Once your copper is shiny again, keep it cleaner, longer, by wiping a thin layer of mineral or linseed oil on it. Knowing how to clean copper, how to clean a copper sink and how to clean copper bottom pans will make these items beautiful.
Nickel Silver
Create a cleaner consisting of one-part vinegar and one-part water. Dip a soft cloth into the mixture and clean the metal with the mixture to remove any existing contaminants. Make a paste from baking soda and water and rub it onto the jewelry with a soft cloth to remove any existing tarnish spots. You can also use silver polish to remove tarnish, but this may aggravate allergies for some people.
Rinse the nickel with a damp cloth and allow the jewelry to dry completely. Place a small amount of a polymer car polish onto a soft cloth. Rub the polish over the jewelry. Allow the polish to sit on the jewelry for about five minutes, then buff off any excess polish. This will coat the metal in a polymer finish that will harden and protect the metal from exposure to moisture and air, which can cause tarnishing. The polymer coating will also protect the nickel from coming in direct contact with the skin.
With a few easy steps, your gorgeous jewelry can look like new again!