It’s always great to have little ways to do things yourself. This way, you are not reliant on a store, but can, in theory, fashion things out of nature. Now, I’m not going to be digging up stones and clays for makeup…but I could. And as for cleaners, doing it yourself really cuts down on the bills. And DIY natural jewelry cleaner is actually very simple. I was surprised at how well it works and I had to share it with you.
DIY Jewelry Cleaner
This cleaning method will only work on good silver. Costume jewelry will not come clean, though it will brighten. I’ll demonstrate this natural jewelry cleaner with the jewelry that I collected from my daughter.
**Note, do not use on pearls as the vinegar will harm them.**
Step 1: Gather tarnished jewelry. This is a mixture of silver and costume jewelry.
There will be a difference between costume jewelry and jewelry with gold or silver. Do not use this natural jewelry cleaner on pearls and be careful with certain costume jewelry that may have painted settings.
Step 2: Place foil in the bottom of a bowl and add jewelry so that it touches the foil.
Don’t worry about getting the foil flat or straight. Just make sure the jewelry is touching the foil.
Step 4: Pour baking soda over jewelry – enough to semi-cover.
Don’t worry about being precise. Just sprinkle baking soda over the jewelry.
Step 5: Add white vinegar – enough to cover. You can do this twice if you want to.
This is the fun part. Watch it bubble, get some tea, and relax. Your work is done.
Step 6: Wait 10 minutes
Step 7: Remove, rinse carefully
Make sure that you don’t lose anything down the sink (you can put them in a bowl of water to rinse), and wipe with a dry cloth.
You can see in the picture below that the jewelry on the right is sparkling, whereas the jewelry on the left is brighter than it was, but it still retains some dark areas, even some green.
This is the difference between costume jewelry and jewelry that actually has some silver. Costume jewelry brightens, but doesn’t clean well.
*Some people add salt and/or dish detergent to the mixture natural jewelry cleaner recipe. You can definitely give that a try as well, but I have found that the baking soda, vinegar, and tin foil does the trick perfectly.
Be careful that you do not scrub with salt or baking soda, as it can leave tiny scratches. Just let it sit. Letting it soak for a few minutes should take all tarnish away without scrubbing.
For other types of cleaning recipes, try these:
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