Baking soda, salt and aluminum foil.
Lay all of your darkened costume jewelry on the foil. Mix one tablespoon salt and one tablespoon of baking soda and mix with one cup warm water. Pour into the dish. The mixture will create a chemical reaction with the foil and bubble as it cleans the jewelry.
Use A Jewellery Polishing Cloth
- Use a quality jewellery polish cleaning cloth that will remove dirt and tarnish as well as give the pieces their shine back. - Be sure to be gentle when polishing the jewellery by wiping instead of scrubbing. - Buff your jewellery in between deeper cleans to maintain its shine.
If your gold is tarnished, you can usually clean it with dish soap and water. Grab a small bowl and fill it with 1–2 cups (240–470 ml) of warm tap water. Then, squirt a few drops of dish soap into your warm water and mix it for 10-15 seconds with a spoon.
Soak the pieces of fake jewelry in diluted jewelry polish solution for 30 seconds and quickly remove them. Gently wipe the jewelry with a rough cloth without scraping or scrubbing. Wash your pieces with cool water and pat dry thoroughly with a soft cloth.
How to Do the Float Test to Check If Gold is Real. Fill a cup or bowl with water and carefully drop your gold piece into it. If the gold is real, it will sink to the bottom of the cup. If it's fake, it will float to the top or hover in the middle of the cup.
Drop your gold piece into the filled container. Gold will sink quickly, while floating or moving very slowly means you likely have fake gold on your hands. This is also true if the item floats. Tarnishing and rust after being in water is also a sign of fake gold.
Out of all of the options, gold plated pieces are the most affordable. However, because there is a thin layer of gold applied to a base metal, gold plating over time will wear away or can flake off.
Our fashion jewellery ranges are made of alloy and then plated for colour. We advise you not to wear your fashion jewellery in water, when using cleaning products, lotions or perfumes. These chemicals can cause tarnishing. We also offer polishing cloths in store and online.
On average, gold plated jewelry can last about two years before the gold plating begins to tarnish and wear down. However, the length of time can be much shorter or longer depending on whether or not you decide to properly maintain your jewelry collection.
Vinegar is very destructive, so when you apply the vinegar to a fake piece of gold, the vinegar will cause the jewelry to tarnish. Gold is a non-reactive metal, so real pieces of gold will not react to vinegar.
You can use clear nail polish to prevent discoloration and chipping on costume/fashion jewelry you can apply a thin coat of clear nail polish as protection. This will keep your less expensive jewelry in tip-top shape!
It's important to remember not to use anything acidic like vinegar or baking soda. Because this type of jewelry is so fragile, using something harsh or with a lot of acid could ruin it rather than make it look like new again.
Vinegar. Cleaning your gold and gemstone jewelry couldn't be easier with white vinegar. Simply drop the jewelry into a jar of vinegar and let sit for 10 to15 minutes, agitating occasionally. Remove and scrub with a soft-bristled toothbrush, if necessary.
Unfortunately, costume jewelry or pieces made from cheaper base metals are not usually valuable. So while these can be recycled and melted down into new pieces, jewelers may not take them, as they are not worth much. However, your local municipal recycler may actually accept them!
In general, oxidized silver jewelry should not be cleaned with jewelry cleaning dips or aggressive polishing that will strip the blackened surface. If cleaning is necessary, use mild dish detergent and soft toothbrush with as little rubbing as possible. The oxidized finish of jewelry can be restored at any time.