How to clean a gold chain at home: 18 secret methods, instructions

05/16/201705/17/2017 Maria Ivanova 3 comments

A gold chain is a classic piece of jewelry that remains the most desired gift for both men and women. The accessory has not gone out of fashion for many years; you can wear it alone or together with other jewelry.

A gold chain has always been an object demonstrating a person’s high position and wealth.

History of origin

The skill of making gold chains has come to us since ancient times. People who believed in the sun god wore yellow jewelry. In Ancient Egypt, rulers and pharaohs, when they passed away, took gold jewelry with them to their tombs, which symbolized the majesty and divine origin of the deceased.

Many wore a gold chain as a talisman, putting a sacred meaning into it - “the infinity of a closed circle.”

Modern gold chains come in elegant, massive, thin, thick, and various shapes and configurations. Jewelry craftsmen make a variety of products, where everyone can choose a chain to suit their taste.

Thanks to scientific and technological progress, today you can find gold of various shades: pink, red, white and even green, to which precious metals are added.

How to clean gold plate

Of course, you cannot use any aggressive agents or abrasive cleaning in this case - there is a risk of damaging the thin layer of gold plating. It is better to clean a gold-plated chain, bracelet or ring in the following way:

Prepare a solution: 1 liter of warm water, 1 tsp. soap shavings, 5-6 drops of ammonia.
Soak the jewelry for half an hour - they should be completely immersed in the solution.
Rinse in running water, dry on a napkin or towel.
Polish with a suede cloth.

Tips before cleaning

If worn daily, a gold chain needs frequent cleaning.

Before you begin the cleansing process, consider the following tips.

If your jewelry has inserts with precious stones (pearls, turquoise, coral), then you should not use aggressive cleaning methods. This can lead to darkening or disruption of the structure of the stone.
After cleaning, the accessory should be rinsed well with water and dried naturally.
In the container used for solutions, the bottom is covered with foil, and when boiling, a small piece of fabric is placed.

How to clean white gold

Cleaning eggs with beer and whites is an interesting, unusual method that is very popular. It adds incredible shine to gold jewelry. You can also clean white gold chains.

Instructions:

It is necessary to pour 50 ml of light beer into the egg white, beat with a whisk
A gold chain is immersed in this paste and kept for an hour.
Next, clean with a soft sponge; all that remains is to rub the jewelry with a soft cloth.

Cleaning with beer and protein
Not all classical methods are suitable for cleaning jewelry made of white gold, which is an alloy of precious metal with copper, palladium or nickel - in particular, any vinegar is contraindicated.

White gold cleaning

White gold with inlay cannot be boiled: high temperature will weaken and even deform the places where the stones are attached. For glued stones, cleaning with immersion in aqueous solutions is not used. White gold with diamonds can be cleaned without contact with the stones: simply wipe them with a soft cloth - this is often enough to restore the shine. If the shine has not returned, use the standard toothpaste cleaning described above, then wipe the product dry.

Ways to clean a gold chain

There are several methods, tried by experienced housewives, on how to clean a gold chain at home.

4 Ingredient Blend

To make such a mixture you will need:

ammonia -1 tsp;
hydrogen peroxide 1-3 tsp. (depending on the size of the product);
washing powder - a pinch;
water - half a glass;
small jar.

All ingredients are mixed and the gold chain is placed in the solution for 30 minutes, lightly mixing the contents of the container. Then the accessory is washed with plenty of water and wiped with a napkin. After this procedure, the jewelry regains its shine. But this cleaning method cannot be used if there are stones on the product.

Soap solution

This method cleans gold items well from accumulated dust and dirt. As a soap composition, you can use powder, dishwashing detergent, liquid soap or solid soap (after grating it).

Add soap to a small container of water until a rich foam forms. Place the decoration in it for a few minutes. For better cleaning, you can scrub the item with a soft-bristled brush. After which you need to rinse with water and wipe with a soft cloth.

Boiling soda

Boiling soda will help remove dirt from a gold chain at home.
An enamel cup is filled with water and put on gas. A gold item and 1-2 tbsp are placed in it. l. soda The water should cover the product. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Keep the chain for several minutes and rinse under the tap. The accessory will be shiny again and look like new.

Toothpaste

Using toothpaste is the easiest and most affordable way to clean gold. Tooth powder is also suitable for these purposes. Apply paste or powder to a toothbrush and rub the chain.

Use a brush with soft bristles to avoid causing microcracks on the parts.

Salt

Salt is considered an excellent cleaner for gold jewelry. For this purpose, saline solutions are prepared.

Add 1-2 tsp to coarse salt. lemon juice. Rub the mixture onto the chain and rinse.
In a separate cup, mix one tablespoon. salt, soda and soap. A small piece of foil is placed in an enamel dish with a chain on it. Spread salt gruel on top and pour a glass of hot water. Leave for 30 minutes. As a result, the item looks like it was in the store.
For 2 tbsp. ammonia add 1 tsp. soda Keep the chain in this mass for a day. Then washed and dried. Use a cotton pad soaked in vegetable oil to treat the decoration.

Vinegar 9%

Vinegar solutions are successfully used to combat darkened and contaminated gold jewelry. Vinegar essence is poured into ceramic or enamel dishes. The gold chain is also sent there. Keep the item in the solution for a day.

Vinegar is also added to solutions used for boiling. Pour 100 ml of water into the bowl, add 3 tbsp. soda Gold is added to the mixture. After waiting for it to boil, add 2 tbsp. vinegar and keep on gas for another 3-4 minutes. Take it out, wash it and rub it with a flannel cloth.

Ammonia

Place gold jewelry in a container with 30 ml of ammonia and cover with a lid. It is advisable to keep the product for a couple of hours or even leave it for a day. Ammonia will not spoil the appearance of the accessory, but, on the contrary, will add shine.

Cleaning Products

They also clean a gold chain using edible products.

with mustard . Then wash in water and dry with a cotton pad.
Grate a fresh onion water. The chain is rubbed with the gruel or left in it for 2-3 hours.
The potatoes are turned into porridge and kept for the same amount of time as in the onion mass.
Citric acid is dissolved in 100 ml of water, the chain is dipped into it and left for half an hour. The acid can be replaced with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
To polish the product to a shine, use 1 tbsp. laundry soap shavings , powdered chalk and tbsp. water. Using a cotton pad, apply the resulting mass to the chain.
egg white to 100 ml of beer and rub the resulting mixture into a gold chain. Rinse under running water.

Pollution prevention

On your own, at home, it is quite difficult to return a gold chain to its original appearance “like when you bought it in a store.” In order for the jewelry not to fade for as long as possible and to remain clean, you need to properly care for it every day and store it correctly:

Avoid interaction with chlorine, alkali, acid, sulfur, and mercury substances. Therefore, jewelry is removed every time when taking water procedures, applying medicinal ointments, gels to the body in the neck area.

Cloudiness appears much earlier if the products are exposed to frequent temperature changes; this happens when taking water procedures in a bathhouse or sauna.

Do not expose jewelry to strong ultraviolet exposure. When performing x-rays or taking ultraviolet baths, the chains are removed.

When at home, when there is no need to look “perfect and expensive,” it is best to take off gold jewelry. For storage, choose places that completely eliminate mechanical friction.

Cardboard boxes are prohibited from being used for storing gold due to the sulfur content in cardboard. Such simple rules of care will allow you to leave your jewelry in a clean, shining form for a long time.

Cleaning gold chains should be done as needed. You shouldn’t reach into heavy accumulations of dirt, but there’s also no point in “scrubbing” unnecessarily.

Unusual ways

Carbonated drinks (Cola, Pepsi) can clean gold jewelry from dirty deposits.
Old lipstick can be useful as a cleaning agent. The chain segments are rubbed with it, followed by a cotton pad.
Contact lens cleaner is another way to clean gold jewelry. It perfectly removes dirt and dark stains.
If iodine solution gets on the gold chain, you can use toothpaste as a cleanser. You need to lightly rub it into the resulting stain.
Hyposulfite has also proven itself well in the fight against iodine stains. A tablespoon of the substance is diluted in a glass of water. Then the chain is placed in the glass and kept in the solution for 30 minutes. They take out the item and run a toothbrush over it.

Thus, you can clean a gold chain yourself at home, using available products. There are many ways to clean gold jewelry; everyone can choose the most gentle and effective one for themselves.

Professional products

Today, many special chemicals are offered for public sale, with the help of which gold chains can be cleaned even from persistent and old contaminants. These products, before using which you should definitely read the instructions for their use, include:

Solutions intended for professional cleaning of jewelry.
Special cleaning pastes. Such pastes, with the help of which the surface of the chain can be cleaned not only of contaminants present on it, but also of blackness, are applied with a cotton pad, after which the product is washed with alcohol and dried.
Wipes that can be wet or dry. The latter, before using them, are simply moistened with a small amount of water, after which they can be used to clean the product and return its surface to its original shine and shine.

Metal Features

Gold in jewelry is an alloy. After all, the metal itself is quite soft, and 99% gold can only be seen in the form of ingots (most often). What additional metal impurities are included in the alloy determine the cost of the product, its color, as well as the degree of interaction with the environment.

If the chain is made of white gold, then it may contain impurities such as silver, nickel, or copper, but on top it will be covered with a thin layer of rhodium, which is prone to abrasion. For such products, aggressive cleaning methods should be avoided. Red gold contains copper, so, as a rule, it is not of such a high standard.

This means that it is more exposed to dirt, and the metals included in the alloy may react ambiguously to washing in one solution or another. And if rare and expensive alloys of blue, purple or green gold have become contaminated, then it is better not to risk it and use special professional cleaning products.

Gold is a frequent “neighbor” of many precious and semi-precious stones and materials. Of course, a chain with stone inlays is very attractive in appearance, but cleaning such jewelry should be approached with extreme caution. After all, pebbles can fly off during mechanical cleaning (if they were glued) or even change their color, become smaller, or dissolve in an aggressive composition. For example, pearls interact very actively with vinegar and dissolve.

Tips for caring for neck jewelry when worn regularly

Recommendations that will help increase the period of use of the gold chain:

Do not shower or bathe with jewelry;
Body cosmetics should be applied before putting on the chain;
You can’t play sports without removing gold;
It is better to refrain from visiting a bathhouse or sauna with jewelry;
if you plan to wear a chain, it is better to choose a more suitable outfit - with a neckline or a minimum length of pile.

Consumer Reviews

In my house, all problems with decorations are solved with the help of toothpaste. This is a universal remedy, but after cleaning it is important to remove traces of its presence, since the paste gets clogged into microcracks.

Vitaly Kremarenko, Belovo

Nastya Grineva, Beloretsk

Once I used GOI paste on glass, it became cloudy, after which I did not experiment with gold. I heard that it contains an abrasive. But my husband showed by example that it is metal (not plastic or glass) that can be cleaned without the risk of injury.

From time to time I try different products: shampoos, soaps, etc. My selection criteria: low cost, ease of processing. I recently heard from a friend about carbonated drinks for cleaning jewelry. I liked the way Cola worked. In this case, you can leave the gold in it for a while, the chain will not deteriorate.

Maria Stopkina, Moscow

Toothpaste

Take toothpaste without any additives. Avoid using bleach paste as it contains abrasive particles that can scratch the metal. The optimal choice is colorless gel.

Apply the paste to a cloth.
Rub the product with a napkin using soft circular movements.
Rinse the decoration from the paste under running water.
Wipe the gold item dry and then wipe with a microfiber, felt or flannel cloth until it shines.