4 Tips for Cleaning Jewelry

If you're like me, you love to wear different fine and fashion jewelry during different seasons.  When the season comes to a close, I tend to stash those pieces away until the following year and often times do so without giving them a good cleaning before storing them away in my jewelry box.

If you treasure your jewelry like I do, it is important to give every jewelry item worn often, a good cleaning now and then especially when you are putting away seasonal jewelry that will be stored for any length of time before being worn again.

Here is what you should be doing with jewelry that will be stored away for the next year.

* Inspect each piece of jewelry for damage, broken clasps, loose stones etc. Any piece that has damage should be repaired right away so it is ready for wearing the following year.

* Clean each piece of jewelry according to how it has been made.  Fashion jewelry can be cleaned with a little soap & water or commercial fashion jewelry cleaner. Sterling silver should be polished with an anti tarnish polishing cloth and gold jewelry should be cleaned with a cleaner that has been specifically made for gold jewelry.

* Never toss your jewelry into your jewelry box so that they are lying on top of one another. Jewelry should be stored in a lined compartment of a jewelry box and in a single layer so that other jewelry pieces are not touching it nor scratching it up. Necklaces should be hung.

* If you have a lot of jewelry specific to any one season, consider giving them their own jewelry storage case or jewelry box.

* Do not store jewelry in plastic storage bags as the bags offer no scratch & dent protection and the chemicals in plastic materials can actually cause damage to your fine and fashion jewelry over time.  Satin or velvet is best.

It's easy to keep your favorite seasonal jewelry nice and ready for the next year. Take 5 minutes before storing your jewelry and you will enjoy your lovely jewelry for a long time.

by Jasmine Yesak, Contributing Editor at ChasingTreasure.com, online retailer of quality jewelry boxes, jewelry organizers and watch boxes. Jasmine is a Jewelry Enthusiast and Organization Consultant, she writes about Jewelry Care and Jewelry Storage Tips.