1. CHECK YOUR JEWELLERY
It can be easy to miss that your jewellery needs a clean, either because you wear it all the time and don't notice the changes or because it's put away somewhere and you don't look at it too often. You might be a bit alarmed when you realise just how grimy and dull some of your favourite pieces are.
The good news is that cleaning for most jewellery pieces is pretty easy.
2. GIVE IT A WASH
This is the simplest cleaning step to do, but pretty much all jewellery should benefit from it. You might find it's all you need to do for many pieces, particularly for solid gold jewellery or fashion jewellery.
Wash your jewellery with warm water and a gentle colourless and fragrance free
liquid soap. Castile soap, soap for woollens or even a gentle hand soap with no moisturiser, antiseptic or harsh chemicals should work well.
Use a cloth or soft bristled brush to help get grime out of crevices. Be sure not to leave soft gems such as opals or pearls soaking in water for too long as it may affect them.
Once it's clean make sure you rinse it and dry it quickly and well.
3. DON'T ALWAYS USE AN ULTRASONIC!
If your silver jewellery has blackened or patinated areas as part of the design or features soft gemstones like opals, lapis lazuli, turquoise or pearls then avoid ultrasonic cleaning to be on the safe side.
This process can damage some finishes and soft gemstones, so use it with caution.
4. REMOVE TARNISH WITH A POLISHING CLOTH
Sterling silver in particular will tarnish over time, but other precious metals can as well, including lower carats of gold. This is a normal process with metal 
and the tarnish is easy enough to clean off precious metals.
If your precious metal jewellery is tarnished, use a precious metal jewelry cleaning cloths to remove it, such as the professional quality polishing cloths we have available in our online store.
Once you're happy, give the piece a rinse and carefully dry it to remove any chemical residue.
5. CLEANING SILK THREAD NECKLACES
If your necklace has silk thread (like our very popular forget-me-nots silk necklace) it can also be washed in warm soapy water, followed by a rinse.
Lay the piece flat or hang it up to dry the silk should straight. Otherwise use an iron on the silk setting to straighten it out.
6. STORE YOUR JEWELLERY CAREFULLY
Now your jewellery is nice and clean, have a think about how best to store it to avoid needing to clean it again too soon.
Avoid storing precious metal jewellery in a humid place - especially the bathroom - as it will speed up tarnishing. If you live in a humid location, then extra care should be taken and more frequent cleaning undertaken.
Ideally precious metal jewellery should be stored away from free flowing air. This will also slow down tarnish, plus it will help keep dust at bay. Keep it in a pouch, small jewellery box or similar if you can.
If you like having your jewellery on display, then be aware that it's likely to need a clean more often, so keep an eye on it.
Another key point is that metal rubbing against metal, harder gemstones or other hard surfaces will cause it to get scratched. To avoid scratching, do your best to keep your precious metal jewellery stored individually and so that beads or chains don't rub against pendants.
