6 Tips to Keep Your Jewelry Looking as Good as New

Jewelry needs to be cared for specially. It's sensitive stuff! Since I began selling jewelry in 2010, friends with heirlooms destroyed by cleaning chemicals, family with snapped necklace chains, and customers who've hair sprayed while wearing necklaces have all come to me at some point for help. In an effort to help you have the shiniest, prettiest look possible, I've laid out 6 tips to keep your jewelry looking good as new.  

6 Tips For Shiny Bling

1. DO NOT wear jewelry in the shower. If it's inexpensive, cheap material water can destroy it. For more precious metals and stones, the products you use in the shower can shorten the life of your treasure. Soap dulls gold, leaves a film on precious stones, and it can tarnish your silver jewelry. Water beating down on your chains can cause them to stretch.

2. DO NOT use hairspray while wearing your jewelry. This seems kind of obvious, but it is so easy to forget to take off little baubles before doing your do that people often end up with a gooey mess on their hands. Besides the mess, hairspray can be extremely harmful to gold and silver.

3. DO NOT do housework while wearing your jewelry--ANY housework. Many chemicals damage precious metals and gems. If you'll be using bleach, make sure to take off all your rings. Bleach is an incredibly powerful chemical, so it's best to treat it with respect and caution.

4. DO NOT put your jewelry on before doing your make-up. There are chemicals in your make-up (and perfumes) which can be destructive to precious metals and many gems.

5. DO NOT wear your jewelry while swimming. Chlorine isn't good for metals (precious or base) or gems.

6. DO NOT wear necklaces in bed. Besides being a choking hazard, you can actually pull chains, clasps, and other facets of the piece apart in your sleep.

Extra tip for your Sarah-Lambert Cook jewelry: Including the above tips, you should also be careful when you store your piece. Resin can scratch against sharp edges, so keep it in a nice safe spot and not jumbled together with other pieces. 

Here are some great tips for keeping jewelry clean:
Tips on Cleaning Jewelry by Rome Neal (CBS Tips)
How to Clean Your Jewelry: The Definitive Guide and Review by idazzle