Tarnished Gold
When you look at your tarnished gold ring, earring or any other piece of jewelry, you feel disappointed. The blackish or reddish tarnish gives it a dirty appearance. We like gold jewelry because of its attractive shine. However, as it is tarnished, all its shine is lost and it looks extremely dull and dark. It is not that the gold jewelry that you wear regularly become tarnished. Even those which are stored in the jewelry box may get dirty spots.
What Does Gold Get Tarnished?
Basically, gold is inert in nature and does not react with other elements easily. Therefore, there is no chance of pure gold getting tarnished. However, as pure form of gold (24 carat gold) is very soft, other metals like silver and copper is mixed with it to make it hard. It is these elements that react with atmospheric oxygen, moisture, etc. and cause tarnishing of gold. There are other substances like sweat, natural skin oils, skin care products, makeup, perfumes which when comes in contact with the gold make it appear more dirty and discolored further. You must have noticed that those jewelry which contain 18 carats or higher percentage of gold does not get tarnished but those with lower carats, say around 9 to 14 carats are more susceptible to tarnishing. This is because of the simple reason that in the later case the percentage of gold is low and other elements are high.
How to Clean Tarnished Gold
Gold is a precious metal. You cannot afford to use a wrong jewelry cleaning technique and cause damage to it. For this reason. here we are discussing two effective technique that can restore the attractive natural shine of the yellow metal.
Method 1
You may come across many different products in the market which claim to clean tarnished gold. Instead of using them, you can simply clean tarnished gold with the help of mild dishwashing liquid and warm water. Prepare a soapy solution by mixing up one quirt of dish soap in one bowl of warm water. Soak the jewelry piece in this solution for about 5 minutes. Then rub the surface of the jewelry gently with your fingers. If the dirt is stubborn, then you can use a soft bristled brush to scrub it thoroughly. Once all the dirt and debris are removed, rinse it off with warm water. Wipe off the excess of water with a soft cotton cloth. Then let it air dry for the next 24 hours and then put it into the jewelry box. Here, I would like to mention that do not use any kind of harsh or abrasive cleaning agents or stiff brush for cleaning tarnished gold. As gold is soft, these materials can cause ugly scratches on the jewelry piece.
Method 2
Alternatively you can use more aggressive method of cleaning with the help of ultrasonic machines. You can purchase one such machine which is smaller in size than those which you see in jewelry stores for cleaning up tarnished gold jewelry at home. These machines release ultrasonic sound waves for removal of dirt and debris from gold. You have to first pour some cleansing liquid into the machine. Use a mixture of liquid dish washing soap and 95% ammonia for this purpose. Place the jewelry into the machine and set it on. The ultrasonic sound waves radiated from the machine will break down the dirt present on the jewelry piece and make it clean and shiny without any scratches.
If none of the home remedies succeed in bringing back the original sheen of your gold jewelry then you must take some professional help. The jewelers are more experienced than you and me and they can rightly suggest how to clean gold jewelry which is in a badly tarnished condition. If there are some bad scratches, then it may require polishing with special abrasive papers available with the jewelers.
You can prevent any further tarnishing by taking proper care of gold jewelry. Gold jewelry must be stored in protected jewelry box to prevent dust exposure. Keep each piece of jewelry in separate case so that they do not scratch each other. Tarnished gold may occur due to exposure to hot water for a long time. Therefore, it is advisable not to wear them while taking a hot shower.
