How to clean gold with ammonia?
All modern women, and even men, love gold. This is a beautiful and status metal. Products from it are inherited or bought as a gift. But nothing in this world lasts forever. Gold jewelry often needs to be cleaned as it loses its original luster. High-quality cleaning can be carried out at home on your own, simply by buying ammonia in a pharmacy.
Gold is a metal that requires careful handling. Products from it very easy to damage and strip the protective film. From this follows the conclusion that gold must not only be purified, but also left undamaged.
Causes of pollution
All jewelry is made not only from pure gold. Impurities must be added. It is because of them that jewelry fades. They get dirty and lose their original appearance.
If you consider pure gold, you will see that it is a soft material that wears off quickly. It is easily exposed to the external environment. Jewelry made of pure material can be easily damaged mechanically. If you squeeze it lightly, it will turn into a piece of metal without any form.
The main reason for the darkening of gold is the contamination of the surface of the jewelry.
You should not wear gold during housework, so as not to pollute it. It is undesirable to take a shower in jewelry, also remove rings when washing your hands.
Creams and cosmetics are the most common cause of darkening of jewelry, which is very difficult to clean gold at home. If you use makeup often, wipe your jewelry with a soft cloth as often as possible.
It happens that jewelry does not darken, but loses its luster - this indicates the presence of a large number of small scratches on the jewelry. In this situation, it is recommended to give the gold to the jeweler. You can clean jewelry with scratches at home using tooth powder and ammonia. Wipe the product thoroughly with this mixture. This method is suitable for products without stones.
Ligature
Jewelers add other metals to gold in order for the alloy to sparkle with different shades and it would be possible to make jewelry from it that amaze with its beauty. The disadvantage of the ligature is the rapid contamination of the product.
The following impurities are added to gold:
- To give a white color to the metal, you must add nickel or platinum. White gold is considered one of the most expensive.
- To give the red color you need copper. Such an alloy of metals was very popular in Soviet times. The more copper added, the brighter the color will be.
- Rubidium is needed to obtain a metal with a green tint. Jewelry from this alloy is not so popular, so the fair sex is not very fond of receiving them as a gift.
- Black gold is quite a rare alloy. To get it, jewelers cover the gold item with cobalt or ruthenium.
Cleansing at home
No matter how high-quality the material for making jewelry, they tend to lose their attractiveness and brilliance. All this happens due to long-term use of the product or improper storage. In this situation, ammonia will help.
In addition to ammonia, it is enough to have boiled water and washing powder of any brand on hand. It is necessary to place gold in a vessel and pour a mixture of the above funds, leaving for a couple of hours. After that, you need to thoroughly rinse the jewelry with plain water and dry it.
You can also use a cleaner that contains ammonia and peroxide, which also helps to give gold items an attractive appearance. But here it is necessary to withstand only twenty minutes, so as not to spoil the decoration. Also avoid cleaning natural or artificial stones with this product. For them, you need to take alcohol and a cotton swab, gently clean the surface without immersion in any solution.
If we are talking about such a type of gold as white, then it is better to use professional cleaning, as it is easy to damage.
But you can, of course, take the risk and do it yourself. The best option is ammonia and water, in a mixture of which you need to keep the products for no more than half an hour.
Important nuances
You need to know that no method of cleaning at home can guarantee a 100% result. If you really value your product, for example, it was inherited from your great-grandmother, then it’s better to turn to a specialist. He will provide guarantees for his work and after a short time you will receive your product back beautiful and shining.
Be careful when cleaning gold jewelry with stones.Ammonia can affect them in the most unpredictable way. Precious stones must be removed from the jewelry before the procedure.
If you decide to clean yourself at home, then you need to know exactly the composition of the alloy. For example, in the production of white gold, either platinum or nickel is used. These two metals are completely different in their chemical composition. And it's impossible to tell them apart with the naked eye. This can only be done by professional jewelers with many years of experience. Platinum is quite strong and difficult to damage. Nickel is easily attacked by aggressive cleaners. This must be taken into account before the cleaning procedure.
Hard-to-reach places are a problem for cleaning jewelry. In some parts, it is almost impossible to rid the product of dirt. In this case only a professional can help. It is better to entrust this work to him.
Cleaning with hard brushes harms the product the most. In second place is the procedure with cleaning powder. This mechanical action leads to scratches. If the top layer of jewelry is worn off, then the product will be more susceptible to corrosion.
You are fully responsible for the consequences of cleaning at home. It is necessary to follow all the rules to avoid damage to expensive jewelry.
Recipes
If the jewelry is not very dirty, it is enough to fill them for half an hour with a solution of a glass of water and about 7-8 drops of ammonia. After that, carefully wipe the products with a dry soft cloth. At home, almost any product without stones can be cleaned with ammonia.
In more complex cases, cleaning gold at home will help saturated solution of granulated sugar and a teaspoon of ammonia. Leave the products in it overnight and wipe them in the morning with a soft cloth.
Gold items can also be cleaned at home using this method: pour water into a saucepan, add a spoonful of ammonia and dishwashing detergent, then boil the item for 15 minutes.
The following solution will also help to clean gold at home: mix a glass of water with liquid soap and add a few drops of ammonia. Soak the product for an hour and wipe with a soft cloth.
Citric acid will also help clean gold at home: take 25 g of citric acid and a spoonful of ammonia for half a glass of water. Pour jewelry with this solution and boil for 5 minutes, after which they are washed under cold water.
The easiest way to clean gold at home is to use table salt. For half a glass of water, take 2 tablespoons of table salt and the same amount of ammonia. In this solution, gold is left overnight.
Contact lens cleaning solution helps to clean gold at home. Jewelry should be left in it overnight, and in the morning carefully wipe them with an unusable toothbrush dipped in ammonia. After that, they must be thoroughly rinsed.
One of the most well-known methods of cleaning gold at home is as follows: beer is mixed with egg white in equal proportions, a tablespoon of ammonia is added, after which the products are wiped with this solution.
You can clear gold of a sample below 700 at home using a slice of lemon or a 10% solution of citric acid mixed with ammonia.Wet a flannel cloth with this solution and wipe the jewelry thoroughly.
As you know, with the help of laundry soap you can wash everything, including jewelry. At home, this decoration method is used as follows: rub a little laundry soap into water, add a spoonful of ammonia, dip gold there and boil it. After that, gently wipe the jewelry with a cloth.
You can also go to a jewelry store: they probably sell products for cleaning jewelry at home. It can be either liquid, paste or powder products, or special wipes, with which it is very easy to clean jewelry. It is convenient to use a cloth for smooth jewelry without hard-to-reach places.
If you want to clean jewelry with stones at home, you should be quite careful. The methods listed above are suitable for any jewelry, but this is not entirely true. Some stones may suffer from such treatment, so it is better not to clean them at home. A jeweler will be able to clean gold without risk to stones.
You will learn more about cleaning gold at home in the following video.