How to clean a gold chain at home?

Since ancient times, gold jewelry has been considered not only as a decoration for a person, but also as indicators of a special status, belonging to luxury and wealth. Chains, rings, bracelets - all this fascinates with its chic brilliance. But, unfortunately, over time, this shine disappears somewhere and the gold becomes dull and dark.

Gold in jewelry is an alloy. After all, the metal itself is quite soft, and 99% of gold can only be seen in the form of ingots (most often). What additional metal impurities are included in the composition of the alloy determine the cost of the product, its color, as well as the degree of interaction with the environment.

If the chain is made of white gold, then the impurities in it can be both silver and nickel, copper, but on top it will be covered with the thinnest layer of rhodium, which is prone to abrasion. For such products aggressive cleaning methods should be avoided. Red gold contains copper, so, as a rule, it is not of such a high standard.

This means that it is more exposed to dirt, and the metals included in the alloy may react ambiguously to washing in a particular solution. And if rare and expensive alloys of blue, violet or green gold are already contaminated, then it is better not to risk it and use special professional cleaning products.

Gold is a frequent "neighbor" of many precious and semi-precious stones and materials. Of course, a chain with stone inlays is very attractive in appearance, but cleaning such jewelry should be approached with extreme caution. After all, pebbles can fly off during mechanical cleaning (if they were glued) or even change their color, become smaller or dissolve in an aggressive composition. For example, pearls interact very actively with vinegar and dissolve.

You can clean a gold chain at home using the most common tools at hand, such as salt or soda, ammonia or dishwashing gel.

When refining gold, the main thing is to assess the degree of its contamination. In especially neglected cases, it is better to trust professionals or try several means and methods of cleaning. It is worth noting that there are many recipes for how to clean gold items, but there are only a few cleaning methods: ultrasonic cleaning, mechanical cleaning, simple “soaking” in solutions or rubbing with various mixtures, as well as boiling.

You can quickly and effectively clean the chain with coarse salt. Here are some recipes for salt-based cleansers:

• Add a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice to coarse salt.Grate gold with the mixture, then rinse and dry.

• Take a tablespoon of salt, soda and soap. Place baking foil on the bottom of an enamel dish. On the foil - a chain. Cover the decoration with a soda-salt mixture and pour a glass of hot water. After half an hour, the chain can be washed and dried.

A favorite remedy for many housewives to combat dirt is the most common baking soda. She copes with even the heaviest pollution with a bang. But for cleaning gold items - bracelets, rings, chains, it is better to dilute it or make a paste or solution out of it. Baking soda is an abrasive so there may be scratches when using the powder.

You can clean matte jewelry with a paste consisting of water, lime, soda and salt. Apply the paste on a flannel cloth, wipe the chain with it and leave to act for 4 hours. After, of course, wash and dry.

Line the bottom of an enameled cup with food foil or a soft cloth (napkin, handkerchief, rags). Add water and 1-3 tablespoons of baking soda, mix the ingredients, put the dishes on the fire. When everything boils, remove from heat and put the product there. It only takes a few minutes for the procedure to take effect. At the end, the chain is washed under running water and dried naturally.

You can enhance the cleaning properties of a soda solution with vinegar. When the solution boils, you need to add 2 tablespoons of essence, hold on fire for another 3-4 minutes. Then place the decoration there.If there is a lot of dirt, then you can try to boil gold in this composition for some time.

Ammonia will help get rid of blackness. When using it, consider the sample of the product. Base gold can be refined 10% solution. But higher quality jewelry will withstand 25% ammonia.

To clean it, you need to place the product in a jar with a substance (30 ml will be enough), leave it for a couple of hours (or even for a day if the layer of dirt is large) and then rinse with warm water.

You can also pour 100 ml of hydrogen peroxide into an enamel bowl, add 30 ml of ammonia to it. Put the jewelry in the solution for 12 hours, then wash and dry.

The chain will shine like new if you use ammonia to clean it:

• You can use a mixture of ammonia and water in a ratio of 1: 10. You should put a chain in this solution for a couple of hours. after washing and drying the product.
• Take 1 teaspoon of ammonia, a few tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide (from 1 to 3 if the product is massive), a pinch of washing powder, half a glass of water. Place all the ingredients in a small container, mix, and then put the chain there for half an hour. When the time is up, the decoration can be removed and thoroughly rinsed with water. Then wipe dry with a paper towel or soft cloth. Gold will shine again and will shimmer with beautiful highlights. This recipe cannot be used if the jewelry has stone inlays.
• 2 tablespoons of ammonia combined with 1 teaspoon of baking soda can help clean gold. Keep the decoration in this mixture for a day, rinse and dry. At the end, go through the chain with a cotton pad dipped in vegetable oil. Shine and shine are guaranteed.

One of the simplest, but no less effective improvised means for cleaning gold are the usual dishwashing detergents, as well as gels and shampoos. They perfectly wash not only dishes, head or body, but they will also clean jewelry without problems. There are several main cleaning methods:

• Make a soapy solution with foam, put the gold in there, rinse (you can even wipe it with a soft-bristled toothbrush), rinse.
• Mix water, ammonia and shampoo. In the resulting solution, put a chain of white gold for half an hour. Wash and dry naturally afterwards.
• A gold item without stones can also be boiled in soapy water. A tablespoon of the product in a glass of water, 5 minutes of boiling - and the result is on the face. But if this is not enough, hydrogen peroxide can also be added to the composition. First, boil the chain in soapy water, then add a spoonful of peroxide there and hold it on fire for another 5 minutes.

• Brew a strong infusion of chamomile flowers (200 ml of boiling water, an hour of infusion). Strain it so that there are no small particles that can settle or clog the chain links. Add a little tar soap to the infusion (you can use laundry soap, dishwashing liquid or washing powder instead). 1.5 cm from the bar is enough. Grind the soap, add it to the chamomile and heat it in the microwave. It is necessary that the ingredients are completely dissolved. Next, place the decoration in the solution for 2-3 hours. After that, rinse the product and dry it.

Salt, soda, ammonia or various detergents are among the most popular cleaning methods. However, this is far from a complete arsenal of means of dealing with dirt.Mustard, old lipstick, toothpaste or powder, contact lens solution, potatoes and onions, soda can all be used to make the chain shine again. Some recipes:

• Toothpaste can be used as a preventive measure or to eliminate small contaminants. It is enough to apply it on a toothbrush with soft bristles, rub the product with the composition, rinse under warm water and leave to dry on a soft cloth.
• To clean gold, you can lower it for a day in a bowl with vinegar essence.
• Wipe the gold with mustard, rinse with water and dry.

• Grandma's favorite methods of cleaning gold are the use of alcohol, cologne or gasoline. It is necessary to moisten a soft cloth, wipe the product.
• Grind fresh onions and / or potatoes into gruel, add 2 tablespoons of water. Put the chain into the mixture for 2-3 hours.
• Freshly made onion juice is also effective in fighting pollution. But if you don’t feel like squeezing the juice of the root crop, you can simply wipe the chain with two halves of the onion, and then rinse and dry your favorite decoration.
• Dilute citric acid with 100 ml of water or squeeze a lemon. Leave the decoration in the concentrate for half an hour.
• 100 ml of beer and egg white are also rubbed into gold to get rid of dirt.
• Soda (usually they use Cola, but you can also use Pepsi, Sprite) cleanses well.
• Go over the segments of the chain with an old lipstick that contains titanium dioxide. Then clean the product with a cotton pad.
• You can put gold in a contact lens cleaner.

To avoid further contamination of your favorite gold jewelry, you need to follow some simple rules:

• Try to avoid excessive contact of jewelry with water, aggressive substances, cosmetics.
• When visiting the pool, saunas, you need to remove chains and other gold items from yourself. It will not be superfluous to remove decorations during cooking and cleaning.
• Jewelry should be stored in caskets, special bags or boxes. Jewelry storage places should not be made of cardboard, as its composition contains sulfur, which has a bad effect on impurities in the gold alloy.

When removing the decoration at night, you can put it between two pieces of potatoes. And in the morning, you can simply rinse and dry the sparkling jewelry.

To give extra shine, jewelry can be placed for 5-6 hours in a highly concentrated sugar solution, then polished.

To make gold shine and continue to please the eye, you can polish it with a composition based on chalk and petroleum jelly. Take 1 tablespoon shavings of laundry or tar soap, a tablespoon of powdered chalk and a tablespoon of water. Vaseline can also be added to this composition. Apply the resulting mixture with a cotton pad on the product.

For example, you can wrap the chain in baking paper and put it in a container filled with salt for a day. At the same time, do not forget to repeat that "salt cleanses this object of negativity." A day later, the used paper and salt are thrown away, while the decoration is considered cleansed of bad energy.

How to clean a gold chain at home, see the following video.