The Best Ways to Store, Clean and Keep them lasting longer

by Sonia Subash of Styles of Sonia

T.A.C says "We have been having contributors from other countries contributing various craft tutorials. This time, its nice to have a creative and fashionable homegrown jewelry designer to write about 'how to care for your jewelries"

We sure do know how to store our precious gold, silver and diamond jewelry in that perfect little velvet jewelry box but what about our costume jewelry and handmade jewelry? Although you don’t pay a huge sum to purchase these beauties, they still need to be taken care of just as carefully.

All kinds of jewelry should to be stored properly and in a cool, dry place as moisture tends to slowly make changes to the color and shine of the jewelry. Gold plated jewelry especially, is prone to very quick tarnishing when in constant contact with moisture, which mainly comes from your skin. 


We need to know that any metal base is eventually going to tarnish due to oxidation, but the maintenance of our jewelry will determine the lifetime of its beauty.


Now, I’m no expert but I do have lots of experience when it comes to maintaining my jewelry so allow me to share some of my tips with you.

"Although you don’t pay a huge sum to purchase these beauties, they still need to be taken care of just as carefully."

Before you put on your jewelry, make sure to spray on your perfume, and put on your hand lotion at least twenty minutes before you put on your jewelry as you will want to ensure that your skin has time to get dry before your jewelry comes on. After your outing and when you are ready to store your jewelry away, remove them and wipe them down with a slightly damp cotton cloth. Paper towels and tissues are not the best materials to wipe your jewelry with as they could cause tiny scratches on your jewelry, assuming there are little specs of dust or powder on it which is why it is important to use a damp cloth to very softly wipe down each piece of jewelry.


When storing your jewelry, don’t put them all together in one large jewelry box. They will scratch each other and slowly lose their luster. Scratches on your stones are irreversible. Although you may still be able to polish those nasty scratches off your metals, this actually requires for the top layer of the metal to be polished away.

The best ways to store your jewelry is in a jewelry tray. The idea is to just separate each piece of jewelry from the other. Wrap each piece in tissue or place them in little cotton pouches. Whatever material that keeps your jewelry dry is good to store them in. Every once in a while, give your jewelry a little pampering. Take them all out and wipe them down. 

Don’t use any chemicals or cleaning products. Just plain water will do the trick. You could also invest in a polishing cloth which you can use and reuse till the whole cloth is worn out. You could get these polishing cloths at most jewelry supplies stores. Anti-tarnish tabs are also available for purchase and you could slip these tabs into each of your jewelry boxes.

Most importantly, wear your jewelry at the proper times. Don’t wear them when you plan to do some exercising or house cleaning.

I hope you find this article useful. Good luck with collecting and keeping your longer lasting jewelry.


About Sonia

Sonia is a businesswoman, mother and a loving wife to her soulmate/biz-partner Fabian. She is also the Jewelry Designer for Styles of Sonia. Her designs are eclectic, stylish with a mixture of bohemian element. Sonia was also featured on Malaysia's popular talk show Bella on local channel NTV7, and was seen on Malaysia's prominent newspapers like New Straits Times and The Star for her upcycle jewelry CD collection. Last but not least, she was also featured here on The Artsy Craftsy. Visit http://www.stylesofsonia.com/



*Photos by Sonia Subash of Styles of Sonia