Cleaning "Don'ts"What must be kept in mind is that the softness of pearls and their low resistance to heat and chemicals mean that special precautions must be taken when cleaning them. Here are some important guidelines:
1.) Do not use commercial jewelry cleaners on pearls unless the product label states they are safe for pearls. Many such products contain ammonia, which will cause deterioration.
2.) Never clean pearls in an ultrasonic cleaner. That can damage the pearls. Never steam-clean pearls. Heat can harm them.
3.) Never use detergents, bleaches, powdered cleansers, baking soda or ammonia-based cleaners on pearls.
4.) Do not wear pearls when their string is wet. Wet strings stretch and attract dirt, which is hard to remove. Likewise, do not hang pearls to dry.
5.) Do not use toothbrushes, scouring pads or abrasive materials to clean pearls. They can scratch the pearls' surface. If there is a lump of dirt that can't be rubbed off with a soft cloth, trying using a fingernail, which has a hardness of only 2.5 or less.
Cleaning "Do's"Cleaning pearls is not complicated. After you wear them just wipe them off with a soft cloth or chamois, which may be dry or damp. This will prevent dirt from accumulating and keep perspiration, which is slightly acidic, from eating away at the pearl nacre.
1.) When taking off a pearl ring, grasp the shank, or metal part, rather than the pearl. This will prevent the pearl from loosening and coming into contact with skin oil on your hand.
2.) If pearls have not been kept clean and are very dirty, they can be cleaned by your jeweler or they can be washed in water and a mild soap, such as Ivory or Lux Liquid and cleaned with a soft cloth. Some liquid soaps, such as Dawn, can damage pearls. Pay attention to the areas around the drill holes where dirt may tend to collect.
3.) After washing your pearls, lay them flat in a moist kitchen towel to dry. When the towel is dry, your pearls should be dry.
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Cleaning "Don'ts"
The presence of Hydrogen Sulfide in any material that silver comes into contact with, is one of the prime reasons for silver tarnish. Sulfur containing materials generally cause silver to tarnish and Hydrogen Sulfide is just one of these. Materials like wool, rubber bands, fuels derived from fossils, a few types of paints and rubber (latex) gloves are some of the common materials that cause tarnishing of silver. Certain foods like eggs and onions also hasten the silver tarnish process. You can therefore realize that, touching silver jewelry with oily hands or after a meal could also stain your silver jewelry with tarnish. The extent and speed with which your silver jewelry tarnishes is also related to the climate and in general, high humidity would result in silver tarnishing much faster.
