Jewelry House: Jewelry Care

JEWELRY CARE: HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A LARGE EAR-RING COLLECTION

Minimize. Having a large collection of earrings may be difficult to manage. Before you begin on the following steps, sort through your collection, separating the ones you like from the ones you don't. Keep the ones you like, and get rid of the rest. you can do this by giving them to a friend or sibling, or if they're made of silver or gold you can send them to a company that will trade old gold for money.

Organize. A little orderliness can go a long way. It makes it a lot easier to find when you want a particular item of jewelery. Some suggestions:

By color (all pink together, all gold-tone, rhinestones, etc.)
By amount of use. (Put your regularly used ones in one area, the others in a different location.)
By size ("Dangly earrings" separate from "Post" earrings)

Contain It A large earring collection requires a container that is easy to use, keeps your items clearly organized, and perhaps be asthetically pleasing. Here are some ideas:

Commercial Jewelry boxes: Be sure to count how many earrings you have, and purchase one accordingly. Some jewelry boxes are simply felt-lined trays, some have racks with holes, some have both.
Tool box/Tackle box: Available in most every hardware or home goods store! Find one that has many small, individual enclosures and a lid--preferably one that cannot be lost. While not usually very attractive, it is cheap, practical, and great for travel.

JEWELRY CARE: How to clean Gold Jewelry

There are different ways to clean your gold jewelry will show you the easiest method.

THE DISH SOAP METHOD

Put a few drops of liquid dish detergent in a bowl of warm water. Mix gently. For even better results, you can use sodium-free seltzer water or club soda...the carbonation loosens soil and removes debris.

Soak the gold jewelry in the solution for 15 minutes

Scrub each piece of jewelry with a soft-bristle toothbrush. Stiff bristles can scratch the surface of your jewelry. Special brushes designed for this purpose are best, but an eyebrow brush will also work.