How To Clean A Gold Chain With Alcohol

If you do a web search, you will find many different formulas that can be effective. One of the more popular chemicals that people like to use is ammonia and water. I find this to be too abrasive on the nose.

For a quick cleaning solution for gold and diamond jewelry, try a little isopropyl alcohol. You can fill a small container with some alcohol and drop your jewelry directly into the solution. Let it soak briefly and then remove the item. The nice thing about alcohol is that it will dry clear. You don't even need to rinse your jewelry off. Just dry it and go. It's a quick way to get a sparkle before you head out the door.

Long Cleaning

For a slightly longer cleaning method, we recommend good old Mr. Clean (the green solution) and water. Use 1 part Mr. Clean to 3 parts water.

Warm up your water/cleaner solution, in the microwave. Do not put your jewelry into the microwave. Only put the solution into the microwave. We recommend that you make it "coffee hot".

Once the solution is warmed up, take it out of the microwave and place your piece(s) of jewelry in the solution. Let the jewelry soak for several minutes and then remove and brush gently with a soft bristle toothbrush. We just recycle old toothbrushes that we don't use on our teeth anymore. Just run the toothbrush through a dishwasher cycle and it will be clean and ready to use on your jewelry. If you purchase a toothbrush especially for this task, we recommend a baby toothbrush. It has the softest bristles.

After you have soaked and brushed your jewelry, rinse it off with clean tap water. Please be careful on this last step. You can use a small strainer for the safest method. Never rinse anything over an open drain. Better to take one more step and put a small bowl or strainer under your piece than drop it down the drain.

When you have finished cleaning your jewelry, lay it on clean paper towels or a soft cloth. Again, take care not to use anything too fibrous; small fibers can easily be caught up in jewelry with prongs.

You can store your cleaning solution for future use in a small jar with a lid. Baby food jars and containers of this size work really well.

More Tips

Any time you do something at home, the best advice is to use your common sense.