Costume Jewellery Care & Cleaning

Costume Jewellery and Fashion Jewellery is often produced with no-precious metals - usually gold and silver plated, and with or without synthetic or glass stones.

No matter how high the quality of costume and fashion jewelery, it still needs handling with care in order to remain in good condition. With a little care, the life of the metal plating can be enhanced. The following tips will help you to keep your jewellery looking at it's best.

• Jewellery should be put on last and taken off first while dressing
• Always store in a cool dry place and store separately in order to avoid scratching
• Avoid contact with chemicals, such as perfume, moisterising lotions, deodorant, hairspray etc
• Clean your jewellery with a mild detergent and a soft cloth if required. Rinse with clean water and dry with a soft cloth.
• If required it is also possible to use commercial silver dip liquid only on fashion jewellery. Use of a siver polish cloth, paste or other strong jewellery cleaner is recommended.

There are also other specialised products on the market for cleaning fashion and costume jewellery. These are available from companies like Hagerty (available on line from Fred Harrison Ltd ). However for the most part diluted detergent and water will work as well.

For more information on jewelllery care, please see our other articles Silver Jewellery Care & Cleaning and how to keep your jewellery looking lovely.

Silver Jewellery Care & Cleaning

The main problem with silver jewellery is tarnishing. Tarnish is a product of oxidisation which is caused with the interaction of silver jewellery with oxygen and other chemicals. When worn regularly, tarnishing on silver jewellery does not occur, therefore when not in use - silver jewellery should stored be carefully. Here are a few tips on the storage and cleaning of silver jewellery.

• To keep your silver tarnish free, store in an air tight container or plastic bag, ideally wrapping in tissue or a velvet pouch.
• Store individual pieces of silver jewellery separately to avoid scratching.
• Frequently clean your silver with a mild dishwashing liquid diluted in water. Thoroughly dry your silver jewellery after exposure to water.
• To remove tarnish from silver, you can use a commericial silver dip liquid, polish paste or polish cloth. Make sure there are not any loose stones or parts and limit the expoure of gemstones to silver cleaners.
• Always rinse jewellery after cleaning and dry thoroughly with a soft cloth.
• Please read the cleaning product's instructions before use.We recommend the Hagerty range of jewellery cleaning products, available from most high street jewellers or on-line from Fred Harrison Ltd
  
  For more information on jewellery care and cleaning, please see our articles How to keep your jewellery looking lovely and Costume Jewellery Care & Cleaning.

How to keep your jewellery looking lovely

When you first receive a piece of jewellery (hopefully from Taylor & Vine!), no matter how much it costs and what it is made of you will love and cherish it. To help you look after it and to keep it looking as lovely as the day you received it, we have put a few tips together for you.

• Always protect your jewellery from sharp blows, scratching, sunlight and extreme of temperature



• To prevent silver and costume jewellery from tarnishing, always keep your jewellery away from the air in a jewellery box or roll.



• Try to keep pieces apart, so they don't rub together



• Before storing necklaces, remember to refasten the class to help prevent knots and kinks



• Jewellery should be put on last and taken off first while dressing



• Always store in a cool dry place, and store separately in order to avoid scratching



• Avoid contact with chemicals such as perfume, hairspray deodorant, household cleaning products etc



• Never go swimming in your jewellery - chlorine in the pool can damage it



• Wear jewellery for appropriate tasks, avoid wearing rings when cleaning, gardening or performing sports activities.

For more information on jewellery care and cleaning, please see our articles Silver Jewellery care & cleaning and Costume Jewellery care & cleaning.