How to Store & Care for Your Jewellery
Posted by EMMA TAYLOR
Take Care of Your Jewels the Right Way
At Ania Haie, we’re big on jewellery that we’ll wear season after season. But what’s the best way to take care of your jewellery to make sure it looks its best every time you go to wear it?
You may have seen, we offer a 12-month warranty on all pieces for manufacturing defects. But what about the general wear and tear of jewellery that can dull its shine over years of wear?
Here, you’ll find our top tips for how to make sure your jewellery looks as good as new for the longest time possible.
Store Everything Individually
Start with thinking about how you store your jewellery. Keeping pieces in boxes or pouches rather than mixed together will help to avoid scratches and tangles. Or invest in a jewellery box that helps you to find the perfect place for every item.
We also recommend fastening necklaces and bracelets to keep them in place and avoid tangles.
Find the Perfect Place for It
Your jewellery is precious. So, finding the perfect place to store it is also important. To keep your collection at its best, store in a cool, dry and dark place - out of direct sunlight.
Avoid Oxidisation
The process of oxidisation is what causes tarnishing on jewellery (dark and black marks). You can help to avoid this by sealing jewellery in zip-lock plastic bags when stored to lock out the air.
Be Careful Where You Wear Them
Most day to day situations are fine for jewellery. But extreme heat, water and humidity can cause the types of discolouration that start to make jewellery look less than brand new. Try to remember to slip your jewellery off for showers, baths, steam rooms, saunas and basically, anywhere it could get too hot or wet. This small effort will help your jewellery last so much longer.
Don’t Mix with Sprays & Chemicals
Where possible, you want to avoid getting any sort of chemical on your jewellery. Anything from perfumes, makeup and body oil to deodorant and body lotion can affect the look of your jewellery.
Instead, try to remember to put your beauty products on and let them dry before adding your jewellery to your look to minimise the contact your jewels have with these products.
And always avoid spraying perfume directly onto your necklaces.
How to Clean Your Jewellery
Overtime jewellery loses some of its initial lustre. So, occasionally, it’s good to give it a gentle clean.
You can usually bring this lustre back very quickly with a specialised, non-abrasive jewellery cloth. For jewellery that has a little more wear, try washing it very gently with a soft-bristled toothbrush under warm water. If you need to use a little soap, use gentle hand wash soap without chemicals or fragrance.
Jewellery polishes that you can find online often come with harsh chemicals or abrasives. But these are not usually necessary and can actually cause more harm than good. So, we recommend to stay away from this type of cleaner and stick to gentle soap.
Take a few extra steps to care for your everyday jewellery just as you would with fine jewellery and you’ll find it looks brand-new for so much longer. For any further information or advice, check out our Jewellery Care page or drop us an email with anything specific.