How to Clean Vintage Costume Jewelry
Treat your vintage costume jewelry and rhinestones even better than fine jewelry and gemstones to ensure their survival for future generations.
Costume Jewelry Likes to Self Destruct
Because costume jewelry was meant to be cheap or throw away type jewelry, it has built in self-destructive features—it was not made out of materials that were meant to last. This means all the more care must be taken when cleaning or storing your jewelry if you mean to preserve it for future generations.
Prevention is Easier than Cleaning
The first step in making your jewelry last is preventing it from getting dirty or hurt. Do not wear jewelry when you're doing housework, or out for a jog or building a deck. Lotions and perfumes, hair sprays, mousse, etc. can wreak havoc on the delicate metal platings and "stones" on vintage costume jewelry. Make jewelry the last thing you put on when you're getting ready (do hair, make up, lotions, etc. first) It only takes a few seconds but it will save you lots of time cleaning or repairing your jewelry later.
Tarnished Metal
First try cleaning tarnished metal with a clean cloth like an old t-shirt. Do not use baking soda or other gritty materials that often leaves surfaces scratched and looking more liked "brushed silver" than shiny. If this does not work, move up to special metal polishes, designed for the type of metal you are using. Be wary of any product containing grit that may scratch or dull the surface.
When jewelry has a green or patinated surface it is a sign that oxidation has occurred. This is not simple tarnish and should not be polished off (see How to Repair Vintage Costume Jewelry.)
Jewelry with Adhesives (Rhinestones, Beads, Coatings, etc)
Pieces of jewelry with glues or adhesives should not be cleaned with water or other solvents. Instead, a soft cloth or sometimes a soft brush can be used to clean these items.How to Clean
Step 1: Try the Dry
Always start to clean a piece of jewelry in the least intrusive manner. That means a clean, soft, dry cloth to dust and remove fingerprints, oils, etc., without using excessive rubbing which could damage platings or loosen stones. A clean Q-tip can be handy for getting into tighter spaces. If that adequately cleans the piece, great. No further cleaning is necessary.Of course, if your jewelry is made of a substance that cannot withstand water (paper beads or feathers for instance), you must stick to the Try the Dry method and never get them wet.
Step 2: Dampen and Dry
If the soft, dry cloth is not doing the trick, or if you've got something nasty like old cigarette smoke smell, or some kind of residue on your jewelry piece, the next thing you could attempt to use a damp piece of cloth (some people use Windex or watered down ammonia to dampen the cloth—but remember never to use these or other commercial type cleaning agents on pearls). A little soapy water (on a barely damp cloth) could be used as well, although I find soap needs to be rinsed off, and we know how vintage costume jewelry hates moisture, so the less you use, the better.Alcohol pads (sold at drug stores) can be used to clean the face of bigger rhinestones that have no coatings. But be careful not to use on alcohol soluble plastics, stones, or coatings. Alcohol pads have the advantage of air drying quickly, but be careful not to let any liquid run along the edges or get underneath rhinestones or other "stones" as it will loosen stones and dissolve adhesives easily too.
Step 3: Throwing Caution to the Wind (Emergency Cleaning)
If you don't care about keeping the piece for future generations, but only want to wear tonight…or if you've got a piece of jewelry that's so dirty and gunky it can't be worn any other way, or you're just dead set on trying to immerse it in water anyway, then there are some water cleaning ways to clean jewelry (but be warned, you could cause damage to stones, platings, beads, coatings, etc.) Remember, even with the emergency method, your objective is to get the piece dry as fast as possible.Emergency Method: (Use only after trying Step 1 and 2)
Put some room temperature water (not cold) into the sink with a drop of dishwashing soap. (You really only need a drop here) Immerse jewelry in the solution for only a few seconds, swirl around, and immediately take out. DO NOT SOAK JEWELRY IN WATER. Rinse with room temperature water (not cold) (significant temperature differences like hot or cold water could cause more damage) and immediately pat dry with clean, soft cloth. Place on a towel. Quickly use your blow dryer and on it's lowest (not hot) setting, dry the piece as fast as humanly possible. Once you are sure it's dry turn the piece over so any rhinestones or cabochons are face down, and blow dry again. Leave the jewelry face down on a dry towel for a few hours or overnight to be sure any water that got behind the stones has drained away.Note: