How Gold is Cleaned in Home Conditions

Jewelry, including gold, when worn, is contaminated. The appearance is spoiled, the plaque makes it dull and unattractive. In people with increased sensitivity of the skin, contaminated earrings can cause inflammation, not to mention earrings for piercing. To keep jewelry in a clean state will help purify gold at home.

Dust and ordinary dirt can be removed easily, but there are areas that are practically not washed with soap and water. Such pollution comes from the oxidation of metals, which are included in the alloy of the jewelry. After all, any jewelry is not made of pure gold, but from its alloy, as the gold itself is too soft and very quickly damaged and abraded. To impart the necessary strength to the alloy, already "base metals" such as nickel, copper and zinc are added. Therefore, to clean gold at home, you need to know that it is not the gold that is oxidized, but the metals that are contained in the jewelry alloy. The lower the sample of the product, the more impurities are present in the composition of the alloy. For example, 585 test means that in 1 gram of such an alloy only 585 mg of gold is contained, and the rest is other metals.

Not being a professional, you can not determine what dirt is on the surface of the product, the more you can see many of the small areas affected by oxidation can be discerned only at high magnification. Therefore, to clean gold at home is better in stages.

Simple washing.

Dissolve any detergent (shampoo, soap, detergent, liquid detergent) in hot water with a temperature above 50 degrees. In this solution, you need to lower the gold items. Soak it is necessary 1-2 hours. Rinse the dirt with a toothbrush. If you start washing immediately, then hard-to-reach areas will not be cleared. These are the inner sides of the fasteners, the fastening of stones, grooves, grooves, screws and so on. When soaking, they are deoxidized and easily removed by soft bristles without damaging the jewelry. After this, rinse it with running water and dry it. This cleaning of gold at home allows you to keep your favorite jewelry clean. If, after such cleaning, the product remains dim, then go to the second stage.

Chemical cleaning.

A solution of ammonia is used to remove the oxidized elements on the surface of the gold ornaments. When interacting with silver and copper oxides, ammonia causes the formation of new compounds: ammonia, which readily dissolves in water. Such cleaning of gold at home is done in an aqueous solution of ammonia with a concentration of at least 25%. Products fall into this solution for 2-3 hours, if desired, they can be left there at night. At the end, the gold items are washed with water and dried.

Mechanical cleaning.

Such purification of gold at home is required if neither the first nor the second stages of purification have helped. Sometimes sulphide formations can appear on the surface of products, which can not dissolve ammonia. They impart a black color to the surface of the gold alloy. For mechanical cleaning of gold ornaments, abrasive materials are used. However, not ordinary, but special. For cleaning jewelry from gold, there are special cleaning pastes. They are made on the basis of vegetable oil, petroleum jelly or soapy water. Various powders are added to the base, for example, chalk, white magnesia, corundum and others. The paste is taken with a soft brush or rag and applied to the surface, gently wiping it from dirt. After performing the cleaning with a dry soft cloth, remove the remnants of the paste and wipe the product with ethyl alcohol, you can drink it with vodka. After this, it is washed with water and dried.