How To Clean Jewellery With Baking Soda

Who doesn’t wish for cleanliness in their lives, homes, or other items? This struggle to achieve perfection keeps an individual like you striving forward.

Take the example of jewellery. Sparkling and newer-style metals or gemstones will come to your mind when you think of jewellery. Dull or rusted jewellery pieces are not worthy of being displayed, especially on occasions. If you regularly clean your jewelled collection, only then it will remain a shiny one.

Jewellery items lose their lustre with time due to various factors like dust, dirt, soaps, air, or moisture. It’s a misconception that you need professional jewellery cleaners to make your jewellery shine like a new buy. You can do it yourself without hiring some jewellery cleaner while staying at home with ease and less cost.

You require a magic item called BAKING SODA and general knowledge about how to clean jewellery with Baking Soda.

WHAT IS BAKING SODA?

Let’s shed some light on this awesome stuff. BAKING SODA consists of one item called SODIUM BICARBONATE which is basically a chemical component with the formula of NaHCO_3. The constituents of Baking Soda include a sodium cation (Na⁺) and a bicarbonate anion (HCO₃⁻). You can see it as a very fine powder generally.

HISTORY OF ITS ORIGIN

Sodium bicarbonate within the baking soda can trace its origins to the earlier mankind era when salt lakes evaporated globally, forming trona deposits. Here, Trona is the rock that becomes soda ash (sodium carbonate) after processing. This Soda ash is then processed in turn, resulting in baking soda production.

 DID YOU KNOW?

A pharmacist named Valentin Rose the Younger is thought to have discovered sodium bicarbonate in the year 1801. In 1846, the United States got its first baking soda producing factory with the help of two American bakers, John Dwight and Austin Church.

Nowadays, Baking Soda has become a must-have alkaline formula in each household because of its diverse set of benefits and general uses.

BAKING SODA AS A CLEANER

BAKING SODA has been known for its cleaning properties from the early days, not just for cleaning jewellery.

The soda blasting process uses baking soda to remove paint and corrosion. Here, sodium bicarbonate removes surface contamination from softer solid materials such as aluminium, copper, etc. Baking soda comes to the rescue because of its alkaline properties by removing surface rust. When mixed with water, baking soda acts as a gentle scouring powder. The rust faced with an alkaline-rich solution becomes water-soluble.

Sodium Bicarbonate in warm water creates a successful combination that can help remove the tarnish from silver.

Moreover, Baking soda is commonly added to washing machines to make clothes odour-free. It can work as a replacement for a water softener too. Are those stubborn tea and coffee stains still there on your clothes?

Relax.

Just add Baking soda, which removes such stains when diluted with water.

WAYS ON HOW TO CLEAN JEWELLERY WITH BAKING SODA

There are multiple methods as to how to clean jewellery with Baking Soda. Give your jewellery a new makeover with the help of an overall baking soda solution.

       STANDARD JEWELLERY CLEANUP

Here, a standard procedure is explained for you for jewellery cleanup by using baking soda.

1. Firstly, pour 1 cup of hot water into an appropriately sized bowl. You will dip your jewel thing into this bowl of hot water.

Generally, a cup of estimated 230 ml hot water is sufficient to clean most of your jewellery. For instance, you may use more water if cleaning a large necklace.

2. Secondly, add 1 to 2 tsp of baking soda.

It takes 5 to 10 g of baking soda to constitute 1 to 2 teaspoons of baking soda.

You can take help from a measuring device to measure this amount. After estimating this quantity, pour it into the bowl of hot water. Now mix the baking soda with water.

If you notice that the baking soda is not quickly dissolving in the water, just heat the mixture up for about 30 seconds in the microwave.

3. Let your jewellery stay soaked in this mixture for 5-10 minutes. You need to place your jewellery into this bowl of baking soda solution in a way that it is wholly dipped in the water.

You may clean multiple small pieces of jewellery stuff in this same bowl simultaneously.

Keep track of dipping time by setting a timer for 5-10 minutes, as baking soda needs at least such period to perform its magic.

You will observe that the Baking Soda mixture removes the surface dirt and other residues, giving your jewellery a clean look superficially.

4. Now comes the rinsing part. You dip the item in cool water to remove the baking soda and waste this Baking soda solution.

For small items like rings or for your valuable stuff, it’s better to clean them in a cool water bowl.

Otherwise, they might slip from your fingers during rinsing, going down the drain.

5. Dry the jewellery with a clean towel. You should dry your jewellery right away to keep it in excellent condition.

Now you can use it or place it inside your jewellery box for safekeeping.

    FOR RIGOROUS CLEANING

What to do if you think your precious metals and stones need extensive cleaning and will be resistant to simple cleaning?

Then, “How to clean jewellery with BAKING SODA?”

No worries!

You can benefit from a different solution to get a sparkly cleaner result.

1. You need to mix 3 portions of baking soda with 1 of water.

A paste-like solution is required here, which can be achieved by combining these portions in a single dish like 3 tablespoons of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of water.

If you want to clean multiple ornaments, you may increase or reduce the Baking Soda amount.

2. Get a paste-like consistency by stirring the ingredients.

You may add a few more drops of water if the resulting paste appears too thick to stir.

3. Now, you need a clean toothbrush for dipping it into this thick paste in a way that its bristles are generously coated. Apply a generous amount of paste so you can completely cover the item.

A cotton swab can also replace the toothbrush if an extra one is not handy at that moment. Be careful to avoid using a dirty toothbrush as you could damage your jewellery or spread germs.

4. The actual scrubbing part comes now with the toothbrush. Scrub each item one at a time by moving the bristles repeatedly back and forth across the whole jewellery item.

Selecting a soft-bristled brush can work wonders compared to a hard one as its bristles can reach into small crevices of your rings, pendants, and bracelets.

5. Continue the scrubbing process for proper cleanup by continuing for 1 to 2 minutes.

You should scrub until you feel the stubborn residue vanishes. Just wipe off some baking soda to check the cleaning progress and decide when to stop.

6. Use cool water to rinse off baking soda and residue.

Dip in a water bowl for 30 seconds or wash under a faucet, depending on your choice.

7. Dry your jewellery with a towel

You should ensure that the cleaned jewellery is totally dry by leaving it on the towel for at least 5 to 10 minutes.

Through this method, you will see your very dirty or tarnished jewellery items becoming the newer versions of themselves.

FOR SILVER AND FAUX GOLD CLEANUP

In addition to the two cleaning processes, a third method adds dish soap and salt to the Baking Soda to clean your jewellery, especially silver and faux gold.

1. Heat up a cup of water and pour salt, baking soda, and dish soap each in a bowl.

Mix them together equally like, say, 1 tbsp. of table salt, 1 tbsp. of baking soda, and 1 tbsp. of dish soap.

2. Let your jewellery soak for 5 to 10 minutes to be dipped fully in this solution. 
3. Rinse off the jewellery by draining the solution. The water removes any lingering salt, baking soda, or soap along with the dirt and debris.

When there are no bubbles or residue in the water, you can rest assured that your stuff is perfectly clean.

4. Don’t forget to dry your jewellery in the end before using or storing it.

Baking soda can clean your soft stones such as opals or pearls if you don’t scrub them. As scouring could scratch the stone.

PARTING THOUGHT

With these three diverse do-it-yourself methods, you can now stay confident about how to clean jewellery with Baking Soda.

Bring out your rusted or tarnished jewellery and make it sparkle with convenience at your home.