How to care for your cultured pearls. Established Phone: How to care for your cultured pearls Pearls are very soft and need special care. They never should be tossed on top of or next to other gems in a jewelry box. Store them in a jewelry pouch. Because of their delicate nature, special care must be taken when cleaning. Only use jewelry cleaners labeled as safe for pearls. Never use an ultrasonic cleaner.
Never steam-clean pearls. Never use or expose pearls to dish or wash detergents, bleaches, powdered cleansers, baking soda, or ammonia-based cleaners like Windex. Never use toothbrushes, scouring pads or abrasive materials to clean pearls.
Do not wear pearls when their string is wet. Wet strings stretch and attract dirt, which is hard to remove. Do not hang pearls to dry. Take your pearls off when applying cosmetics, hair spray, and perfume, or when showering or swimming.
Avoid wearing pearls with rough fabrics like Shetland wool. Have your pearls restrung once a year if you wear them often. Hardness and toughness relative to gems are vastly misunderstood concepts. Hardness and toughness are generally mutually exclusive meaning a gem ranking high on the hardness scale can have poor toughness. Nacre has special self-assembly properties that produce remarkable toughness and high resistance to fracture. But, aging, dehydrations and bleaching treatments could result in fragile pearls susceptible to peeling or cracking.
Do pearls lose their luster or become dull? As mentioned, pearls are ranked 2. But with adequate care, pearl jewelry can last for a lifetime and be passed down through generations. The good news is that special care is not hard to do. You only need to follow a few simple suggestions to keep your pearls in top condition. A little bit of knowledge and good judgement will reward you with the lasting luster of beautiful pearls to be consistent. Here are some simple tips on how to take care of real pearls:.
Last on, first off - This is the golden rule of pearls care. Always put your pearls on last, after getting dressed, applying perfume, make-up, lotions, and hairspray or hair products. Also, always remove your pearls first before getting undressed. Before putting your pearls away, wipe them with a soft chamois cloth to remove oils and perspiration.
Do not wear your pearls if the string is wet. A wet string can stretch and detract from the beauty of the necklace. A wet string can easily absorb dirt or grime, which will be nearly impossible to remove, so be sure to wait until the string is completely dry before wearing your pearls.
Avoid wearing pearls with clothes made of rough fabrics or threads that can become entwined with the string. They may cause scratches and create difficulty removing fabric fibers enmeshed with your pearl necklace. Do not wear your pearls in the pool, bath, sauna, or shower. Pearl jewelry should never be submerged in water.
Keep in mind that pearls mounted on rings or earrings are normally glued to a post. Even though water won't destroy the pearls, it will dissolve the glue, ultimately causing risk of loss. You should remove your pearls before engaging in sports or exercise to avoid exposing your pearls to perspiration or risking the chance they will break. You should remove your pearls before going to bed.
Do not sleep in your pearls. The string can become weakened and strained increasing the risk of breaking. Wear your pearls often. Pearls benefit from the moisture from the body so wear them often to keep them looking their best. Pearls are commonly passed down to become a treasured family heirloom. Make sure your pearls last long enough to achieve heirloom status by following these maintenance tips:.
Last on, first off. Pearls should be the final touch to your outfit. Avoid applying makeup, hairspray, lotion or perfume once your pearls are on. Store them flat. While it's perfectly acceptable for most necklaces to be hung on a cute jewelry rack, your pearl strands should not be. Store pearl necklaces flat to prevent them from stretching. Dedicate a space just for your pearls. Soft pearls are prone to scratches, so store them separately in fabric-lined compartments. Wear your pearls often.
To put it simply, a small seed, bead, or particle is covered in a shiny nacre, a composite substance that is secreted by the mollusk as a sort of inner shell. This soft nacre coating on the pearl's exterior is the main reason pearls are considered fragile and, therefore, need extra care when handling them.
The thickness of the nacre coating depends on the type of creature involved, the water it lives in, and how long the intruder is left in place before it is removed. As nacre thickness increases, so does the quality and durability of the pearl. If the nacre of your pearl is thin and fragile, it can easily be chipped off, which can leave unsightly gaps, chips, or cracks, particularly if cleaned with harsh chemicals or put in a jewelry cleaner, such as an ultrasonic cleaner.
In the worst case, the pearl can unravel entirely, leaving you with a dull, lifeless bead. Even fake glass and plastic pearls need special care because their coating is significantly thinner and more fragile than nacre.
Simply put, you should give the pearls a gentle cleaning every time you wear the jewelry. Wipe the pearls with a soft cloth every time you take them off to keep the pearls' luster and remove body oil and other debris that might be on the surface. Other than that, give the pearls a deeper cleaning if you feel like they look dingy. Take the pearls to a jeweler once a year to double-check both the jewelry's integrity and to give them a proper, thorough cleaning.
Even cultured pearls with thicker coatings are more fragile than most other gemstones, so you must handle them carefully to keep them in the best condition. Gentle and conservative cleaning are the keys to successful pearl maintenance.
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