In this series we’re asking the women we know and respect for a life tips on things they think people should know. Having your life semi-together doesn’t necessarily mean you have a twenty grand car and a passport full of stamps; there are a lot of little things that you can do that will make you feel endlessly more grown-up and contribute to you feeling a little more in control of your life.
Personally, our pet peeve is when people spend a lot of money on something and then proceed to treat it like shit. If you buy a $400 dress, get is dry cleaned. If you drop $300 on a pair of shoes, treat yourself to a $10 can of Scotch-guard. Jewellery maker Anny Apostolidis (of cult label Mavro) obviously feels the same way, as our first contributor to Shit You Should Know she brought up her frustration with people who don’t treat beautiful things with the care they deserve. And to be fair, I had never thought of cleaning my trinkets. But as a grown ass woman, there is some shit you should know. Over to you Anny!
To start out, you only need a few items you’ll probably already have around the house. Dishwashing liquid, cloudy ammonia, an old (decommissioned) soft-bristled toothbrush, paper towel, and a jewellery polishing cloth.
Pour about 30 mL of the cloudy ammonia in a bowl with water, be careful not to inhale it because it’s really strong, really, really strong. Ammonia is great to make stones extra sparkly.
In your second bowl mix up your dishwashing liquid with mineral water.Both these solutions are great for metals like silver and gold and for stones like diamonds and sapphires, but they aren’t suitable for cleaning pearls or more porous stones like Turquoise or Lapis. It will actually ruin them so be really careful! The best way to clean these sorts of stones is just to gently wipe them with a damp cloth.
To clean in the ammonia, just drop the piece in and let it sit for around five minutes. Don’t breathe too much.
Take your piece out of the ammonia and place in the dishwashing liquid water. With the old toothbrush, gently scrub in a circular motion. Be careful not to scrub too hard because you can easily scratch metal or stones if you’re too rough. This is why it’s best to use a soft brush. Try and get the brush into all the little spots that are hard to reach.
Rinse off and dry, then give a bit of a polish with a jewellery polishing cloth et voila! Your jewels will sparkle like new!
Thank you Anny! We better not see any of you rocking skanky ass jewels this summer!
