Homemade jewelry cleaner is simple and effective. A DIY jewelry cleaner is also inexpensive and omits the chemicals of commercial cleaners.
Though I love to browse Etsy and Pinterest and admire all the artsy jewelry, I don’t consider myself a big jewelry person.
Wearing Jewelry All the Time
I rarely wear anything more than my wedding rings, a pair of stud earrings, and a simple necklace. I also sleep and shower in all of my jewelry. That may surprise you, but if you lost things as often as me you’d understand. I’ve lost too many of my little treasures over the years, and do not want my wedding rings to be added to that list.
Cleaning My Jewelry Often
The problem I have with wearing all of the same jewelry all the time is that it doesn’t take long for my pieces to lose their sparkle.
The rings have it the worst. I garden, make biscuits, clean out the chicken coop, change diapers, and do all sorts of other stuff with my hands. My rings catch a lot of grime from all of that activity, so they require regular cleaning.
Since commercial cleaners can be expensive and are full of strong chemicals, I prefer to work with a natural, homemade DIY jewelry cleaner. I’ve been using different methods for several years now, and this is what I’ve found to be the most effective.
Homemade Jewelry Cleaner Recipe
Homemade jewelry cleaner is simple and effective. A DIY jewelry cleaner is also inexpensive and omits the chemicals of commercial cleaners.
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Active Time
- 2 minutes
- Soaking Time
- 1 day
- Total Time
- 1 day 7 minutes
- Servings
- 1 batch
- Estimated Cost
- $1
Ingredients
- ½ cup witch hazel (or white vinegar)
- 3 drops tea tree essential oil
- 1 ounce baking soda
- an old toothbrush
Instructions
Swirl, Soak, Scrub
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Put the jewelry in a glass mason jar.
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Cover with a ½ cup of vinegar or witch hazel. Add 3 drops of tea tree oil and swirl to mix.
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Allow jewelry to soak in the mixture overnight.
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The next morning, coat with baking soda and scrub with an old toothbrush, then rinse with water.
Recipe Video
Notes
This cleaning method is intended for jewelry with sturdy stone settings.
Made this recipe?
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Results of This Homemade Jewelry Cleaner
The first evidence you’re going to have that this homemade DIY jewelry cleaner worked will be all the stuff floating around in your vinegar/tea tree oil liquid. The last time I put my jewelry in this mixture I didn’t think it was too dirty, and it didn’t exactly need cleaning. Within just a few minutes, though, there was so much stuff floating around in the water that I was appalled.
Your jewelry will be noticeably cleaner after just the soak. It will even be disinfected, too. Adding the baking soda scrub at the end will ensure that you get everything clean, especially in all the little crevices. If your kitchen faucet has a high-pressure setting, that will be the best thing to use for rinsing your jewelry. Just make sure you hold on tight, because searching for lost objects in the sink trap or garbage disposal is one of the least pleasant tasks in the world. Take my word for it. Consider using a strainer.
Personally, I love the feeling of wearing newly-cleaned, sparkly jewelry. If you find that you keep gazing at your rings and getting kind of lost in the sparkle, you’ll know that you’ve done a good job of cleaning them. And you’ll enjoy that look until the next time you make biscuits, put on lotion, or make your kids play-dough.
Good thing this homemade jewelry cleaner is such a simple recipe, you’ll probably be using it often!
Explanation of Ingredients
I’ve used both witch hazel and vinegar for cleaning my jewelry.
Witch hazel is slightly acidic, and vinegar is much more so, but either will work for soaking your jewelry. This cleaning method is for jewelry with sturdy stone settings (I wouldn’t use it for opals, pearls, or tanzanite, for example), and that is especially important to keep in mind if you’re using vinegar. Witch hazel is certainly the milder of the two, so use whichever ingredient you feel comfortable with.
Tea tree oil is a known disinfectant and anti-fungal. It isn’t necessary to add to your jewelry cleaner, but as I said above, my jewelry can get pretty gross. A small drop of tea tree oil adds an antiseptic boost to this homemade jewelry cleaner, so I add it. Like I said – I’ve cleaned the chicken coop wearing my wedding rings. I’ll take all of the natural antiseptic power I can get. (For more information and other uses for tea tree oil, read this.)
Baking soda is a slightly abrasive, inexpensive scrubbing tool. Unlike the ingredients listed above, it’s basic rather than acidic. Baking soda is especially good for tarnishing silver, but you should never use it on aluminum. I find it works wonders on my diamond rings.
Have you ever made a homemade jewelry cleaner? How did it work for you?
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Mary says
How more timely could this article have reached me? (I don’t know either) I recently (2 months or so ago) purchased a necklace with an Armor of God medallion. I was very pleased with the purchase and it was exactly what I expected but never noticed how nice the chain looking next to my skin until I was getting ready for work and I saw how shimmer it was. About a week ago I was wondering how I was going to keep it shiny – and now I know. Thank you so much.
Lewand says
Magnificent post and a great recipe, thanks!
Donna says
Any toothpast will clean jewellery.
Gerri says
I use the method Cindy mentions for cleaning sterling silver. Works great. For gold jewelry, I use toothpaste & an old, soft toothbrush. Takes no time & makes my engagement ring sparkle. Of course, absolutely not for pearls, opals & other soft stones.
Alexis Milian says
So since I’m on a budget I can omit the tea tree oil? Would you recommend anything that coukd be used in its place or woukd this still work fine
Emry Trantham says
I think it would be fine to leave out the tea tree oil. It adds some extra cleaning power, but you’ll be able to get the grime off with just vinegar or witch hazel.
Ziva. Tidhar says
,you
Cindi says
I have a great jewelry polish that is super simple. Take a small piece of aluminum foil, about 1″ square, and put it in the bottom of a coffee cup. Add about a T of baking soda. Pour boiling water over it and dunk your jewelry. You can drop it in and swirl it around, or you can just dunk it a few times and it cleans any tarnish off in seconds. I like to put a twist tie or string on the jewelry and then just dunk it. When I pull it out, sometimes there are some little dark spots. I just rub them out with my finger. This works well on tarnished silver dishes or tableware as well.
Alexis Milian says
So you just add the foil baking soda then hot water to ur cup and it cleans up the jewelry you dont need anything else wow
Emry Trantham says
Very cool! Thank you for sharing!
Mercer Bonney says
Be careful with this technique. It can take off all the blackening that give Sterling silver it’s definition. I’ve done it and it’s hard to replace this blackening yourself and expensive otherwise. With out the blackening my silver earrings and flat ware are flat in appearance. Is great for gold.
Jess O. says
Perfect timing! I have an old ultrasonic cleaner that just doesn’t cut it and was looking for something to try. Thanks!
Elizabeth Hardwick says
I’m assuming this should NOT be used on pearls.
Emry Trantham says
Agreed, no pearls.
Iris says
I’m curious about cleaning gold and silver together, and whether a slightly different formula is needed with one or the other. Commercial products separate between the two.
Thanks!
Deanna says
Great post! I can’t wait to try this!
Sheri Lyle says
Sounds like a win win to me! Clean and sparkley, and disinfected too! Will try this tonight. Thanks!
Julie Rider says
Also what works well for diamond rings is to hold the ring WITH TONGS under the steamer on the milk frother on your espresso machine.
Alyse Tait says
Great information! I will definitely be trying this soon!
Emry Trantham says
Let me know how it goes 🙂