6 Tips to Take Care of Your Pearls
Pearls and diamonds automatically make any woman look classy and sophisticated. Pearls have an old world charm to them, especially the timeless white ones. As beautiful as they look, they are not like diamonds which are forever. They undergo wear and tear too and the better you take care of them, the longer they will last. Here are some tips to take care of your dear pearlies.
1. Put on pearls in the end
Make pearl jewelry the last thing you put on and the first thing you take off. The pearl is an organic gem composed of calcium carbonate which makes them more vulnerable to the chemicals found in cosmetics, hair spray and perfume. Dress, style your hair, apply your makeup and spray on your perfume before you put on any pearl jewelry.
2. Clean them
Wipe your pearls with a soft, lint-free cloth as soon as you take them off. Dirty pearls can be cleaned with a mild soap and water solution. Never clean your pearls with solutions that contain ammonia or harsh detergents. Moreover, don’t use abrasive cleaners or rub pearls with abrasive cloth for both can wear away the nacre coating leaving you with a plain looking bead.
3. Store them well
Pearls should be stored separately from other jewelry because their soft surface can easily get scratched by other gems. A silk bag, velvet-lined box or a pearl folder available at jewelers are good places to store pearls. Never store them in a plastic bag as they emit a chemical that can cause the surface of the pearls to deteriorate. Pearls should not be stored in a safe or safety security box for long periods of time since the dry atmospheric conditions inside, dries out the pearls causing them to craze i.e. develop small fractures on the surface. Remember to store your pearl strands in a flat manner rather than a hung fashion to avoid premature stretching of the thread.
