Cleaning Turquoise Jewelry Washington DC

A Few Tips on Cleaning and Maintaining Turquoise Jewelry

Silver turquoise pendants and other turquoise jewelry are very popular, especially in the American West. It is not hard to understand that love for and fascination with the blue stone. The bright blue color of the stone has inspired many a jewelry designer to create works of art incorporating turquoise. In addition, for those who believe in metaphysics, turquoise is a positive and protective stone that provides many benefits to the wearer. So once someone has purchased a piece of turquoise jewelry, the owner must take good care of it in order to be able to use it for years to come, and to possibly even pass it on to become a family heirloom.

The formation of turquoise started many million years ago, and was formed under high stress and temperature. One would expect the product of such environmental conditions to be hard and strong. However, that would be an incorrect assumption. Most turquoise found in nature is relatively porous and of low density. In many ways, turquoise is a relatively fragile stone that needs careful attention and maintenance to maintain its appearance and quality over long periods of time. Here are a few tips for making sure that your jewelry is kept clean without damaging the stone.

Turquoise does tend to pick up dirt, grime and oil from the skin. So it is important to clean turquoise jewelry periodically. Dip a soft cloth or q-tip in warm water and use it to gently wipe the surface of the turquoise. Do not use harsh cleaners to try and remove dirt and grime. This will likely damage the stone beyond repair. Also, do not soak the stone in water. Turquoise can be relatively porous, and while a stabilization treatment may have reduced the near-surface porosity, the stone will still absorb water. So its best not to keep jewelry soaked in water. Turquoise can be relatively soft and may contain concealed zones of weakness. So do not use ultrasonic jewelry cleaners on your turquoise jewelry. When doing cleaning work around the house, first remove turquoise jewelry. If you don’t, the chemicals in the cleaners may have an adverse reaction with the turquoise. Similarly, do not expose turquoise jewelry to makeup liquids and perfume sprays. Again, the stone may absorb these fluids and slowly breakdown with time.

One important consideration is the other properties of the other materials used in the jewelry. Whatever cleaning method you choose to use, make sure that the process is protective of all materials in the piece. For example, in a cultured pearl necklace with a turquoise pendant, the pearls are in all probability, more delicate than the turquoise. So when picking your cleaning technique, make sure that your methods and cleaning materials will not damage the pearls. With these and some commonsense, you can clean jewelry without damaging the stones and settings.

Dale is a geo-professional in the Southwestern United States, and an avid and amateur gemmologist and a jewelry buff.

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