How to Clean, Care, and Store Your Gemstones

Gemstones are the minerals that are admired for their beauty in terms of colour, cut, clarity, and carat. These precious stones, once acquired, need to be cleaned properly and stored to maintain their sheen and protect them from chipping and cracking. If not done rightly, they get damaged over time and lose their value.

Though many gemstone distributors in Hong Kong give guidelines to buyers to keep the stones in the best state, many skip this due to mere negligence or procrastination. Therefore, to save you some time, we have got some easy tips for the same:

Cleaning for Gemstones

• The simplest way to clean gemstones is by using mild liquid soap and flannel cloth. If required, use a soft brush to clean off dirt. Never use any kind of detergent to clean gemstones as they may cause scratches.
  
  
• Commercial cleaners can also be used along with a soft brush to clean gemstones. Soft stones like pearls, opals, emeralds, and ambers should not be exposed to commercial cleaners.
  
  
• Ultrasonic cleaners can be used for finely cleaning dirt. They are preferred for cleaning rubies, diamonds, and sapphires.
  
  
• Pressurised steam cleaners are not suggested for heat-sensitive stones like pearls, amber, tanzanite, coral, opal, emerald, and aquamarine.
  
  
• For cavity-filled, fractured-filled, and dyed gemstones, use a soft dampened cloth for cleaning.

Caring for Gemstones

·    Do not expose gemstones to sunlight and heat as they may affect colour, durability, and other properties of the stones.

·     Keep them away from contacting with chemicals even with that of low intensity to maintain their sheen and durability.

·     Do not spray sanitisers or other such disinfectants and cleaners on gemstones.

Storing for Gemstones

·     Store each piece of jewellery separately so that the gemstones don’t get scratched by colliding with each other. The softer gemstones can easily get scratched by gemstones with high hardness.

·       Keeping jewellery separately also helps in avoiding them from getting tangled. Once tangled the chances of breakage, reduced durability, and losing gemstones increases.

·       Store like gemstones together, separated on the basis of their quality and size.

 

Before deciding on the method for cleaning of your gemstones, it is important to know if they are treated or not because such stones react to solvents, steam, heat, and ultrasonic treatments. Gemstone manufacturer in Hong Kong uses many of these ways to keep the stones clean and maintain their longevity, colour, and clarity. Consider these hassle-free ways to clean, care, and store your gemstones for retaining their properties and protecting them against damage and scratches.