There are some gemstones which are porous so you have to take extra care of them when cleaning your gemstone jewellery. They are Turquoise, Pearl and Opal.
Turquoise jewellery:
Wipe your turquoise gemstones with a damp cloth and then dry carefully with a soft lint free cloth.
Freshwater Pearl jewellery:
Pearls are soft and will scratch easily so you shouldn't use a dry cloth which might contain grit or even ordinary household dust which might scratch. They're also porous so you shouldn’t put them in water. Add some liquid soap - I use Fairy Liquid - to warm water, then dip a cloth in it and use that to gently wipe the pearls. Afterwards make sure you don’t leave the pearls damp, especially around the drill holes. Blow on them, if you like, but don’t use a hair dryer as it’ll be too hot. Kitchen paper is good for absorbing any extra moisture.
Opal jewellery:
Opals are 21% water, and particularly vulnerable to damage from heat. Wipe them carefully with a damp soft cloth. If they dry out they can crack, so you may need to store them with a soft moist cloth. Some people even store their opals in oil, but that’s overkill – and very messy. At the moment all these earrings are waiting to be listed online. If you'd like to know when they're available, then join my mailing list or get in touch with me directly sarah@sarahdelarrinaga.co.uk
