Gold Tarnishing

[Pepsidoodle]

Hello everyone

I am all set up for keeping my silver jewellery looking lovely.....but I didn't expect to need to do this for my gold items from Rocks :dull:

I keep my gold jewellery separate, but the gemset bits from Rocks have tarnished (other gold jewellery in the same jewellery box are ok)

So whats the best way of getting it back to the gold lovleyness (its hard to polish everywhere with a cloth!!), and then also keeping it looking good (eg should I use the silver anti tarnish strips on these items when storing them???)

Pepsi(disappointed and let down with this rubish gold)doodle

 

[Beading Belle]

Hi Pepsi :wave:

I am honestly shocked at gold tarnishing!!! I know gold on wear will go dull, but tarnish :wonder: I would e mail CS and see what they say.

All my big bangles and earrings ( SS) that I got for pressie drawer from rocks have tarnished too. Only found out when I took a box out to give as a present!! Very disappointed as SS bought from QVC years back is still shiny! Again all stored in the same way.

Hope someone will come along and give you some suggestion how to bring the shine back on the gold.

 

[Pepsidoodle]

Thanks BB - I too was shocked

Haven't e-mailed CS as generally I feel that there won't be much point, which is also a shame that I hold that perception (but is a separate issue!!) I did google gold tarnishing and it can happen, but it makes the items feel cheap to me

Hopefully there will be Someone Who Knows About Gold popping along at some point lol

 

[dollydimple]

yep, I've noticed it with my gold items bought from Rocks too........but my other gold jewellery is fine.

 

[Pepsidoodle]

Thanks for posting DollyDimple........

Have you managed to stop it re-tarnishing (I haven't)???

 

[Calvin]

I've had gold tarnish on me, but not from Rocks, it was collar style necklace from QVC. I cleaned it with a polishing cloth and now keep it in a PreZerve jewellery wallet. So far, so good. Pepsi, if the tarnished pieces are intricate, could you perhaps clean them with a 'dip-style' jewellery cleaner?

 

[Pepsidoodle]

I too was thinking about that.......but don't have any stuff in my house to try (& would hate to fork out and not buy the right stuff)
So far all I've done with my gold jewellery is use water in a sonic thing for my diamond engagement ring so I'm being cautious

 

[Meeshoo]

I'm sorry this has happened. Pure gold doesn't tarnish but once you add other base metals then unfortunately it can. The higher the gold content the less likely tarnishing will occur e.g. 9k gold will tarnish more often than 18k gold. Gold can tarnish for several reasons:

- perfume or hairspray
- perspiration
- if stored in a box that contains organic sulphur
- if worn when preparing foods that contain sulphur or acid i.e. onions, certain fruits etc

If none of the above apply (or are unlikely) then the probable cause is that this is surface micro-porosity which causes corrosion that looks like a black or darkened film. Micro-porosity is caused if an item is "cast" it sometimes leave a micro-porous surface that traps acids and other elements which will cause local tarnishing wherever the foreign impurities gets trapped. So a bit like dirt getting trapped in an open pore (sorry that's a horrible graphic description but you know what I mean)!

If the tarnish is only slight, you might be able to remove it with a toothbrush doused in washing up liquid, warm water and a good scrub. However, whilst it may lighten, it may not remove it all together. The only way to remove it is to have the piece professionally polished. :angry:

The one piece of jewellery that you most commonly see this happening is with pierced earrings. Every single one of my gold earrings have blackened posts where tarnish has occurred. Very annoying but luckily can be hidden!

Hope that helps

 

[Pepsidoodle]

However, whilst it may lighten, it may not remove it all together. The only way to remove it is to have the piece professionally polished. :angry:

It does help Meeshoo. I read the info (well similar) on the web so to have it confirmed is like :headbang:
The options are perspiration (for a ring and a pendant - soz but I don't really sweat in either of those locations!! I generally do not sweat much at all)
So to me it sounlds like dirt in an open pore sitch as I am careful when I wear gemset jewellery (well apart from the engagement ring)

I am quite hacked off as I'm sure to get the items (all of the yellow gold items from rocks) professionally polished will be a load of hassle and expense. I wish I never brought them.

 

[Meeshoo]

Pepsidoodle - it could also be the acidity of your skin. Some people (even though they don't sweat, their normal acidity is higher than others. It will mostly happen to 9k items but all my Iliana earrings (18k) have done it so I do sympathise.

One other thing you could do - but this could be costly, I don't know - is to have all the items coated in 24k gold. Like I said earlier, the higher the gold the less likely the item will tarnish. However, this only stops the tarnishing for a while (no way to tell how long) and it would return once the coating has worn off but for pieces you love and want to wear this might be an option.

 

[Pepsidoodle]

If it was my skin would it happen to other gold items too??? As it is only the Rocks ones that have tarnished........
(Am not feeling the love for these items anymore.)

Oh & while I'm asking - how do I go about finding someone to do the cleaning????

 

[Meeshoo]

To answer your first question do you have more 9k items from Rocks and perhaps 18k from elsewhere? If not, then it could be that the manufacture of Rocks items isn't quite right.

As to your second question, any jeweller that offers a re-sizing or design service should be able to do this. Unless they have a benchman in-house they'll normally send away to be done. However, if you have a small working jeweller near you, they should be able to do it easily.

I know this sounds daft (and may not work) but once you've had the items cleaned how about putting some clear nail varnish on the bits that have tarnished? It may add a protective coating and would be cheaper to do than 24k coating.

 

[Milly]

Hi pepsidoddle I'm sorry to hear about your gold items from rocks tarnishing I've bought a lot of yellow gold rings and pendants from them and also some silver items I have to admit a couple of silver things that I had put away for pressies needed a bit of a buff with a silver cloth to brighten them up but they have just been in a drawer in the original packageing (so not air tight) none of the gold items have tarnished, normally buy rings with a good gold weight but most is 9k I keep mine in a jewellery box with a strip of tarnish resist paper stuff i bought from lakelands and have not had any problems ,I clean my jewellery with a cleaner again from lakelands and it dose a good job in my sonic cleaner or if I'm not sure about putting it in the sonic thing i give it a little soak and use a babys toothbrush hope this helps.

 

[Pepsidoodle]

Thanks Milly. It seems that if I ever get the tarnish off then I'll need to use the 3M anti tarnish strips on the gold

Meeshoo - apologies for abusing your knowledge!!! But you do know good stuff! Thank you for your help
The only 18k I've got is the engagement ring - the rest is all 9k.
I'll have to think about wether I can be bothered to trawl the local shops to ask them, or if I just write the jewellery off.
The clear nail varnish sounds like a good idea, but all of the gold has tarnished, even the mounts behind the stones. I've given it a wipe with a jewellery cloth and its shifted the easy bits (for now) but am aware that there is still tarnish there in the bits I can't reach, & I think that while that's there the tarnish is more likely to keep coming back.
Still, suppose if there is a good jeweller locally then I could also ask them.

Thanks again!

 

[Meeshoo]

Pepsi - no worries - happy to help!

I've never been able to get the tarnish off my earrings completely. It's a complete nightmare. I sonic'ed a pair of earrings to death in the hope I could remove it but, like you, it only shifted the easy bits. I'm afraid it will need a professional polish and WILL come back (because the porosity of the metal won't go away). However, once cleaned, I do think that the nail varnish might work but would need re-doing.

Good luck and I'm incredibly curious as to whether it would work. If you have the time/inclination to try it on one piece I'd love to hear the results. It seems such a shame to throw away your jewellery.

 

[Tabs]

Hi Pepsi, Sorry to hear of your probelms with your gold items. Have you tried purchasing an anti-tarnish cloth, Or some anti tarnish "cream"? I use a kit from another shopping tv channel and that is good at restoring both my silver and gold items and is also quite gentle on the items....i'm not a fan of the dip type cleaners as its usually a "strip" not dip effect. Not sure it will help but the tarnish cloths may be worth looking into. HTH

 

[argeybargey]

Hi Pepsi, Sorry to hear of your probelms with your gold items. Have you tried purchasing an anti-tarnish cloth, Or some anti tarnish "cream"? I use a kit from another shopping tv channel and that is good at restoring both my silver and gold items and is also quite gentle on the items....i'm not a fan of the dip type cleaners as its usually a "strip" not dip effect. Not sure it will help but the tarnish cloths may be worth looking into. HTH

Hagarty do an excellent one. xxxxx

 

[Pepsidoodle]

Hello & thanks for popping by to help :sun:
I have a silver anti tarnish cloth, & have used it and it eventually shifts it. Unfortunately there are lots of nooks and crannies that I can't get to, and am not sure that if I use a cream on it that I'll be able to get the cream off (the tarnish is everywhere eg the mounts behind the stones too).......hmmmmmm

 

[argeybargey]

If you can get your hands on some jeweller's rouge, a good brushing with a soft toofiebrush should make a difference. xxxxx

 

[muchado]

The Dave Bradford Jewellery Cleaner

Hi The Dave Bradford Jewellery Cleaner is the best at cleaning everything. I think Ideal world have it in stock at the moment. Dave also sells it on his own website. I wouldn't use anything else!