Thread: Caring for Costume Jewellery: How do you prevent discolouration?

Is there a way to prevent gold-toned jewellery from fading or greening over time? This has been the ultimate fate of all my costume jewellery, and it's a process that's only accelerated by exposing the items to sweaty dance performances!

Any tips for the care and feeding of silver-toned jewellery would also be appreciated. A link on one of my bracelets has spontaneously gone a bit yellow for no apparent reason.

Much of jewelry discoloration and tarnishing is due to oxidation, which requires exposure to air to take place. It helps a lot to keep things in ziplock sandwich bags or snack bags. Press the air out before you seal.
Rosette

I also keep all my costume jewelry in small bags, it seems to help a lot

In the past, people used to paint the backs of costume jewelry with nail polish so that the copper in them did not turn the skin green. You might try using clear nail polish or acrylic sealer (in an aerosol can, sold in craft and hardware stores) and see if that helps.

I agree with Tourbeau, I do use clear nail polish to the back of my jewelry.

This showed up in the answer to Fire Mountain's newsletter's "Question of the Week" this afternoon. It's a bit more expensive than clear polish, but it's an option specifically for jewelry application. If it can form a barrier to prevent your skin from reacting to costume jewelry, one assumes that it also keeps costume jewelry from reacting to you. Jewelry Shield™, 0.5 fluid ounces. Sold individually. - Fire Mountain Gems and Beads

After you wear your jewelry, wipe it off thoroughly with a clean dry cloth. Then store it in a bag.
I also put the silica squares that come with my shoes in my jewelry boxes, and bags.

I've read that white chalk in jewelry bags, will also cut down on moisture.
(I haven't tried it)

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'll try the sandwich baggies and jewellery shield liquid.

Is there any chance of saving items that have already gone motley?

Originally Posted by Ainsley

Is there any chance of saving items that have already gone motley?

If you've really got nothing left to lose, you can always try metallic spray paint. If the pieces have stones that can't be removed, you can mask them off with tape. Otherwise, just be careful you don't paint the movement out of the linkages. If it's a more important piece that you want to refurbish, you could look into getting it re-plated.