How to clean Pearl jewellery at home 

Thank you Hana for your nice comments, i'm glad it was helpful. My workbench used to be my dad's who built it from scratch and it is the same one that I learned on many years ago (I made my first ring when I was 4) so is very special to me. Good luck cleaning your mum's necklaces and with your jewellery making too. Harriet x

Thank you. Her name is Luna!

Oh no! That's so sad! I hope that you have now bought yourself some new ones!

You are welcome. Thanks for your comment.

Hi You could try chalk dust and just be a little careful to avoid the actual pearl. So use a very small brush.

Hello Victor and thanks for getting in touch. I have heard that some people do this but don't have any personal experience of it. I think that it can cause problems with the pearl string getting a bit oily so I imagine you would have to be careful. So I can only advise to stick to my method because I know it works. Good luck! Harriet x

Hi and thank you for your question. It is very hard to comment on this without seeing the pearls. Are you sure they are real pearls and are you sure that the build-up is grime and not actually layers of pearl nacre (as the pearls may either not be completely round or they may have a build up from the way in which they were originally drilled). I would be very careful and stick to my method. It would be OK to soak the loose pearls in distilled pure water for 10 minutes or so and then you may find you can very gently loosen the dirt off from around the holes with a gentle finger, but be careful as I say, it might actually not be dirt but a little dirt on top of a layer of actual pearl. If you are at all worried or if this doesn't work I would suggest that you go to a good jeweller for this rather than trying it yourself. And do be very careful - restringing is a lot harder than it looks when you see us professionals do it. There can be all kinds of problems like string stretching etc. It really is rather a specialist skill when it comes to pearls in particular. But good luck and let me know how you get on.

Hi and thanks for your question. I am afraid this is hard to advise on because there are all different types of fake pearls. But all of them are very fragile and scratch very easily so be careful. Perhaps try a very soft cloth and be gentle.

Just like the video, you should only use soap if you really need to. Plain distilled water is best. If they are loose pearls, you can submerge them in the plain water for a few minutes during the process. Good luck!

@@HarrietKelsall Hi Harriet thanks You, very helpful and yes they are loose

Hi there, with pearls it is best to store them in a way where they are not in sunlight. So the ideal would be in some kind of box but they scratch easily. You could look at some of the velvet roll style jewellery packaging solutions on the market. You could wrap each strand in acid-free tissue paper and store them next to eachother in a simple wooden box or similar?

@@HarrietKelsall Thank you so much

Hi and thanks for your question. This is tricky because real pearls do absorb oils. The best thing I can suggest is to clean them as I indicate. However I think it is unusual for the actual pearls to retain the odor for long. Try changing the box and also you may well find that some of the fragrance is in the actual thread so I would advise getting them professionally restrung as this may help. Good luck! Harriet x

@@HarrietKelsalld

Hello I strongly advise against using baking soda on or near pearls as even just a small amount will damage the pearls considerably. If the links are made from real silver, you could try cleaning them gently and carefully with a dry silver polishing cloth (eg a Goddards one or similar) but be very careful not to rub the pearls too. If these are real pearls you might prefer to take this to a jeweller to have it cleaned professionally. Good luck! best wishes, Harriet

Hi there I am afraid that once pearls loose their colour I don't know of a way to get it back. It may be possible but I don't know of a jeweller who knows how. It sounds as though the colour might have faded by being in UV light which will fade the colour from even naturally coloured pearls. Or some pearls are coated with something that slowly wears/washes off. Sorry not to be able to help more here.

You could use tarnish remover but I’d be quite careful

Hi - the answer is to be very careful. I would suggest taking it to a jeweller really. You could try rubbing gently with a silver cleaning cloth like a Goddards cloth but you have to be extremely careful to avoid the pearl.

If they are real black pearls (as opposed to coated artifically) you can clean the in the same way. With all pearls, avoid leaving them out in UV light, but store them in boxes away from the light.

This isn't really something that can be answered over a message like this in easy terms. Best to take them into a jeweller and ask them.

Grrrrrrrrr Woooof