How to Clean an Antique Diamond Brooch

This article will teach you how you can clean your antique diamond brooches as well as your other jewelry in an effective and inexpensive manner.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Soft to medium tooth brush
• Baking soda/peroxide toothpaste
• Box of Polident denture cleaning pills
• Baking soda
• Small plastic container or bowl
• Dry, soft cloth (such as a t-shirt or a car sham)

1. Take your toothbrush and place some toothpaste on it as if to brush your teeth. Place water in the bowl. Dip the brush with the paste on it and begin to gently brush your brooch. Once you have completely scrubbed it all, rinse it off in your bowl of water and gently go over it again with your brush. Rinse and repeat as many times as it takes to get the brooch clean. Then, gently blot the piece dry. Blowing also helps for those tighter spots.

2. Take the toothbrush and dip it into the water then the baking soda and brush the piece clean. Rinse and repeat until the piece is thoroughly clean. When it meets your satisfaction, gently blot and blow the piece dry.

3. For the final method, you would take the bowl and prepare it just like you would for cleaning dentures. Drop the brooch into the mixture and leave for 10 to 15 minutes. When you take it out of the mixture, use the brush in the tight corners and hard-to-reach spots to loosen any stubborn build up. Then, rinse it thoroughly and blot and blow-dry the piece.

Tips & Warnings

• Sometimes, you may have older pieces that have not been taken care of or stored properly. With those pieces, you may need to combine more than one method.
• Be sure to be extra careful around the fasteners and the prongs that hold in the jewels!