Caring for gold-filled jewelry

Know what causes tarnish:

Gold-filled can last beautifully for many years.  But we’ve found that the wrong chemicals, when left on the surface of your pieces, can cause the gold to darken more quickly than it should.  There are chemicals in a lot of things (even you!), and it’s important to be aware of the factors that can cause tarnishing. We’ve included a list below of some of the worst and most common factors that cause tarnish.   

Pools & Hot Tubs:

Just don’t do it with jewelry on...it’s like a nasty chemical bath that will most likely party (in a bad way) with your gold. The chemicals used to kill bacteria in pools create a harsh environment for jewelry, and they’re even more concentrated in hot tubs.   

Body Chemistry:

“body chemistry” is a bit of a wild card.  The simple fact that people’s hormones are different and a variety of things may come out of their pores makes this a difficult factor to nail down.  But it’s a real thing that can cause the metal under the gold to tarnish more quickly for some people.  For 90% of people, it’s a love match.  For the other 10%, pieces might not be quite as sparkly after a few months.  

Getting Sweaty:

There are a lot of chemicals in your sweat, and depending on your personal body chemistry (or medications you may be taking), it could be hard on your pieces, so it’s best to take jewelry off to work out. 

Product:

Perfume, hairspray, lotions...and worst of all, sunscreen!  Try to minimize these kinds of things ending up on your jewelry by putting your jewelry on last or taking it off for certain activities.  Here are a list of some common products:

Sunscreen, Perfume, Unscented Lotion, Perfumed Lotion, Cleaning Products with Bleach, Mild Dish Soap (if rinsed off), Nail Polish Remover, Hairspray.