Why You Need to Clean Copper
Copper will naturally tarnish over time, due to its exposure to the air and the sweat on your skin. Some people’s skin reacts faster due to their own hormones and their jewelry discolours quicker. Because of this, some copper jewellery is sold with a coating to prevent tarnishing. Now, that can be pretty handy, but I’ve never done it at Blue World Treasures (yet) as it can have a few drawbacks:
- Depending on the kind of material used to permanently coat the metal, it can sometimes become damaged over time, flaking away and looking pretty darned disgusting.
- If someone is buying a copper cuff for its supposed benefits, having a coating on the metal will presumably lessen the effect of wearing it.
- Some permanent varnishes have a slight cloudiness to them, which can worsen with age. This can make your once beautiful jewellery look dull and uninteresting.
I’m still playing with possibilities for coatings for some of my jewellery, but I don’t think I’ll ever do it. So in the meantime we need a nice easy way to get them clean!
Using Lemon Juice and Salt, you can literally sit back and watch the copper clean itself in front of you.
Simply place your jewelry in a small glass dish and add enough lemon juice to completely cover it and add about 1 tablespoon of salt. Place the jewelry into the dish and let it sit for about 60 seconds (1 minute) and then take it out again. It should be shiny and new looking!
All you have to do now is rinse & dry with a soft cotton towel or paper towels. Polish it with some beeswax or renaissance wax if you want to protect it for a little longer.
Easy Peasy and with no harsh chemicals to worry about!
