How to take care of your IANASSA jewelry

	1. Avoid Chemicals Hairspray, lotion, and perfume can be damaging to certain types of metals and colored gems.  If you have to use them put them before you put on your jewelry. Precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum are especially susceptible to discoloration from these everyday care products.
	2. Use mild soap even bathe with it One of the best jewelry cleaning methods involves warm water, mild dish soap, and a soft brush. That means you can also shower wearing your pieces, but have in mind to avoid harsh soaps. Also avoid to wear it in a swimming pool or at the sea.
	3. Try not to sweat on it When exercising your sweat contains chemicals that could take a toll on your pieces. Take off your jewelry when in hot tubs--joking and exercises that you will get sweat.
	4. Learn about your pieces before cleaning Before you try to clean any of your jewelry items, it's essential that you know about the materials used making your piece. However, in most materials using a gentle soap or baking soda where you soak your piece will do. A toothbrush is always handy to remove dirty in tight spaces. Try to dry the item thoroughly, without leaving traces of water or moisture. If you have a polish cloth it will give that extra shine.
	5. Store your jewelry in a dry place It's always best to keep your jewelry in a fabric case but if you don't own one you can wrap each piece of jewelry in a soft tissue or plain paper before placing in a drawer, protecting them this way from scratches. It will be also a best practice to place them in an airtight container, like small ziplock baggies thus reducing oxidation and tarnish. This is especially important to sterling silver jewelry to limit exposure to air and moisture.

 

Gold Jewelry Care

---

 Gold is a softer material than sterling silver so when stored try to keep away from silver as this can easily cause scratches if they come in contact.

 Do not forget that gold is also capable of tarnishing and the longevity of your piece depends a lot by how you clean it and you store it. As we mentioned above, chlorine, sunscreen sweat and even lotion and other hair products can be harmful for your gold jewelry.

Gold jewelry is more sensitive to your skin oils, so it's always better to take them off if you are going to exercise, in a pool or applying makeup, lotions and skincare products.

Always remove your gold jewelry before going to sleep and wipe them genthly after use.

Remove Tarnish and Clean Gold Jewelry

• Place your jewelry gently in a bath of warm water
• Add a few drops of dish soap
• Let your gold soak for a few minutes
• Take the gold out and lay it on a soft cloth or paper towel
• Use a soft toothbrush if you want to get in crevices
• Rinse and dry thoroughly with a soft cloth. You can always use the polishing cloth that we include with your jewelry, but for gold be gentle with polishing and do not over do it.

Silver Jewelry Care

---

Sterling silver can tarnish under certain conditions and you will need to polish it to bring it back to shine. Silver tarnishes because of a checmical reaction that occurs when it comes in contact with air and the moisture it contains. So a hot summer humid environment will accelarate the effect. To keep your silver tarnish free it's always best to store it in an airtight container.

Other elements, like sulfur that is contained in air, especially if you are leaving close to a port or using care product with sulfur, or even foods like when chopping onions, can lead to tarnish.

 There is a good thing though about silver. Oils from your skin can protect your jewelry from tarnishing, so the more you wear it, the more shiny will stay over time.

Remove Tarnish and Clean Sterling Silver Jewelry

• Polishing sterling silver is better than washing. Use the polishing cloth that comes with your IANASSA jewelry which is perfect for buffing that everyday tarnish.
• If you still cannot rid of the tarnish then use a pan covering the inside with aluminum foil soaking your piece in a bath of 1tsp salt and 2 tsp baking soda and stir. Wait for five minutes to ten minutes and then dry out your piece. This process will help to keep your piece tarnish-free.

Polishing Cloths For Gold and Silver Jewelry 

---

Each of our IANASSA pieces come with a polishing cloth to help bring back the shine and keep the tarnish away. Remember not to get too aggressive with gold filled, gold plated or vermeil pieces. Keep in mind that gold is a soft material which can easily be scratched if not being gentle. If your item is sterling silver, polish away with no fear!

When using our polishing cloth it will get dark black as the polishing compound  of the cloth reacts with the metal, meaning that it's polishing in progress...