Can You Clean Jewelry with Vinegar?
- Clean copper jewelry with a paste of white flour, vinegar, salt, and citrus essential oil.
- Clean silver jewelry with baking soda and vinegar.
- Clean gold jewelry with apple cider vinegar.
- Never clean pearls or gemstones with vinegar.
Vinegar is a versatile product that is not only tasty but has been demonstrated to clean a variety of items to replace harsh chemicals. But be cautioned. Vinegar is not the natural, mild “meet all your needs” cleaning solution. It is corrosive, making it damaging to certain items, including some jewelry items.
Following are the top tips for what jewelry you can clean with vinegar with instructions and jewelry items you should never clean with vinegar.
Cleaning Copper Jewelry with Vinegar
Karyn Maier, the best-selling author of The Naturally Clean Home 150 Super-Easy Herbal Formulas for Green Cleaning, suggests this recipe for cleaning copper with vinegar.
Flour Vinegar Copper Paste Recipe
Mix together:
- 1-1/4 cup of all-purpose white flour
- 1 cup of white vinegar
- ½ cup of salt
- 5 drops of citrus essential oil.
Spread the paste over your copper and let sit overnight. Rinse and dry thoroughly.
Maier, Karyn. The Naturally Clean Home 150 Super-Easy Herbal Formulas for Green Cleaning. 2nd ed. North Adams, MA: Storey Pub., 2008. Print.
Vinegar and Salt Tarnished Copper Solution
Bea Johnson, the author of Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life, suggests a two-ingredient solution using vinegar and salt that works for tarnished copper, bronze, and brass.
- Apply a mixture of 1 tablespoon of salt and 1/4 cup of vinegar.
- Rinse with warm water.
- Polish with a soft cloth.
Johnson, Bea. Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life. United Kingdom, Penguin Books Limited, 2013.
Cleaning Silver Jewelry with Vinegar
The editors at Reader’s Digest offer many tips for cleaning with vinegar, including this one to make your silver jewelry shine.
Vinegar and Baking Soda to Clean Silver Jewelry
- Mix together ½ cup of white vinegar with 2 tablespoons of baking soda.
- Soak your jewelry in the solution for three hours.
- Rinse with cold water.
- Dry with a soft, clean cloth.
Reader’s Digest – “12 Home Products for Cleaning Jewelry”
Vinegar and Salt Silver Cleaning Alternative
If you don’t have baking soda in your pantry, Joan Foley Adducci, the author of Dollarwi$E…$Aving $Mart: Living Better for Le$$, suggests cleaning your silver jewelry with a mixture of vinegar and salt.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of salt with 1/2 cup white vinegar.
- Soak for 2-3 hours.
- Rinse thoroughly with water.
- Dry with a soft, clean cloth.
Adducci, Joan Foley. Dollarwi$E…$Aving $Mart: Living Better for Le$$. United States, Xlibris US, 2019.
Cleaning Gold Jewelry with Vinegar
The Vinegar Institute, an international trade association representing vinegar manufacturers and bottlers, shares this gold jewelry cleaner recipe that was the winner of their June 2007 vinegar online use contest.
Apple Cider Vinegar to Clean Gold Jewelry
- Use one cup of apple cider vinegar.
- Submerge solid gold jewelry items in vinegar for 15 minutes.
- Remove and dry with a cloth.
The Vinegar Institute – Uses & Tips – Cleaner for Gold Jewelry
Reader’s Digest published a great article on cleaning jewelry at home, including gold, using everyday household items. Here’s their quick fix for cleaning gold with vinegar.
Baking Soda and Vinegar to Clean Gold
- Cover your gold item with a light coating of baking soda.
- Pour a bit of vinegar over it.
- Rinse clean.
Note: Do not use this technique with jewelry containing pearls or gemstones, as it could damage their finish or loosen any glue.
Reader’s Digest – How to Clean Jewelry at Home: 14 Household Items That Work Miracles
Never Clean These Jewelry Items with Vinegar
Pearls
According to Antoinette Matlins, author of The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy, Care For & Enjoy Pearls, you should never use vinegar to clean pearls. The acid contained in vinegar could damage the calcium carbonate makeup of the pearl.
Matlins, Antoinette Leonard. The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy, Care For & Enjoy Pearls. 3rd ed. Woodstock, Vt.: GemStone Press, 2002. Print.
Gemstones
According to Lexie Jordan Jewelry, you should never clean gemstones with vinegar. Vinegar’s acidity can damage gemstones permanently, particularly porous or organic stones.
Lexie Jordan Jewelry – How to Clean Sterling Silver with Gemstones
Note: Vinegar can also dissolve the glue in gemstone settings.
Gold and Silver Plated Jewelry
Miotto, makers of gold and silver plated items, warn never to use abrasive substances such as lemon, vinegar, salt, parmesan, or cola because they tend to corrode the surfaces.
Miotto – How to Clean and Protect Silver Plated and Gold Plated
