Caring For Your White Gold Jewelry

White gold jewelry, as the name suggests, is jewelry made with white gold. However, white gold is not a natural substance. It is an alloy that is formed using a combination of metals where gold has the highest purity. Other metals used in creating the alloy may include silver, palladium and platinum. A substance known as rhodium may also be used as a plating to increase the ‘whiteness’ of the finished product. Rhodium will also act as a protective barrier since it doesn’t oxidize or tarnish in any way.

When it comes to caring for white gold jewelry, the obvious piece of advice is to avoid situations where this jewelry could be damaged. There are parts of our everyday life that can cause problems for our jewelry, particularly rings like wedding rings. We wear these 24/7 and they become a part of us to the point we almost forget they are there. This can cause a few problems. Consider some of these every day effects. problems:

Household Chemicals

Household chemicals hold hidden dangers for white gold jewelry. This list of chemicals can include items such as laundry detergents and bleaches, kitchen cleaning products, and personal care products such as soaps and cleaning agents. Yes, washing the dishes, having a shower or doing the laundry can effect your jewelry.

Outside the house, chemicals can include garden products such as fertilizers, bug sprays and weed killers. Swimming pool cleaners such as chlorine or salt can also damage your white gold jewelry.

Body Salt

Did you know you were very salty – and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Your jewelry doesn’t think its nice though. Our body sweat is very salty and whilst sea salt can cause problems, that salty sweat is a bigger danger. Rings can be particularly vulnerable as the sweat sits under the ring and slowly dissolving the metal. Remove your rings or jewelry before doing anything that is likely to increase your body persperation.

Humid Air

We all know that water leads to rust in metals. The same is true for white gold jewelry. Even high humidity levels in the air can lead to problems. Most metals oxidize to a certain extent – some just faster than others. Steal of course gets that rusty color whilst copper turns green. Even silver oxidizes noticeably turning a black color. Since white gold is made from an alloy, it is often the alloys that cause the oxidization process, not the gold itself.

Cleaning

If you become too fussy cleaning and polishing your white gold jewelry you run the risk of polishing off the protective rhodium plating. This leaves your jewelry piece susceptible to all the above problems. Gently cleaning is all that is required.

Looking after your white gold jewelry is not difficult. Avoid some of the above situations, keep the pieces clean using a soft cloth, and for more expensive pieces, take them to a jewelers for a professional clean.