How To Clean Your Antiqued Copper Wire Jewelry At Home

How To Clean Your Antiqued Copper Wire Jewelry At Home

There are plenty of articles and videos that show you how to clean your jewelry and return the copper to its original bright, raw color but, what if, you wanted your jewelry to retain its rich patina?
How do you clean antiqued copper jewelry? Especially if there are gemstones involved which can sometimes be porous and susceptible to discoloration and breakage?
As a jewelry maker that specializes in antiqued copper jewelry, this is the method that I use to clean my copper pendants, earrings and bracelets before sending them out to their new homes.
I hope that this article helps you to keep your pieces sparkling for years to come!

How to Clean Copper Wire Jewelry

Remove dirt and debris:
Cleaning copper with toothpicks and toothbrushes
First things first. You need to make sure that any dirt and debris built up in the crevices are removed. You can do this by taking a toothbrush and gently brushing out anything lodged in the wire. (Toothpicks can be really handy as well!)
Running water over it will help you in this process. (Best to use cool or lukewarm water to best protect the gemstone).
 
Remove excess tarnish:
Once you've finished with the toothbrush, it's time to move on to cleaning up the wire. There are two ways you can manually do this:
Use fine steel wool to remove excess tarnish on your copper jewelry piece.
1. Use steel wool while running the tap. You'll want to be sure to use fine steel wool. (Usually 0000 fine steel wool).
You can generally find these in the painting aisle at your local hardware stores as well as online.
Wet the steel wool, add a dab of dish soap and scrub the wire until most of the dark tarnish is removed.
(Many gemstones are hard enough to resist getting scuffed up, but if you're unsure, just be gentle in your scrubbing.)
Micro-abrasive polishing pads for copper wire jewelry.
2. You can buy pro-polishing pads that have micro-abrasive material that is safer to use, gentler on stones and very effective at removing tarnish while also providing a nice polish.
I usually buy mine here, (https://www.riogrande.com/product/pro-polish-polishing-pads/337020GP/?code=337020), and include them with all my orders so that my pieces can be polished by you at home.
 
Polishing cloths for copper wire pendants.
Polish your jewelry piece:
After you've removed the tarnish, you can now polish up your piece and give it a brilliant shine. This is generally the simplest part of cleaning up your piece.
Most polishing cloths have compounds in them that help to really brighten up your jewelry.
They tend to be a little more expensive, but they last a very long time and are worth having around in case you need to polish your pieces later down the line.
I prefer the Sunshine brand polishing cloths for shining up my jewelry.
Newly Polished Antiqued Copper Pendant
Newly Polished Antiqued Copper Pendant
And there you have it! Your beautiful piece is cleaned and polished without removing its gorgeous, rich patina.
 
*Note: I'm not affiliated with any of the listed companies above. These are simply sites that I have purchased from in the past and had a great experience.
I hope that this article was helpful to you! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message and I'll do my best to answer them. 
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Thanks again for stopping by!
- Ellie <3
My name is Elizabeth Schultz and I'm the jewelry designer behind Ellie's Handcrafted Jewelry. I've been making jewelry for about 16 years and have been selling jewelry for over two years. My goal is to help others learn the beautiful art of jewelry making.
 
 
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