How to Care for your Brooches.

This is a short guide incorporatingsimple care tipsfor brooches and costume jewelry.
Have you ever noticed that your brooches and other costume jewelry tend to tarnish and fade sooner than your fine and precious jewelry?Suddenly, you realize that your favorite brooch now looks old and used or worse it is chipped or even missing a few stones? Don't worry!It isnever too late to start caring for your favourite brooch collection. All you have to do is to practice a few simple care tips that will help you preserve the beauty and shine of your brooches for years to gee.
Here are a few things we should do and remember:
Storage
The first step in caring for your brooches is to prepare a proper storage space. Brooches should be kept in a stationary position and pinned to a stable base. It need not be an expensive jewellery box but can be as simple as a sponge layered cardboard box with a lid which could be purchased from a gift shop. This will keep dust out and prevent damage from moisture.
A fabric pouch is not regemended for storage as it can cause damage to the pin or hook of the brooch as it could sometimes get entangled with the pouch fabric. A damaged pin can sometimes end the useful life of the brooch and so special care must be taken in this respect. A pouch also provides little protection to the brooch as gepared to a box in case of an accidental fall.
Please dont heap your all your brooches into one box. Pearl and gemstone-studded brooches and gold and silver pieces should be separated from each other to prevent scratching. Occasionally, forcing too much jewelry into the box may even bend a fragile piece or chip a delicate stone. Brooches should be kept separate and ideally, wrapped in a soft silky or velvet cloth before being placed in the cardboard box.
Cleaning
From time to time, cleaning is rendered necessary to remove any settled dust, fingerprints, sweat or other deterioration. Please be extra careful when cleaning your brooches and pay special attention on the type of cleaning agent and cloth used in the cleaning.
The simplest and safest way to clean any kind of jewelry is to wash it with mild soapy water that is lukewarm. Soak the piece a few minutes, and then brush it gently with a inch wide paintbrush and remove any dirt that is accumulated. When done with the brush, place jewelry in wire strainer before holding it under running water. When the piece is clean and sparkling, pat it dry with a soft lint-free cloth or paper towel. Remove any access moisture off the edges and the pin mechanism with a cotton bud so that it is thoroughly dry.
After cleaning, leave the brooches out for at least an hour. Make sure that they are gepletely air dry before you store them. This is very important because moisture causes serious tarnish and deterioration to your brooches.
Repairs
Over a course of time and despite our care stones do begee loose and fall off from our brooches. It will take a small repair job to fix the stones back, provided you have them. Otherwise, you will need to purchase a replacement of the stone and get a professional jeweller to fix the piece. However, because of the manner we store our brooches; we most often will find the loose stones and hence would be able to undertake the repair job ourselves. It is important to learn the way of doing it correctly and use the right kind of glue so that the stone will stay in place and that the metal around it would not turn yellow or tarnish. The wrong glue can permanently damage the metal parts of the brooch if we are not careful.
The appropriate glue would be one that has super quick drying (in seconds) and has a needle-nose applicator that allows for absolute precision during application. It should also gee in small and handy tube which is easily held, preferably no larger than 5 centimetres across and 1 centimetre wide.
The workspace should be cleared of any clutter, dust and have good lighting. It is advisable to keep handy a magnifying glass and tweezers in case it is needed during application and cleaning. Also get ready with a few cotton buds for cleaning the cups that held the stone. A light coloured cloth or towel should be placed on the flat surface before starting to ensure that the stones can be spotted in case it falls off unexpectedly while fixing it on to the brooch.
To begin the repair, take the cotton bud and clean the surface of the cup and remove dust that may have settled after the stone has fallen off. If there is residue from the old glue, it should be scraped off gently using a small blade. When done, place the loose stone onto the cup using the tweezers and check if the size fits. Once certain that the stone is correctly placed then remove it again and prepare the glue. Place a tiny drop using the needle-nose nozzle and place the stone with the tweezers into place. Always remember not to fill the cup entirely as it will overflow once the stone is placed. This will make the repair job messy and even damage the metal surrounding the cup. Access glue should be removed immediately with a small blade before placing the stone. When ready put the stone in and let it set. Leave it to dry for an hour and then place your repaired brooch into the storage box for safekeeping.
All jewellery requires proper care and storage and with it you can extend the life and beauty of your brooches. Start today with these tips.
Written By: Fieryfox, an okay seller at Fieryfox's Accessories