How to Remove Scratches from Your Gold Jewellery

Gold is a precious metal, and when made into jewellery, it is loved by most humans (especially females). But apart from being shiny and glittery, it is also soft and prone to scratches and damages. Scratching of gold is always a concern for many, particularly when the gold jewellery has more pure gold than other metal alloys. If you wear your gold jewellery pieces daily, like gold rings, gold chains, gold bangles or gold earrings; there is a high chance of them getting scratched due to day-to-day work. They might also get dirty, but that can be cleaned. However, removing the scratches from the item’s surface is what seems challenging for some people.

Let’s us give you some useful tips for getting your gold jewellery polished and also keeping your precious gold pieces free of scratches.

The easiest and quickest way to polish your gold rings, bangles and other jewellery is to buff them at home using a clean polishing cloth. These are special polishing clothes readily available at the market which you can buy. This method can help you polish out light scratches and spots from your jewellery’s surface. However, if your jewellery piece has lots of scratches or is scratched more deeply, it is advised to have it polished by a professional or a jeweller.

Before using any such type of polishing cloth on your piece of gold jewellery, make sure it is clean and has no chemicals that can react with gold. You can also wipe your jewellery item with a damp cloth dipped in soapy water before polishing. After your piece is clean and dried, you can wipe it with the polishing cloth to shine it. Remember, if your gold jewellery is studded with diamonds or gemstones, you should not polish them with the fabric as you may damage the stones. In this case, too, you can take your jewellery to an expert.

Professional polishing should be the step only when your gold jewellery has lots of scratches, some of which are too deep and need urgent care. Jewellers and jewellery professionals use polishing materials that are more abrasive than any regular polishing cloth, and which is why professional polishing is more effective when the scratches are deeper. However, there is a bit of a problem with professional polishing. The process of professionally polishing gold jewellery involves removing a tiny layer off the item’s surface so that it can become even again. This is the reason too many times polishing of them can wear down your gold jewellery and even weaken it.

Your daily-wear gold jewellery can go through a lot sometimes. They can get small scratches every now and then via some of your habits. But that doesn’t mean you should go to your jeweller to have your gold pieces polished every time you notice a few visible scratches. Yes, it would help if you avoided professional polishing of your gold jewellery pieces due to the abrasive nature of polishing. In general, your gold jewellery should not be polished more often than once or twice a year. Also, be extra careful with those pieces that are studded with gems and diamonds.

For those occasional jewellery items in gold that you don’t wear every day, polishing them once every two or three years can also work. In simple words, it is best not to have your precious gold jewellery polished until it is scratched extensively. As for rubbing your gold pieces with a polishing cloth, you can do that more often whenever you see a small scratch since these cloths are not that harsh. For this kind of polishing at home, once a month or once every two to three months is an acceptable frequency.

It is obvious that you should protect your precious gold pieces from hits and bumps to avoid scratches or any such damage. In addition to that, below are some extra tips for you to keep in mind:

• Choose 18K gold or below for jewellery pieces that you will regularly wear as it is more durable and doesn’t scratch easily. Since gold is delicate and one of the softest metals, the higher the gold karat of a jewellery piece, the softer it is. In contrast, lower karat jewellery is more rigid and more durable as it contains more alloys and less pure gold.

• Go with a lower karat gold for jewellery pieces that are more likely to be scratched or damaged – like rings, bangles and bracelets.

• You can choose higher gold karats for jewellery that will be less exposed to the risk of damage (like necklaces or pendants).

• Wear the less durable pieces occasionally. You can also match how often you wear a piece to its durability. For example, wear your high-karat gold jewellery items (20K or 22K) less often to protect them from wearing down quickly. Instead, use your 14K or 18K pieces for daily wear.