Jewellery can be incredibly sentimental and special. In your collection, you might have some pieces of jewellery that you only wear on special occasions and that you prefer to store for the rest of the time.
When it comes to storing jewellery, you need to know how to store it for long periods of time to prevent tarnishing, regardless of whether you’re storing it at home or in a storage unit.
To prevent your jewellery from tarnishing in storage, you will to:
- Organise your jewellery by metal
- Clean your jewellery
- Dry your jewellery
- Place jewellery in a jewellery box
- Find a suitable place to store your jewellery
1. Organise Your Jewellery By Metal
Before you store your jewellery, you will first need to organise your jewellery by metal.
Begin by sorting through your pieces of gold, white gold, silver, and rose gold jewellery so that you can clearly see everything in organised piles.
Once you have everything in piles organised by metal, you’re ready to begin cleaning your jewellery for storage.
When it comes to storing jewellery, you need to know how to store it for long periods of time to prevent tarnishing, regardless of whether you’re storing it at home or in a storage unit.
2. Clean Your Jewellery
Once you’ve organised your jewellery by metal, it’s time to set about thoroughly cleaning your jewellery.
Depending on the metal, there are a variety of suitable jewellery cleaners out there. For instance, when cleaning your silver jewellery, you will want to opt for a silver dip cleaner. For gold jewellery, you might want to opt for a precious metals cleaner.
That said, be sure to do your research beforehand to ensure that you’re not going to damage any of your jewellery.
Have a polishing cloth close by and work pile by pile to ensure none of your pieces of jewellery get left out by mistake, as even high quality pieces of jewellery need to be cleaned to ensure you’re maintaining it.
So, whether you’re moving house or are just organising your collection, your jewellery is nice and clean.
3. Dry Your Jewellery
Once you’ve cleaned your jewellery, it’s essential to polish each piece of jewellery until your collection is completely dry.
This is an essential step, as any moisture on your jewellery or within the jewellery box can quickly lead to your jewellery deteriorating and becoming tarnished.
As such, it’s essential to thoroughly dry each piece of your jewellery before you store them not only to remove moisture, but to also buff and polish the jewellery.
Once you have everything in piles organised by metal, you’re ready to begin cleaning your jewellery for storage.
4. Place Jewellery In A Jewellery Box
Next, you will need to place your jewellery in a jewellery box that is lined with felt.
The felt helps to absorb any moisture, in turn keeping your jewellery in the best possible condition whilst also preventing tarnishing when it is in storage.
You can get jewellery boxes with multiple dividers, so you can organise your jewellery by metal and by piece, such as necklaces, earrings, and bracelets for easy access.
Finding a way in which to keep your jewellery organised will also help to ensure that your pieces remain tangle-free, especially when it comes to packing necklaces.
5. Find A Suitable Place To Store Your Jewellery
There are many places that you can store your jewellery, including a storage unit.
Wherever you decide to store your jewellery box, you will want to ensure that it is somewhere out of direct sunlight and with low humidity to prevent your jewellery from tarnishing.
It’s worth noting that if you intend to store your jewellery outside of your house in a storage unit, then it’s always better to keep your most expensive jewellery safe on your person. For instance, if you’re moving home and know that you intend to store your jewellery for a long period of time, it’s safer to keep your most precious jewellery, such as your engagement or wedding ring with you.
The rest of your jewellery should be kept in a jewellery box within a cardboard box and clearly labelled as “Fragile” to indicate that the removal company should take care when moving the box.
Wherever you decide to store your jewellery box, you will want to ensure that it is somewhere out of direct sunlight and with low humidity to prevent your jewellery from tarnishing.
We hope that this article has given you a clear understanding of how to store your jewellery to prevent it from tarnishing.
To learn more about our removals services or purpose-built storage facilities, contact Nathan. At Falconers we use meticulous moving techniques, passed down and perfected through generations for over 132 years, to ensure your goods are moved with expert precision and kept in perfect condition. For more expert advice on how to pack, move and store your belongings — or other FAQs on how removals work — check out our blog page.
Written by Jemima Thomas for Falconer Removals & Storage.
