Taking Care of Your Gold Locket

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Gold lockets are amazing beautiful. They're the faithful keepers of many wonderful treasures which are stored safely within them. This is why it's practically a crime to see a good gold locket ruined by misuse and a lack of care. Like everything else, this kind of jewelry must be properly taken care of in order for it to stay by your side as a beautiful companion. Understanding how gold can tarnish is the first step to knowing what you can do to stop it from happening. There are also a couple of easy ways to keep your gold locket brilliant for life.

Why Gold Lockets Tarnish
It's true that pure gold doesn't tarnish, no matter what it's introduced to. But no gold locket is entirely pure, since 100% gold alloys are too soft to be used in jewelry. It's the other metal elements in the alloy which can react with the environment to form a ugly greenish compound. These reactions occur with the environment, the air, and even the very oils in your skin. There's no avoiding it entirely, so vigilance is needed to keep the locket well maintained.

Three Easy Maintenance Tips
There are a couple of exceptionally easy tricks to keeping the gold locket it tip-top shape. By following these rules, you can significantly cut down on how often you need to do more rigorous maintenance.

1) Keep the locket nice and dry. This means taking it off when you go swimming, taking a bath, or showering. It's amazing how often people will forget to take off the gold locket when getting close to water.

2) Watch out for everyday acidic sources. These can easily corrode the metals in the gold alloy. Many fruits and vegetables have sulfur in them, and it is this element that's the most dangerous. Sulfuric vegetables can be quite common, like the onion.

3) If you're not using the gold locket, put it in a safe, dry space. This can be a jewelry pouch, a soft cloth, or inside a case someplace. The farther away the locket is from moisture, the longer it will stay absolutely stunning without maintenance.

Long Term Maintenance Tips
Over time, you'll need to occasionally do some more rigorous maintenance in order to keep the gold locket as beautiful as the day you first saw it. Here are a few tips for long term care.

1) Every once in a while, take a soft cloth and polish the gold locket. Take care to get around all the ornate edges - these are the most prone to tarnish. There are special polishing cloths sold, but a regular cloth should do fine so long as it's smooth and soft.

2) If your gold locket becomes incredibly tarnished, you can always take it to a professional for some heftier cleaning. Jewelers have special ultrasonic baths that will remove most of the stubborn corrosion on the locket.

Constant Care Pays Off
Gold lockets shine when they have the proper constant attention that they deserve. By making sure that you put some time and effort into taking care of the locket, you'll be sure to have an amazingly beautiful piece of jewelry that will be with you for a lifetime.

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