2 min read
Plating is a few microns of gold over a base metal. Everything about making it last comes down to keeping those microns intact.
Gold-plated jewellery does not tarnish the way silver does. What actually happens is simpler and slower: the thin layer of gold on the surface wears through in the places that rub, and the base metal underneath starts to oxidise where it is exposed. Once you understand that, every care instruction stops being folklore and starts being obvious.
What actually damages plating
- Friction — the inside of a ring, the back of a pendant against a collarbone, chain links rubbing each other in a drawer
- Acids and salts — sweat is both, which is why the clasp and the back of a pendant go first
- Alcohol and solvents — perfume, hairspray, sanitiser, most cleaning products
- Chlorinated and salt water — a swimming pool will do more damage in an afternoon than a month of ordinary wear
- Heat and steam — a hot shower, a kitchen, a hair straightener held too close
The order you put things on
Jewellery goes on last and comes off first. Moisturiser, perfume and hairspray all need to be dry on your skin before metal touches it. This one habit does more for plating than any cleaning routine, because it stops the damage instead of treating it.
Cleaning without stripping
Most of the time, a dry wipe with a soft lint-free cloth after wearing is the whole job. It lifts off sweat and skin oils before they sit overnight. Save wet cleaning for when a piece is visibly dull.
- Lukewarm water with a few drops of mild dish soap — nothing stronger
- Two to three minutes of soaking, not twenty
- A soft toothbrush, used gently, only where dirt has collected in a setting
- Rinse in clean water and pat completely dry before storing
Never use toothpaste, baking soda, vinegar, or a silver-polishing cloth on plated jewellery. All four are abrasive or acidic, and they take the gold off faster than any amount of wear.
Storage matters more than people think
A pile of chains in one box is a plating problem: every piece is quietly sanding every other piece. Store items separately, in a pouch or a compartment box, somewhere dry. A silica sachet in the drawer is worth the ten rupees it costs, particularly through a coastal monsoon.
Rotate what you wear
The single most effective thing you can do is own more than one piece and alternate. Plating recovers nothing, but wear that is spread across three pairs of earrings takes three times as long to show on any one of them.