Question:
I bought a quantity of fake pearls (beads) in different colours and shapes.
Great bargain, only the seller 'forgot' to mention that said pearls are
filthy and totally unusable unless they get a jolly good clean first. Has
anyone ever washed faux pearls? I was just thinking of dunking them in a
bowl of water with some washing up liquid, or bubblebath, and scrub them
gently with a plastic brush or something. Any other suggestions?
Answer:
-Probably try using warm water, and solid bar hand soap as the detergent.
Washign up liquid has salt in as an abrasive to remove gunk so it might
scratch the acrylic surface and take away some of the shine leaving them
dull.
-Assuming the filth is the same sort of stuff one finds on other dirty
jewelry (dead skin and oils) best would be an ultrasonic bath with a
*very* mild ammonia or grease-cutting dish soap solution; or a jewelry
cleaning product.
No access to an ultrasonic cleaner, the same cleaning solutions will
work, just takes longer to loosen the gunk.
Whatever you use, *rinse thoroughly*!! Dry completely!! Remember, it
will be touching your skin and you want any irritants gone, including
wetness.
Finally, the weak points of the jewelry would be any strings connecting
the beads (another reason to dry - so they do not rot) and any metal
parts, it would rust or corrode if not dried.
