Cleaning Jewelry After Polishing

This may not be news to some of you. I was cleaning an especially busy piece of filigree after polishing it with tripoli and rouge. Because of the small tight spaces, I had driven a lot of greasy polish between the filigree wires. I normally clean my jewelry after polishing with a hot solution of ammonia, dawn and very hot water scrubbing with a soft tooth brush. No, I just can’t bring myself to buy a steam cleaner or upgrade my ultrasonic . I always let the piece soak first and while soaking I clean my equally dirty hands with a gel type citrus based hand cleaner (currently Goop). After brushing the filigree, I couldn’t get some of the dirt out of it. Just for the heck of it I rubbed some gel into the filigree, scrubbed it with a tooth brush and it came out very clean. It only took me 47 years to figure this out, but I am a slow learner…Rob

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I imagine you are using the version of Goop that doesn’t contain pumice, which would certainly ruin any high polish finish? I have always found the terpenes in orange oil to be excellent cleaners, and a gel formulation helps keep the product at the cleaning site rather than dispersed to the surroundings.

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That is correct. No pumice and it is a gel. Works well getting into little tight places. Cheaper than buying a steam machine, although I would buy a steam machine if I don’t already want a pulse arc welder…Rob

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Mix equal volumes of dawn and turpentine. This gives you a not-scratch cleaning gel that dissolves greases and wax.

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Rob,

Have you considered using a Waterpik?

Yo Bro

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