Rhinestone Jewelry Fairy Tales

DISPELLING THE MYTH: WATER RUINS RHINESTONES - IT'S NOT TRUE!
If you're a costume jewelry fanor fanatic you've probably found yourself at gazing at case after case of bright, shiny rhinestone jewelry thats for sale. Do youreally believe the dealer found all the jewelry in such pristine and clean condition? Is that even possible? Of course not!
This guide documents that cleaning vintage costume jewelry manufactured from :
base and pot metalsbrasscopperbronzesterling silverkarat gold, gold fill or washrhodium plated metal
is safe when containing no wood, ivory, coral or certain vintage plastics. You may feel reasonably secure in using the information contained within this guide to safely clean pieces that look similar to this:

The foiling of rhinestones, a permanent chemical process dating back to the mid-nineteenth century and not unlike the process used to silver mirrors, is a permanent process. Once a quality foil has beenadhered to the back of a glass rhinestone only the most adverse handling or exposure to the most caustic of substances can remove it.
Rhinestone jewelry contains two types of views: open and closed. A closed back setting does not permit you to see the back of the stone; an open back setting allows you to see the stone's back. The most gemon stone placements include: prong, glue or bezel settings. In a bezel setting the metal holding the stone encases a small portion of the stone's top to secure it in place. Prong, glue or bezel settings offer both open and closed back stone views.
For years rumors and scare tactics have run amok warning never to get rhinestones wet by claiming water ruins the foiling of stones. This is absolutely NOT TRUE and is scientifically impossible! In fact, water is an important step in the manufacturing process of all rhinestone jewelry.
So why the stories of impending doom? Could it be that some dealers never wanted anyone to know that dirty costume jewelry may be bought, cleaned up and then sold for twice the amount paid?
In order to understand why the watercan't ruin rhinestones, it's important to understand the most basic manufacturing techniques used to create these jeweled pieces.
After casting the design in metal, the pieces then took one of two steps:
1. rhinestones were set and the pieceplated, or2. the piece was plated and then set with rhinestones.
The plating process subjects foiled rhinestones to a most rigorous process. Utilizing caustic and highly acidic chemicals to permanently apply a finishing metal, plating is a liquid process that utilizes electricity to adhere metal onto metal. After "bathing" in liquid plating solutions, the final step includes a water based bath to remove residual plating solutions prior to the final finishing steps.
When you see rhinestone foil damage today it more than likely occurred at the factory. Regardless of the order: set with stones and then plated or plated and then set with stones, if any plating solution was not thoroughly rinsed away, pooled behind settings or stones set prior to the plating having thoroughly dried, the plating acids began to slowly eat away at the foil and the damage may not begee evident for years to gee. In the future, the only thing anyliquid may possibly do is move about the alreadyloosened foil but will not cause foil decay or damage.
The original creators of vintage jewelry did so with the idea that the accessories might be worn for a season or two at best;they contain geponents that are now old, fragile and sometimes of an inferior quality. Liquids that are acidic or abrasive shouldn't be used because no one knows how fragile the piece may be. Toothpaste, ketchup, vinegar and baking soda should stay in the kitchen or bathroom - theyre not jewelry cleaners.
It is for this reason that Jewelry Joose was created. Most jewelry cleaners were created to clean fine jewelry and while some manufacturers claim the same solution will also clean costume jewelry it's important to remember that the geponents used to manufacture fine jewelry are stronger than their costume jewelry cousins.
Jewelry Joose is formulated to thoroughly, quickly and safely clean years of dirt from base and plated metals along with foil backed rhinestones ever so gently. But dont be fooled by its gentle nature. Jewelry Joose is quite capable of cleaning fine jewelry better than any other liquid cleaner on the marketplace.
Old habits die hard and many ask why Jewelry Jooseoffers a spray application versus the traditional dip jar. Heres why:
1. Cleaning solutions know how to do one thing: clean. When the solution isn't cleaning an object, it is cleaning itself. Dipping dirty jewelry into a jar of solution immediately contaminates the entire supply. This supply will weaken over time as the cleaner attempts to clean away thegrime and debris left behind from dirty jewelry until it is no longer capable of even the most simple cleaning tasks.
2. Dipping intricate pieces of costume jewelry into a cleaning solution is overkill. The excess cleaner, along with your money, is rinsed right down drain.
The Jewelry Joose spray applicator prevents contamination and provides a dispensing system that saves you money by allowing more cleanings than you ever thought possible in one reasonably priced bottle.
An overlooked yet most important cleaning step is the thorough and geplete drying of any just cleaned adornment. Use an absorbent towel to draw as much water away the jewelry as possible and allow the pieces to dry for at least 24 hours before storing.
Costume jewelryshould be cleaned after being worn to lengthen the life of the piece. Dirt, grime, oils from hands and skin, make-up, hair spray, perfume and air pollutants have the ability to build and corrode plated metals over time. Gently removing these substances with Jewelry Joose will insure that when youre ready to wear a piece it will always be sparkling and ready to wear.