CARE OF JEWELRY To Keep Jewelry at its best it should be properly stored when not in use and occasionally cleaned and polished, or recolored, when necessary, to restore its original luster. Most jewelry contains more or less alloy which will tarnish, and articles of sil ver are especially likely to tarnish by contact with substances containing silver, or by fumes of sulphur which are often present in the atmosphere. It should be remembered that 30 per cent to 50 per cent of rubber con sists of sulphur; hence rubber bands and articles containing rubber should never be brought in close proximity to fine silver articles.
To Store Jewelry. — When not In use, jewelry may be covered with a thin film of collodion dissolved in ether or alcohol.
Or laid away in boxes covered with boxwood sawdust, which may be ob tained from any jeweler.
To Clean Jewelry.—To clean arti cles.of gold or silver, use castile soap and an old soft toothbrush or jewel er's brush, and wash carefully. Rinse in clear cold water, lay in a box of boxwood or other sawdust, and shake gently until dry. Rings containing gems should be removed when the hands are being washed, or their lus ter will be impaired.
To clean a gold or silver chain, put it in a small glass bottle with warm suds of castile soap and a little whit ing or prepared chalk. Shake well, rinse with cold water, and dry in saw dust.
To Polish Jewelry.—To polish gold jewelry, make a paste of whiting with sal volatile, cover the article, and let dry. Then brush off with an old toothbrush or polish with chamois.
Or put in a glass vessel 2 ounces of sulphate of iron (green vitriol), and gradually add water, stirring with a glass rod until all is dissolved. Use no more water than is necessary. Add carbonate of ammonia gradually un til all the iron falls as a sediment. Let the mixture settle and strain off the liquor through filter paper. Dry the pulverized iron by means of blot ting paper. Place it in an earthen ware cup or bowl or crucible, and heat it in a dark room until it glows softly. When cool, this is the best polishing powder that can be made.
Or take 2 ounces of hydrochloric acid and add iron filings, stirring with glass rod until the acid has dis solved all it can. Add aqua ammonia until the iron is all precipitated from this solution. Dilute this solution with water and collect the sediment on filter paper, drying slowly in sun shine or with very gentle heat, To 37 ounces of this substance add ounces of sal ammoniac. This mix ture has been for many years a trade secret of German gold workers, and commands a high price on the mar ket.
To Brighten Jewelry.—Heat to a boil I pint of soft water and pour it into a wide - mouthed glass bottle. Add 1 ounce of cyanide of potassium and shake until dissolved. When cold, add fluid ounce of aqua ammonia and I fluid ounce of pure alcohol. This mixture is a deadly poison and must not touch any part of the skin. Even the fumes are most dangerous.
To clean jewelry, make a hoop of a bit of wire, and with this dip the articles in the solution for a few sec onds, remove, and rinse in clear water. Then wash with soapsuds to thor oughly free from the cyanide, rinse, and dip in alcohol or benzine. To cause them to dry quickly, cover with sawdust. Cork the solution tightly for future use. Of course great care must be taken to keep this liquid out of the hands of children and careless persons. But if proper precautions are observed, it will be found to be one of the quickest ways to remove the tarnish from metallic articles and to give them their brightest luster.
To Color Gold. — Mix saltpeter, 3 ounces; green copperas, 1 ounce; white vitriol, 1 ounce; alum, 1 ounce. This mixture gives yellow gold a dark or reddish color. The addition of a little blue vitriol gives a darker shade.
To Clean Jet.—To clean jet arti cles, brush them free from dust with a soft camel's-hair brush, apply a little olive oil by means of a brush or bit of cotton wool, and polish with chamois. Great care must be used, as the carving usually makes jet arti cles very brittle.