How do you clean pearls?

Question

I was given a strand of pearls that belonged to my grandmother. I would like to be able to wear them, but they smell awful. How could I clean them and get the smell out?

Answer 1

There are cleaners available commercially for pearls, however they are somewhat difficult to find. Any commercial cleaner must specifically state that it is safe for pearls, or do not use it.

Instead of a commercial cleaner, wash the pearls periodically with a mild liquid soap and a soft cloth to remove any accumulated build-up of dirt and body oils. Make certain you dry your pearls with a soft cloth and leave the pearl strand out long enough for the stringing material to air dry.

Do NOT use any abrasive cleaners on your pearls--do not use toothpaste, do not use baking soda.

Check your pearls now and then at least every six months to see if they need restringing. If there is any play (movement) of a pearl between the knots at each side of the pearl, then the strand should be restrung. Keeping your pearls properly strung will help to prevent damage to the pearls by keeping them isolated from one another. A pearl strand that has room for play with any of the pearls indicates either that the string is aging and slowly giving in to the wear of time and gravity or that the strand was not properly strung in the first place.

When storing your pearls, store them separate from other jewerly or hard objects. Pearls stored with other jewelry are often scratched and irreparably damaged.

Any jewelry that has pearls in it should always be the last thing put on when getting dressed and the first thing taken off when getting undressed.

Make certain you do all those girl things--put on hairspay, use perfume, apply makeup--BEFORE you put on your pearls. Spraying or smearing those items on your pearls may dull the luster of the pearls.

Wear your pearl strand and ENJOY it.

Answer 2

check out this site:
http://jewelry.about.com/cs/pearls/a/cleaning_pearls.htm