Care
Jewelry care for gold plated, pearl and CZ pieces
How to clean gold plated pieces, pearls and cubic zirconia, keep stretch bracelets from breaking, and travel without a knotted chain.
Published September 15, 2026 · 5 minute read
- Last on, first off
- Cleaning gold plated pieces
- Pearls
- Cubic zirconia and tennis bracelets
- Stretch bracelets and hand chains
- Storage and travel
- Stainless steel and sterling silver
Last on, first off
The habit that protects everyday jewelry best happens before you touch a cloth. Put your pieces on last, once lotion, sunscreen, perfume and hairspray have dried, and take them off first when you get home.
Every one of those products leaves a thin film. On a chain it collects in the small gaps between links, and on a stone it sits over the facets and dulls the light. Wait a few minutes after moisturizer and the film stays on your skin instead of on your necklace.
Then take everything off for four things: the shower, the pool, the gym and bed. Water with soap or chlorine in it, sweat and hours of friction against a pillow do more to a plated finish than months of ordinary wear.
Keep a small dish or pouch where you undress, so your pieces have somewhere to go that is not a pocket. Jewelry dropped into a bag ends up knotted around keys, which scratches it and costs you ten minutes the next morning.
Cleaning gold plated pieces
Plating is a thin layer, so gentle is the whole method.
After wearing, wipe each piece with a soft, dry cloth. A glasses cloth works well. It lifts skin oil and fingerprints before they settle, and on most days that is all a necklace needs.
When a piece looks dull anyway, dampen the cloth with a little water and a drop of mild soap, wipe the piece, then wipe it again with plain water and dry it at once. Do not leave a plated chain to soak, and do not put it away damp.
Some cleaning tools are made for solid metal, and they work by taking a little of the surface away. Keep these away from plated jewelry: polishing cloths treated for solid silver, jewelry dips, paste cleaners, toothpaste and ultrasonic machines. On a plated piece the surface is the color you paid for.
When you clean, look at the clasp and the small rings that join it to the chain. Those are the places that move most, and the first places where color thins.
Pearls
Pearls are softer than the metal around them, and they scratch and dull more easily than anything else in a jewelry box.
Wipe pearls with a soft, dry cloth after you wear them, paying attention to the side that rested on your skin. Keep them away from perfume, hairspray and water. If a strand looks grubby, a cloth that is barely damp is enough, followed by a dry one.
Store pearl pieces flat, in their own pouch or compartment, away from chains, stones and metal clasps that could scratch them. A pearl necklace left hanging for weeks pulls on its links.
Our pearl pieces are set on 14K gold plated brass chains and posts, so the metal parts follow the plated care above. Put a pearl necklace on after everything else and take it off before anything else, and it will keep its glow longest.
Cubic zirconia and tennis bracelets
Cubic zirconia is a hard stone, and when it looks cloudy the stone itself is almost never the problem. Lotion and skin oil collect behind it and block the light that should come back through.
To bring the sparkle back, mix a drop of mild soap into a small bowl of warm water. Dip a very soft brush, a new baby toothbrush is ideal, and brush gently around each stone, especially behind it. Rinse quickly, dry with a soft cloth, and let the piece air dry on the cloth before you store it.
Tennis bracelets need a different kind of care. The small metal prongs that hold each stone can catch on a loose knit and bend. Put a tennis bracelet on after you have dressed, not before you pull a sweater over your head, and take it off before you take the sweater off.
Now and then, run a fingertip along the stones. If one moves or a prong stands out, stop wearing the bracelet until you can have it looked at.
Yoosteel Bezel CZ tennis bracelet
Tennis bracelet · from $15.99
Stretch bracelets and hand chains
Stretch bracelets fail at the cord, and almost always from being pulled wide. Roll each strand over your hand instead: tuck the thumb in, roll the bracelet up the back of the hand, and let it settle on the wrist. Take it off the same way.
Keep stretch bracelets dry. Water and hand soap soften the cord over time, so take a stack off before washing your hands or doing dishes. Our bracelet sets come as five or six strands, which makes it easy to take the whole stack off in one move.
A hand chain has more parts to tangle: a chain around the wrist, a ring, and the length that joins them. Before you put one away, close its clasp and lay it flat in a pouch with the ring tucked next to the wrist chain, not dangling from it. Our hand chains come with a separate stretch bracelet, which is stored the same way as any other strand.
Storage and travel
Most damage to everyday jewelry happens between wearings, when pieces rub or knot against each other.
Give every piece its own space: a small pouch, a compartment in a tray, or a hook for a necklace. Close each clasp before you put a chain away and lay the chain straight. Keep earrings in pairs, backs on.
Choose a dry place. A bathroom shelf is convenient and steamy, which is the wrong combination for plated metal. A drawer in a bedroom is better.
For travel, thread a fine chain through a drinking straw and fasten the clasp outside the straw, so the chain cannot fold on itself. A piece of card with two small slits does the same job. Pack each necklace separately, and keep pearls in a flat pouch rather than squeezed between other things.
Stainless steel and sterling silver
Stainless steel is the easiest metal to live with. Our pieces for men and boys are steel all through, and they need a wipe after wearing and a dry drawer. If a steel pendant gets grimy, a soft brush with a drop of mild soap and water cleans it, and a towel dries it. Keep the painted designs on the flag and soccer crosses away from rough surfaces.
Sterling silver can darken slowly in air, and a silver cloth usually brings solid sterling back. Our sterling silver initial necklace is a special case: its 925 silver base carries a white gold plating on top. Treat it like a plated piece. Wipe it with a soft dry cloth after wearing and store it in a closed pouch, which keeps air away from it, rather than rubbing it bright with a polishing cloth.
When a piece mixes materials, such as pearls on a plated chain or stones on steel, care for it the way its most delicate part needs.
The care notes on our piece pages are held to Yoosteel standards: gentle cleaning first, and jewelry off before water.