You can find white vinegar at most home goods or grocery stores. Vinegar won’t harm costume jewelry, but it may hurt any precious metals or stones. Vinegar is great at removing rust, but won’t work as well on tarnish.
A toothbrush has soft bristles that won’t scratch your necklace.
Cool water is more gentle on your jewelry than warm water is.
Using your fingers is more gentle than a cloth or a sponge, which can scratch delicate jewelry.
Dry dish soap can discolor your necklace and make it look spotty.
Storing your necklace while it’s wet can lead to more rust or tarnish. If your necklace is silver, buff some silver polish into its surface to keep it shiny.
Aluminum foil creates an electrolytic reaction to remove tarnish and rust without harming the metal of the necklace.
Baking soda is a natural cleaning agent that is mildly corrosive. It can remove tarnish from gold and silver, and rust from steel or costume jewelry.
If your necklace wasn’t super rusty, you can take it out after 2 or 3 minutes.
Rust builds up on necklaces when they are left in a moist or wet environment.
