Earrings are fashion accessories that can enhance your beauty and appearance. Despite being one of the most used accessories, it is often the most ignored when cleaning. So, what is a safe and easy way to clean them? Does hydrogen peroxide clean earrings?
The answer is yes. Cleaning your earrings with hydrogen peroxide is easy, safe, and effective. Since earrings are often valuable and hold memories, many hesitate to clean their jewelry with chemicals and other disinfectants. So, hydrogen peroxide is one of the safest cleaners you can use for your precious earrings.
In this article, we will cover how to use hydrogen peroxide to clean earrings of all types.
Why Is It Important to Clean Earrings With Hydrogen Peroxide?
Earrings attract a lot of body oil, grime, dirt, and even germs. The biggest concern is hygiene rather than appearance. Dirty and unhygienic earrings become a breeding ground for bacteria and germs, leading to allergies, skin irritation, and infections.
Therefore, cleaning them is essential, especially before and after wearing them. If you don’t clean them, the metal material will discolor and degrade. And if your earrings have gemstones, dirt can scratch them.
Will Hydrogen Peroxide Damage Earrings?
Hydrogen Peroxide will not damage your earrings. After all, the solution is known to be safe on most jewelry metals when used correctly. Another advantage to using hydrogen peroxide to clean earrings is that it’s not only efficient, but it is also cheap and readily available at home.
Does Hydrogen Peroxide Clean Earrings Made of Gold?
Hydrogen Peroxide is safe to use on gold (rose gold, yellow gold, white gold) earrings. It won’t hurt or damage your earrings, so long as hydrogen peroxide is properly used. The solution acts as a boosting agent to remove grime and dirt embedded into your earrings.
Here’s how you can clean your gold earrings with hydrogen peroxide:
Things you’ll need:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Bowl
- A clean and soft-bristled brush
Instructions:
- Put your earrings in a bowl of hydrogen peroxide.
- Let the earrings sit in the hydrogen peroxide for about 10 to 15 minutes, then take them out and lay them on a flat surface.
- Brush the earrings with a clean and soft-bristled brush until it shines.
Does Hydrogen Peroxide Clean Earrings Made of Silver?
Whether you have authentic or fake silver earrings, hydrogen peroxide can do the job. Hydrogen Peroxide will keep your silver spotless, clean, and germ-free and oxidize them.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to cleaning your earrings with hydrogen peroxide:
Things you’ll need:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Bowl
- Soft-bristle toothbrush
- Clean cloth
Instructions:
- Pour a small amount of hydrogen peroxide into a bowl.
- Soak your silver earrings in the bowl for around 15 to 20 minutes.
- Take the earring out and put it on a flat surface. Brush off any excess residue with a clean and soft toothbrush.
- Rinse each earring with cold water and dry them with a clean cloth.
Does Hydrogen Peroxide Clean Earrings with Diamonds?
There is nothing like sparkly diamond earrings. However, it’s time to clean them when they lose their shininess and look grimy. Hydrogen peroxide will not only clean and disinfect them but get their spark back.
Follow this method to clean your earrings with diamonds:
Things you’ll need:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Water
- Bowl
- Cotton pad/swab
- Clean towel
Instructions:
- Saturate a cotton pad or cotton swab with soapy water and hydrogen peroxide.
- Use the saturated cotton pad or swab to clean the earrings.
- If your diamond earrings are heavily soiled, soak them in a bowl of hydrogen peroxide for a few minutes.
- After cleaning, dip your diamond earrings in a bowl of clean water to rinse them.
- Wipe the earrings with a clean towel to dry them.
Can You Disinfect Earrings with Hydrogen Peroxide?
Your earrings are constantly touched; thus, they can be a breeding ground for bacteria. It is important to disinfect your earrings now and then, but it’s simple to do with hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide is a popular disinfectant. Hence, there’s no reason why you cannot use it to disinfect your precious earrings. You can disinfect other accessories like bracelets, watches, and earrings. And, of course, if your ear becomes infected, use hydrogen peroxide to disinfect it.
Here’s how you can disinfect earrings with hydrogen peroxide:
Things you’ll need:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Bowl
- Clean cloth
Instructions
- Put your earrings in a bowl of hydrogen peroxide.
- Let them sit for about 20 minutes.
- Rinse and dry with a clean cloth.
Can You Clean Pearl Earrings with Hydrogen Peroxide?
Pearls are very fragile; hence they require light cleaning. You can clean your pearl earrings with hydrogen peroxide, but you need to clean them gently like any other cleaning product.
Things you’ll need:
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Cotton Swab / Clean Cloth
Instructions:
- Dip the cotton pad or clean cloth in hydrogen peroxide.
- Clean your pearl earrings by dabbing them with a cotton pad or clean cloth.
- Let the earrings air dry for about 30 minutes.
What Other Natural Products Can Clean Earrings?
When it comes to earrings, cleanliness is more than just appearance. Your ears are sensitive, and you don’t want germs or dirt to get trapped. So it is recommended to clean them often.
However, when hydrogen peroxide is unavailable, you can use other cleaning alternatives to clean earrings. Like hydrogen peroxide, the following natural products are safe and efficient.
Vinegar
Vinegar is an excellent alternative to hydrogen peroxide if you want to sanitize and clean earrings. It breaks down grime and dirt in addition to being an antibacterial sanitizer. However, vinegar is not ideal for cleaning earrings and accessories with gemstones.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is an excellent cleaner for earrings. You can use it to clean metals like silver, gold, silver-plated, and gold-plated earrings. You can also use it on custom earrings to keep them shiny.
Lemon Juice
The acid in lemon juice is effective in brightening up your earrings. Mix baking soda and lemon juice for more tarnished earrings to clean them better. Rinse your earrings in warm water.
Toothpaste
You can make your earrings sparkling clean by cleaning them with toothpaste. Just like how toothpaste can brighten your teeth, it can brighten your earrings.
Ketchup
Ketchup can clean tarnished silver. If your earrings are dirty or tarnished, dip them in a bowl of ketchup. Use an old toothbrush to clean them.
Conclusion
With frequent use, your earrings can become dirty and even cause your ear piercing to become dirty and infected. Hydrogen peroxide will take care of this by cleaning and disinfecting your ears and earrings. And it can clean all types of earrings – gold, silver, pearls, and diamonds.
If you run out of hydrogen peroxide, there are other natural household products, such as vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, toothpaste, and ketchup, that can also clean your earrings.
If you are interested in knowing what else you can clean with hydrogen peroxide, check our article – Does Hydrogen Peroxide Clean Grout?