How to Care for Crocheted Jewelry

A lot of time and care goes into creating crocheted jewelry, so shouldn’t time and care go into keeping it?

I’ve had a few people ask me, “If my earrings get dirty, how do I clean it?”, so I thought it would be a good idea to write a blog post to tell you how to care for crocheted jewelry. I’ve also put a tab on my blog with the information, so you have a quick reference.

First of all, we need to gather our supplies.

 

 

There are a couple of ways you could go. You can either use some pre-made fabric stiffener, or you can make your own with water and corn starch. Either way will work just fine. Now, not all of the crocheted jewelry I sell has been stiffened. When you get jewelry from me, you can tell if it’s been stiffened or not. You can stiffen any of it, and you can make it as stiff as you want, but keep in mind, that it will take the softness out, so it’s best not to stiffen necklaces and to very lightly stiffen bracelets & rings.

Jewelry can be gently washed in a bowl of warm water and mild detergent. Very gently agitate to clean off any dirt or oil. Then rinse the soap out.

If the jewelry does not get stiffened, simply lay it out to dry. Rings that are not on a metal ring should first be formed around finger so that it dries in shape.

If the jewelry needs to be stiffened, you can either dilute the pre-made stiffener (about half water and half stiffener) in a bowl or you can dissolve 1 heaping Tablespoon of corn starch into 1/2 cup of water, then add 3/4 cup of boiling water and let cool (this will need to be stirred again before using, because it will settle). I have some of my cornstarch solution in a spray bottle for some bowls I’m making.

My granny square rings can be completely immersed in the stiffening solution. For the earrings, dip only the crocheted part into the solution so you don’t end up with glue on the hooks too. Once immersed or dipped, gently squeeze out the excess. For the granny square rings, form to finger before setting on wax paper to dry. For the earrings, dry flat or reform to their shape (if it’s the bacon and egg earrings).

If you would just like to sterilize your earrings, put some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and wipe the earring hook only.

Now, that you know how to care for them, head on over to my shop and take a look at all my pretties! 🙂

I hope you are all having a great week so far!

 

Happy Crafting!!

Casey 🙂