More Reasons to Love Brass Jewelry & Safer Practices for Cleaning it!

Many of you know how I love me some jewelry. I make and sell pieces out of Silver, Brass and Gold. But on the daily, you will usually find me wiearing some big shiny brass earrings or cuff. Brass is lightweight, non-corrosive, has a beautiful color and it has antimicrobial anti viral properties. Cool right??

We all have things to do so If you want to skip right to the Cleaning Tips I have shared over at the Conscious Merchant, click here. But do read on for some extra info. and if you need convincing about why brass is the sh*t. Thanks so much for being here.

Before really launching my own jewelry business I worked and tried to learn as much as I could from within the jewelry industry. I come from a background of working in a high end jewelry store on an illustrious street in Santa Monica, California where price tags ranged upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. Needless to say, all of the jewelry there was gold & platinum with occasional silver. While I love gold and make my fine collection in gold, I try to offer my regular collections in a more affordable price range for the (not-so) average working woman without sacrificing quality. There are sooooo many kinds of metals out there to choose from when it comes to buying jewelry. Materials range from cheap base metal to things with a heftier price tag like gold & platinum. For this post I want to focus on a metal rich in color, versatility and history but is sometimes overlooked as a great option for heirloom jewelry....Brass.

For those who like gold color but don't want to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on solid gold pieces we have alternative materials that will give us the look without doing too much damage to our pocket books. This brings me to Brass. Here's the thing about Brass: When it's newly polished it gives off a beautiful shine that looks like Yellow Gold. You can wear the sh*t out of it, get it wet in the pool or shower (just pat it dry after) and you don't have to worry about causing long term damage to your jewelry where you would have to be more careful when wearing jewelry with gold overlay.I'm not a historian but I would refer you to googling "History of Brass" if you care to know more.

The downside (or upside, depending on your tastes) is that with exposure to light and moisture, your brass jewelry can begin to turn a green-gold that deepens over time when left exposed and not maintained. Some people like the natural patina while many do not. This reason is why I think brass gets a little bit snubbed. People don't realize that this color change is just something you have to do a little bit of work to maintain. It only takes about as long as watering your plants. And its just like caring for them too. If you are one who loves your brass pieces but loves them most in their bright & shiny state read on!

Thing is, I like my brass jewelry to be shiny and bright. I want my jewelry to shine and reflect light as brilliantly as possible. I love brass because it resembles gold when cleaned and the best part is that it doesn't resemble the price tag of gold. Queue the DIY recipes for safer cleaning practices.

The cleaning part is ridiculously easy and as consumers we have a choice between buying chemical products for cleaning our brass or we can choose to employ safer non-toxic practices for cleaning our jewelry (which we wear on our bodies). I was recently invited to write a blog post about safer jewelry cleaning methods over at the Conscious Merchant. I dish out the simple steps you can take to clean jewelry with products you already have at home.  I invite you to check it out right here. 

 DIY and non-toxic recipes for cleaning brass

Enjoy the read! And while you are there be sure to check out The Conscious Merchant's shop of eco friendly cleaner living products. They are an amazing small business that think you will agree is doing wonderful things educating and helping people live just a little bit cleaner.

Let me know if you have any questions about any of the info you find there. Stay safe and healthy friends:)