As the sun stays out longer (and so do you), you have more potential hours in the day to look your best. As exciting as that is, it also comes with some new responsibilities and concerns. With the heat of the day, sweat, sunscreen and all sorts of other factors, your jewelry can get a little beat up if you aren’t careful. As long as you’re proactive, though, summertime doesn’t have to stop your (or your jewelry’s) shine. Read on to learn how to protect your jewelry in the warm summer months.
Take Your Jewelry Off
This sounds trite, but it is quite literally the best advice we can offer on the matter. There is no better way to protect your jewelry during summer than not wearing it. If you’re concerned about the wear and tear that comes with summer, only take your jewelry out for special occasions.
Fear not, though. You can swap your ring out for silicone rings that’ll hold up all season long! The nice thing about silicone rings is that they’ll be more comfortable if your fingers swell because they have some give to them. In the warm weather, you can expect a bit of swelling. No reason to worry — it’s completely natural. If there’s serious swelling, though, well, you should get that checked out. We aren’t doctors here!
Always Keep Track of It
We went with the trite ones right out the gate to get them over with. Seriously though, when you’re heading to the pool, beach, mountains or wherever you go in summer, make sure you don’t put your jewelry down just anywhere. Carry a travel jewelry box or ring box. Just anywhere safe to consistently put your jewelry. When you’re outside all the time, it’s easy to lose track of your favorite pieces of everyday jewelry, and that’s just not what we want.
Give It Some Shade
The sun beating down on your jewelry for extended periods of time really isn’t ideal for your jewelry’s long-term health. Some exposure is fine, obviously, but you want to keep your jewelry protected from the sun’s rays when you can. Otherwise, you’ll risk your jewelry losing some of its shine well before it should. Make sure to pack an umbrella when you head to the beach or lean against a shady tree in the park!
Jewelry and Sunscreen Don’t Mix
This is one of the reasons you shouldn’t wear your jewelry to the beach. Sunscreen is going to get into the little ridges of your jewelry and wreak havoc on it over the long-term. Now, if you forget once, is your jewelry going to disintegrate? No, no, it will not. It’s okay. However, you want to get into the habit of taking your jewelry off anytime you put on sunscreen.
No Chlorine Either
No jewelry poolside either, sorry. The chlorine in the pool water is going to operate like the sunscreen but in a more corrosive manner. Mild exposure won’t hurt your jewelry, but repeated exposure is definitely bad for it. You really want to leave your jewelry behind when you’re heading to the pool, especially because the poolside is one of the easiest places to lose your rings, earrings and other small pieces.
Get Your Jewelry Cleaned
This is probably the biggest preventative maintenance tip we can offer. In general, you want to get your jewelry professionally cleaned once or twice a year. If you know what you’re doing, you can deep clean it yourself, but most people are going to want to spend the money for a professional cleaning.
Also, you want to give your jewelry a quick wipe-down at the end of the day. A clean microfiber cloth or something similar is all you need, and it only takes a few seconds. If you get into that habit, you will maximize the potential lifespan of all your pieces.
Travel with It Carefully
We’re generally cautious about advising people to travel with jewelry. Can you? Yes, you can. Is it the best idea, though? It’s really not. If you absolutely cannot be parted from your jewelry, fine, but we recommend leaving it at home.
The summer travel season sees plenty of jewelry pieces damaged, lost, forgotten or sometimes stolen. If you’re traveling abroad, be wary about the jewelry you wear, even if you’re a savvy traveler.
The likelihood is that you won’t run into any issues, but it’s never impossible. Silicone rings and other affordable pieces are a good alternative to wearing your best stuff on vacation if you really want to bring jewelry with you on the plane.
Conclusion
Summertime is exciting, and you want to be out all day (and look put together while doing it). We get it, and we love it. However, you do want to take appropriate precautions. As long as you always know where you put your jewelry, and you keep it clean and safe, you’ll have your memories and your intact jewelry as well!