About Resin

Care, Cleaning and Storage

Conclusion

Overall, the treatment of your jewellery from the start of its creation to the presentation and wearing it every day, should be filled with respect, joy and love. While the upmost care is taken on my end to avoid discoloration, scratching and tarnishing, once the jewellery is in the hands of my clients, it is up to them to see to its care. Please feel free to wear your jewellery every moment of every day and follow these tips and tricks to keep your jewellery looking new and bright throughout all of life's wonders.

Please always remove your jewellery when:

• Applying lotion, perfume, hairspray or other beauty products
• Showering or swimming due to soaps and chemicals
• Washing hands or using alcohol wipes  (if wearing a ring)
• While cleaning due to contact with chemicals, cleaning wipes included
• Sunbaking and gardening  
• Prolonged exposure to fluorescent light
• While cooking as the heat from the stove can damage your stone and resin piece
• Preparing food

Avoiding these things helps prevent and slow down metal tarnish, which happens to all metals over time. So, water doesn't have a negative effect on resin, but it does encourage tarnish on metal.

But, beyond regular care there are some special requirements and emphasis on different things.

Storing in a dark place is important for resin jewellery.

How to Care for Resin Jewellery

All kinds of jewellery need some kind of upkeep, but resin jewellery needs its own special care. In comparison to metals strengthened for use in jewellery, resin is a relatively soft substance easy to scratch and sensitive to chemicals. To make your resin jewellery long-lasting and to keep it in top condition for as long as possible, I have some tips and tricks for you.

Now, these aren't rules so much as tips and do them as often as you can. I'm definitely not perfect and forget to take care of my jewellery properly but, if we could all follow these rules all the time our jewellery would last a long time.

Of course, regular jewellery care for metal jewellery applies to resin jewellery because it's often on a metal chain or in a metal bezel. Things like removing your jewellery when cleaning, showing, swimming for a long time and putting on perfume or lotion. 

Avoiding these things helps prevent and slow down metal tarnish, which happens to all metals over time. So, water doesn't have a negative effect on resin, but it does encourage tarnish on metal.

But, beyond regular care there are some special requirements and emphasis on different things.

Storing in a dark place is important for resin jewellery.

Resin Homewares

Nouvelle Gifts homewares are suitable for cold food presentation only. These products should be hand washed in warm water. Resin is not fire resistant and should not be used in an over, microwave or a dishwasher.

Coasters and Ashtrays can withstand surface temperatures around 80 - 85 degrees Celsius (resisting marks from hot drinks, cigarette butts, etc.)

All resin items are strong and durable but should be treated like a ceramic as they can break if dropped or knocked against a hard surface. 

Cleaning for Resin Jewellery

If you need to clean the resin or give it a light polish, a damp microfiber or chamois cloth can clean the setting without damaging it. You can also clean it with water and mild soap suck as dish soap, A little goes a very long way with soap, so please do limit its use and make sure that the piece is thoroughly rinsed before wearing it again. If you choose to use soap to clean the resin piece, please remember that this is for the resin piece only and tp avoid the metal chain.

Water and oxygen exposure will tarnish all metals over time. If you are using sterling silver or solid gold, the tarnish can be removed to brighten the jewellery back up forever. Because underneath each layer of tarnish is just more of the same stuff, sterling silver or solid gold are the lonest lasting options. 

There's also platinum and some metals similar to platinum, but they're not as well known as gold and silver. 

Plated jewellery, no matter what it is plated with, will tarnish just the same. But when brightened back up it will just continue to reveal the base metal beneath (which is usually a dull, dark gray). After attempting to remove tarnish, plated metal will look the same or worse. 

In general, jewellery can be cleaned with mild dish soap, warm water, a soft abrasive cloth can be used to remove some tarnish from (only) the metal, because somethings abrasive could scratch the surface of the resin also, if you're removing tarnish from chain, a jewellery-dedicate toothbrush can be handy

But, this method of cleaning is not the best for removing tarnished metal.

Storage for Resin Jewellery

When you want to store your jewellery, it is best to make sure it is in an airtight container whether it is a small bag, jewellery box or both. Store the container in a cool, dark and dry area. Humidity can be a breeding ground for tarnish, and if your jewellery is submerged in liquid and left wet for too long, the chemical present in the liquid can cause discoloration. I take all my pieces off when I shower, sleep, swim and clean to avoid all of the above and store them in their anti-tarnish materials when I am not wearing them for a long periods of time, but this is by no means required. Many of my clients do not take their jewellery off at all, due to its sensitive nature and special meaning, which is perfectly okay too.

This helps to preserve the longevity of any flora embedded in the resin and the resin itself, since in darkness it isn't exposed unnecessarily to UV rays.

So, care for your jewellery to make it last as long as possible to continue enjoying it. You don't have to keep it in a locked box and never wear it, and by wearing it, it will bear some wear and tear but remember what to avoid and properly clean it. 

This to Avoid with Resin pieces

Sharp or Abrasive objects

Resin is a soft material, sharp and abrasive items can cause scratches to the surface. This includes any metal that comes into contact with the setting, including other rings or Keys. I do recommend removing any jewellery before doing cleaning, house or garden work, as well as contact with stones, sand, metal sponges, sandpaper or brushes can scratch the resins surface. Knowing this is sometimes unavoidable and that my pieces are ones that clients want to wear all the time. 

Submerging in Liquid

This one is not just resin jewellery specific.

Wearing any jewellery in the shower, pool, etc., will cause tarnishing to happen more quickly than usual. Basically, don't submerge in liquids, even if it is just water.

This may seem confusing when you read later in this post that sterling silver can be cleaned by submerging it in a concoction of boiling water, baking soda, vinegar, yadda yadda, I know. The thing is, this method is for removing tarnish that has already happened. The "extreme heat" is good to avoid but boiling water is actually fine with epoxy resin in my experience.

Plated and even gold or silver filled jewellery have a limited number of layers before the base metal underneath is revealed, and once it is, there is no way to brighten it unless it's re-plated by a professional jeweler (resin doesn't hold well in the process of this).  

UV Rays

Avoid storing any piece in direct sunlight. While my pieces are made with a high-grade resin with UV resistant properties, some resins will yellow when exposed long term to sunlight or heat. This is a slight catch-22, unfortunately, as my pieces look best in natural sunlight and many of my clients do use sunlight when taking their photos for social media or reviews. This is not to say your piece cannot be worn outside, just do not let it sit for prolonged periods of time in direct light.

While leaving your resin jewellery out in the sun isn't the end of the world and the minor heat won't ruin the piece, UV rays are damaging to the natural colour of flowers and leaves and some epoxy resins yellow with UV light. Some epoxy resin are specifically designed to not yellow with exposure to UV light. 

Extreme Heat

Because Resin is technically a plastic, high heat is the best way to damage it quickly. Usually high heat from a dryer, jacuzzi or direct lighting can cause the setting to detach from metal because it expands to no longer fit the bezel it has been set into. I have also seen resin jewellery melt from exposure to high heat. Unfortunately, if a setting becomes detached from a bezel, there is no way for me to reattach it.

Harsh Chemicals

I know, there's chemicals everywhere, even natural ones. But when I say harsh, I mean if particularly aggressive. Chemicals such as 

• Acetone are known to eat plastic and resin is a type of plastic. 
• Alcohol, while useful at cleaning the metal parts of jewellery, can potentially damage the surface of epoxy resin, too. 
• Perfume, which is often alcohol-based, is also a substance to avoid

Fragrances

The most common culprits of yellowing or discoloration are fragranced items. Aside from resin jewellery, it is recommended to avoid contact of fragrance with the metal of your piece as well. Avoiding such items will minimize both the discoloration of the setting and tarnish to sterling silver jewellery. Some everyday example of this are lotions, perfumes and hair products that contain fragrance or colouring materials. Again, removing any pieces of jewellery before applying these items will help to avoid damage on both items.

Oils

Oils seem pretty harmless right? Well, oils can ruin the surface of resin. It's not very noticeable and is fixable with an additional coat of resin on most pieces, but when it comes to making your resin jewellery last as log as possible it's better not to leave oil on your jewellery.

It usually happens when it's been sitting there a while. You might be thinking, "oh, that's fine, I'm not cooking while wearing my jewellery. I'm good"

But the main culprit is actually the oils from human skin, especially for resin earrings which are often surrounded by hair and pick up oils from that as well. Necklaces, especially long ones that lay over your shirt all the time, are less effected.

So, a great way to take care of this is with mild dish soap. Dish soap is made to cut through grease. With some warm water it can remove oils. I do this before storing it. To remove a light amount of oil, use a soft non-abrasive cloth.