Transcript File - Tykeesha Jefferson`s

Cleaning Jewelry
Tykeesha Jefferson
8th grade
Ms.K.Isadore
Research Question
Which substance cleans
jewelry better, vinegar or
toothpaste?
Hypothesis
I hypothesize that vinegar will clean jewelry
the best because vinegar can clean various
house old items.
Materials
Toothpaste (not gel)
White Vinegar
Water
Container
Baking Soda
Spoon
Cloth
Procedure
 Pour ½ cup of white vinegar and 
2 tbsp. of baking soda into your
container. Stir four to five times.
 Place your jewelry in the

solution for 10th to 15th hours
 Remove the jewelry from the
container and rinse in cold water
 Dry the jewelry with a soft clean
cloth.
 Wet your jewelry and add a dab
of toothpaste
 Rub gently with a soft damp
cloth until polished
If necessary use a toothbrush to
clean tough stubborn spots or
hard to reach areas
Rinse with warm water and dry
with towel
Conclusion
I have concluded that vinegar cleans jewelry
better than toothpaste. My hypothesis for
this experiment was correct.
Bibliography
Author name:
Title: How to clean jewelry
Website: www.lushaejewelry.com
Author:
Title: Cleaning Jewelry
Website: www.thriftyfun.com
Abstract
Have you ever had jewelry that was dirty and didn’t want to take it to the
jewelry cleaners because it was too expensive? Well I might have an answer
for you. My science fair project is on which substance can clean dirty jewelry
the best: vinegar and toothpaste. From my research people on
wiki.answers.com have said that vinegar cleans the jewelry but it has an acid
that eats at the jewelry and weakens it. But on thriftyfun.com a reader said
that you should never use toothpaste on jewelry because only diamonds can
take the abrasiveness of toothpaste. I hypothesize that toothpaste would be
the better choice because it doesn’t make the jewelry weaker. Materials:
Toothpaste (not gel) Vinegar Toothbrush Water Container Baking soda Spoon
Cloth. Vinegar: Pour a cup of vinegar in a cup; then pour baking soda into the
same cup; next stir; afterwards place the jewelry into the cup and let it sit;
lastly, take jewelry out and rinse in cold water. Toothpaste: First Put
toothpaste on a soft toothbrush; Second scrub the jewelry with you’re the
toothbrushes; lastly rinse off with cold water. The vinegar mix ended up
cleaning the jewelry better.
Background Research
My research has shown that when using toothpaste you have to us a certain
type of toothpaste in order to actually clean jewelry. When trying to use
toothpaste you can’t use the gel kind because most of them aren’t made with
baking soda. Baking soda is the key compartment when trying to use
toothpaste to clean jewelry. Users from wiki.answers.com say that toothpaste is
the best thing to use when cleaning jewelry. But users from answers.yahoo.com
had said that using toothpaste is a bad choice. The reason for that is because
they say that only diamonds can take the abrasiveness from toothpaste. It may
scratch the sensitive parts of jewelry and damage it. That’s why most people
test a small area to see how effective toothpaste is so they won’t damage their
jewelry. My research has shown that when cleaning jewelry with vinegar you
have to make a mix with vinegar to clean jewelry; opposed to toothpaste
where you just use it alone. Users on wiki.answers.com say that vinegar just
weakens the jewelry and eats at it. Vinegar is a strong acid that can only be
use on certain types of jewelry. If you were to leave your jewelry in the mix
too long then it would probably damage your jewelry and it would lose its
color.