Keeping Your Jewelry In Good Shape: Preventing Tangling And Scratching

Having lots of jewelry can be a lot of fun -- you get to accessorize nearly everything you have if you have a wide variety of baubles. But having a lot of jewelry also means you have to store a lot of jewelry, and that means the jewelry can become damaged or become a tangled mess. Storing the items properly is easy, though, if you follow a few tips.

Separate Most Pieces

It's easy to toss all your earrings in one pile, for example, but then they can become entangled and require time  to separate. Instead of storing them haphazardly, keep most items separate. Small button earrings are an exception; these don't have anything that could really get tangled, so you can place all of them in one area if you have to. But each necklace should be in its own space, each bracelet, and so on. You should also store rings separately. Even though rings aren't going to become tangled up with each other, if you mix them up, you could find that some of them have gotten scratched as other pieces moved past them when you pick up the jewelry box.

Use Small Inserts

If your jewelry storage area (box, drawer, etc.) allows you to customize the storage space, get small inserts to separate the items. You can have small inserts for those button earrings, others for rings, and so on. Customizing the types and sizes of inserts you have lets you store items more efficiently, rather than trying to improvise with the wrong types of inserts.

Add Plastic Bags

One tactic you may want to use, especially for easily tarnished materials like sterling silver or for tiny items like small earrings, is storing them in individual plastic bags. You can go to any craft store that has a jewelry or beading section and find these small zippered bags in bulk.

Place each pair of earrings in one bag, each ring in one bag, and so one. You can use these for necklaces and bracelets if you think the items won't become tangled messes. Fold the excess plastic over and squeeze out the air, and zip up fully. These bags are available in different sizes, so you can find very small ones for small items.

You may want to gather things like tray inserts slowly so that you can gradually organize your jewelry. This allows you to make modifications if you find that your original storage ideas may not work for everything you have.