How do you clean and/or polish freshwater pearls?

[FireballFan]

Hi everyone, if a freshwater pearl comes out of a clam with a hole that has some dirt in it, is there any solution to clean or brighten it? How does one clean out or polish out rot holes or spots? Thank you.

 

[jshepherd]

Pearls are typically tumbled in a larger version of this, and this would work well too, but you need to have the chips to polish them. We use hydrogen peroxide to clean out soufflé pearls, but I don't know how well that would work to clean out crevices.

 

[CortezPearls]

I would use H2O2 (Hydrogen peroxide) for a short while (1 hour) and then use wood/plastic toothpick to try and get rid of the issue.

 

[FireballFan]

Thank you so much @CortezPearls and @jshepherd.

Do you ever use citric acid to clean pearls?

 

[jshepherd]

Thank you so much @CortezPearls and @jshepherd.

Do you ever use citric acid to clean pearls?

No, definitely not. Citric acid will dissolve calcium carbonate. That's not a good thing for pearls!

 

[CortezPearls]

Some people may use vinegar (acetic acid) to remove some spots. Dab a cotton swab to apply.
BUT I would not recommend it. May backfire.