If you’ve ever wondered how to clean your gold and silver jewellery, there’s no need to spend a fortune at professional cleaning services. You can easily clean them at home using a traditional method that has been passed down through generations. For centuries, villagers and goldsmiths have relied on the natural nut called andolekai to clean panchaloha, including gold, silver, and copper.
To clean your jewellery, start by soaking the andolekai nut in water for a while. After a few minutes, rub it on your hand to create a foam similar to soap. Use this foam to clean your jewellery. The foam-producing trees that bear this nut naturally grow along the coast, although their numbers have been declining in recent years.
Historically, this method was commonly used in gold shops, as gold and silver jewellery tends to tarnish over time or with lack of use. The blackened ornaments were cleaned using this natural soap to restore their shine and remove any dirt.
In recent years, however, machines have largely replaced this traditional cleaning method. Despite this shift, the practice of cleaning certain ornaments, particularly those of deities, continues today using the andolekai nut.