Gold is a valuable metal that is widely used in jewelry. So it’s prudent to consider whether gold can get wet before you decide to swim or take a shower wearing gold jewelry.
Pure gold is not affected by water and can get wet, though sustained time showering with gold can cause the shine to diminish. However, while pure gold is resistant to chemicals, gold alloys may become damaged by harsh chemicals that could be present in the water, such as chlorine.
There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to get gold wet or not. From the potential to interact with abrasives or harsh chemicals, to the risks of losing jewelry, you may want to pause before proceeding to swim, shower, or wash up while wearing gold jewelry.
Is there a risk of losing gold jewelry?
If you take a shower or have a bath and a piece of gold jewelry falls off your body, for instance, a ring slipping off your finger or a loose bracelet sliding off, you should be able to easily retrieve the item. Of course, this is assuming it’s not small enough to slip through the shower drain hole, which is a potential risk for smaller items such as earrings or rings.
However, wearing gold jewelry in a larger body of water such as a swimming pool, a lake, or the sea increases the risk of losing it if it were to fall off.
While you may be able to find a piece of jewelry that’s slipped off inside a pool, this will be a time-consuming affair, particularly if the piece is small such as a gold earring. If the jewelry slips off while you are swimming in a lake or the sea, it’s going to be close to impossible to retrieve depending on how deep the water is and how far out from the shore you are.
Cooler water can cause fingers to shrink in size, increasing the risk of a ring slipping off. If you don’t want to take the risk of losing it, it’s better to remove the jewelry before swimming or showering with it.
However, losing gold jewelry is not the only reason not to swim or shower with it.
Abrasives and chemicals
In general, tap water doesn’t contain chemicals that are harsh enough to damage gold, so in theory, it’s fine to shower with gold jewelry. However, the substances you may use to clean yourself with may contain abrasives (either for example in a soap bar or shower gel or certain sponges) and these abrasives can scratch the gold.
The higher the gold purity, the more prone to scratching it will be, so for instance an 18-karat gold ring will scratch more easily than a 14-karat gold ring. It’s also important to note that while showering with gold jewelry won’t harm the metal, you may want to avoid doing so because it can reduce the shine on the metal.
If you will be using household chemicals such as cleaning chemicals, bleach, or other similar substances it’s a good idea to remove gold jewelry or wear protective rubber gloves.
Additionally, chlorine in swimming pools or hot tubs will damage gold jewelry. Chlorine won’t damage pure 24-karat gold but it will react with the various metals used to create gold alloys such as 18-karat, 14-karat, or 10-karat gold.
These alloys are not pure gold but instead contain a mix of gold and at least one other metal. Gold is highly resistant to chemicals but chlorine will react with the other metals and damage the jewelry.
Chlorine can cause these other metals to leach out of the jewelry, creating microscopic bubbles inside the jewelry and weakening it.
Gold-plated jewelry
Gold-plated jewelry is jewelry that is made with a base metal that has a thin layer of gold on top of it. If the jewelry is gold-plated it is not advisable to wear it while showering or swimming as this can cause the finish to chip away and deteriorate and may eventually cause the gold plating to wear off.
Caring for gold jewelry
For the most part, try to keep gold jewelry dry, which you can do easily by drying it with a soft, clean cloth. If you want to reduce the risk of damage, either from chemicals or abrasives, the easiest way to do so is to remove gold jewelry any time you are showering, swimming, or using harsh chemicals.