Find a very soft cloth. Choose either a jewelry cloth or a clean rag, preferably one made from cotton or bamboo fabric. Velvet works well too. Avoid linen, georgette, net and jersey. Never use anything abrasive to clean pearls with, such as toothbrushes or plastic sponges. A soft cloth is the only item that should touch pearls.
Wipe pearl jewelry gently before putting your pearl necklace away each time, to remove body oils and perspiration. Put a few drops of water onto the cloth, enough to dampen it and no more. Begin wiping the pearls one by one. Never use a commercial jewelry cleaner on pearls. Usually such cleaners contain way too much ammonia, which can damage the pearls.
For every fifth wash of the pearls, they'll need something a little stronger than simply a dampened cloth. Dip the soft cloth in warm, mildly soapy water. Do not use washing up liquid; use a very mild soap, such as castille soap without fragrance or color additives. Wipe with a clean dampened cloth to remove any soapy residue from the pearls.
If the clasp has to be cleaned as well, use a Q tip (cotton bud) dipped in either jewelry cleaner (make sure it is compatible with the metal of the clasp) or if it a hard metal (not gold) without gemstones, you can use a bit of toothpaste. Whatever you use, do not allow it to come into contact with any of the pearls as it can potentially harm them. Toothpaste is good on tarnished silver.
Finished.
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