Gold is the most malleable precious metal found in the earth’s crust. The purest form of this precious metal is soft.
It is alloyed to turn into durable everyday jewelry. The original gold jewelry contains a good amount of gold and a little percentage of other metals like copper, nickel, silver, zinc, palladium, manganese, and tin.
If the gold jewelry does not contain more gold than the other metals, it would still be durable but tarnish quickly.
A common man can hardly judge gold by appearance and tell whether it’s of good quality or not. He might not even differentiate gold-plated jewelry from original gold jewelry as well.
Gold might be harder to judge by appearance. However, it is easier to test the other ways.
You would only even have to take it to a professional to figure out whether this is an original gold or not.
There are a million ways to test gold at home, testing it with toothpaste is the most preferred one. Want to test your gold jewelry as well? Here’s how you can do it;
How to Test Gold at Home with Toothpaste?
To test gold at home with toothpaste you would need;
- Gold jewelry
- Toothpaste
- Tissue paper
1. Gather all the supplies
To figure out whether you have got your hands on the original gold jewelry or not, you first have to bring gold jewelry, toothpaste, and a tissue table to the place of operation.
I suggest you do it on a table and it can be any gold jewelry; ring, earrings, necklaces, bracelet, bangle, or anything even a gold watch.
2. Apply toothpaste
Once you got all the supplies to test the gold, it’s time to take out a pea-sized amount of toothpaste and apply it to the gold jewelry.
Spread it well. You can use any toothpaste you have, most people test the gold with Colgate.
3. Leave it for a few minutes
Once the toothpaste is applied, allow it to rest for a few minutes. You can leave it for 1 to 2 minutes.
After 2 minutes, you would be able to judge whether the jewelry is made from “actually” gold. Set a timer and be patient.
4. Wipe it off
Now that the time is up, take the tissue paper and wipe the toothpaste off. You can use a soft brush to scrub it off as well.
If the jewelry remains unaffected or it retains its magnificent color, it’s original gold. However, if it does remain so, it’s not gold.
Precautions
Almost all toothpaste contains a strong oxidizing agent called chlorine. Chlorine is powerful enough to damage and discolor a few metals, gold and platinum are two of them. Therefore, you can not expose the gold to this chemical element for a long time.
Otherwise, even the original gold would lose its natural shiny yellow color. Moreover, do not attempt to test more than once.
Testing gold with toothpaste might be the most preferred way, but it’s not my favorite.
If you want to test gold yet do not want the gold to lose its shine, there is a better solution.
That’s the float test. The float test is another easier and fastest way to test gold without any professional help.
All you have to do is fill a glass with clear water. The water should neither be too warm nor too cold.
Now drop the jewelry into the water and see if it sits or starts floating on the water.
The real gold would never float on water, it would rather sink in the container. So, if the jewelry starts floating, this is not real gold and if it sinks, it’s gold. Isn’t it easier and safer than the above-mentioned method?
You can also watch this video for more understanding:
Conclusion
In brief, gold can test in many ways at home. Most people test it with toothpaste. If you have been planning to test it with toothpaste as well, take a pea-sized amount of toothpaste and apply it to the jewelry.
Leave it for 1 to 2 minutes and wipe it off. If the jewelry remains unaffected, it’s original gold. While testing the gold with toothpaste, do not overexpose it to the toothpaste longer than 2 minutes. These toothpastes contain chlorine, overexposure can make the gold lose its natural shine.