How to Care for 3D Printed Nylon Jewelry

The short version: warm water and a soft brush, and store it where it isn't rubbing against anything. That is genuinely the whole routine. The rest of this page is why, and the handful of things worth avoiding.

Cleaning

Nylon pieces collect what all jewelry collects — skin oils, traces of perfume and hairspray, ordinary dust. Because the surface is matte and slightly textured rather than polished, it holds onto that film a little more readily than silver does, and a piece can start to look dull well before it looks dirty.

1. Warm water with a drop of mild dish soap.
2. Work gently over the surface with a soft toothbrush, paying attention to recesses and any open lattice — that is where film gathers.
3. Rinse thoroughly.
4. Leave it to air dry completely, particularly if the piece has enclosed areas where water can sit.

Air drying rather than a cloth matters more than it sounds. That same slight texture that holds the film will also hold lint, and a piece dried with a cloth can come away looking worse than it went in.

On earrings, the silver ear wires and posts can be cleaned at the same time and in the same way. If they have tarnished, a silver cloth on the metal alone is fine — keep polish and dips away from the nylon. Pendants have no metal on them at all, so there is nothing to tarnish.

Storage — the part that actually matters

Abrasion is what wears these pieces. Not age, not water. A piece kept loose in a dish with metal jewelry, or carried in a bag without protection, will show wear at the edges long before anything else goes wrong with it.

A soft pouch solves this completely. Individual compartments in a jewelry box work just as well. The point is only that the piece is not rubbing against something harder than it is.

Keep it out of long, direct sunlight too. An afternoon is nothing. A sunny windowsill for a whole season will gradually shift the color.

What to avoid

• Solvents. Acetone, nail polish remover, alcohol-based cleaners. They can affect both the surface and the dye.
• Ultrasonic cleaners. Fine for silver, unnecessary and unhelpful for nylon.
• Silver dips and polishes on the nylon. They are formulated for metal.
• Heat. Nothing in ordinary life comes close, but do not leave a piece on a radiator or in a car's rear window in July.

Scratches, and what is underneath

A light scratch on a matte surface is far less visible than on a polished one, which works in your favor. A deep gouge is a different matter, and this is the one thing worth understanding about the material.

The color in these pieces is dyed into the nylon rather than coated onto it, which is why nothing chips or flakes at an edge. But the dye penetrates the surface rather than travelling all the way to the middle. Cut one of these pieces in half and you would find white nylon at the center. So a scratch deep enough to cut through the dyed layer will show paler material underneath.

It takes real force, and it is unusual. But it is the honest reason to keep these pieces away from keys and loose change.

If something breaks

Get in touch. Nylon cannot be soldered the way silver can, but ear wires and posts can be replaced and some repairs are possible. And because every piece starts as a digital definition rather than a mold, a replacement can be printed — one quiet advantage of making things this way.

See how these pieces are made, or browse the 3D printed collection.

All of these are collected on the 3D printed jewelry page.