Take it off last, put it on first

The single habit that prevents most damage. Jewellery goes on after perfume, hairspray, moisturiser and makeup, and comes off before you change or wash your face.

Alcohol in perfume is the main culprit — it dulls thread colour over time and can loosen the adhesive holding stones in their settings. Two seconds of sequencing saves years of wear.

Macramé does not like water

The yarn is nylon-polyester, which does not rot or fade quickly, but the knots are worked under tension and prolonged wetting relaxes them. Take pieces off before washing your hands, swimming, or getting caught in rain if you can help it.

If a piece does get wet: lay it flat on a dry towel, reshape it gently with your fingers while damp, and let it dry away from direct sun or a heater. Never wring it or hang it wet — the weight of the water pulls the knotwork out of shape as it dries.

Beadwork wants to lie flat

Loomed and stitched beadwork is held on thread that has some give in it. Hanging a heavy bead necklace from a hook for months slowly stretches that thread, and the piece loses its shape from the top down.

Store bead pieces flat, in a pouch or a shallow box, rather than hanging. If a piece has a fringe, lay it out straight rather than folding the fringe back on itself.

One pouch per piece

The most common damage I see is not from wear — it is from pieces stored together in one box. Stones scratch, fringes tangle, and a bracelet clasp can catch a thread on a macramé piece and pull a whole knot loose.

Every order from me arrives in its own pouch for exactly this reason. Keeping each piece in its own pouch, in a drawer rather than on display, is the whole of good storage.

Cleaning, when it is needed

Rarely, and gently. For macramé: a dry soft brush — a clean makeup brush is ideal — worked along the direction of the knots lifts dust out without disturbing them.

For beadwork: a soft dry cloth. If something has marked the surface, barely damp, then dry immediately.

Nothing else. No jewellery cleaner, no silver polish, no soap, no ultrasonic cleaner. These are made for metal and they will strip colour from thread and loosen stone settings.

Travelling with it

Pack jewellery flat, in its pouch, in the middle of soft clothing rather than in a corner of the case. For a long necklace, lay it in a wide circle rather than folding it in half — a fold held under pressure for two days can set a crease into the knotwork.

Carry anything you actually intend to wear in your hand baggage. Not for theft — for pressure. Checked luggage gets compressed, and a statement piece under a suitcase of books will not come out the shape it went in.

Sunlight is the slow one

No single afternoon does damage. But a piece kept on a dressing table in front of a window will visibly fade over a year or two, and the brighter the colour, the faster it goes. Magenta, orange and red shift first.

A closed drawer is all that is needed. If you like having pieces on display, rotate what is out rather than leaving the same one in the light permanently.

If something does go wrong

Message me. A loose knot, a stone that has shifted, a clasp that needs replacing — most of it I can repair, and for pieces I made myself I would far rather mend it than have you quietly stop wearing it.

Send a photo of the problem on WhatsApp and I will tell you honestly whether it is a repair or not. There is no time limit on this.