Top Drawer

Best way to salvage costume jewelry

If your faux gold jewelry looks more like tarnished brass these days, you’ve probably thought more than once about tossing it. But hold on.

Several Web posts and Youtube videos say you can revive plain, fake gold necklaces, rings and earrings with a simple household staple: toothpaste. It turns out that the same paste we use to polish our pearly whites can also restore costume jewelry to its former sheen.

Take a small dab of paste, rub and massage it thoroughly into the length of the chain or desired piece, and use a toothbrush to work the paste into any hidden crevices. Rinse thoroughly with cold water and dry the piece with a clean cloth or with a blow dryer.

I tested it out on a chain necklace that had turned inexplicably rosy and brown, and it worked! There was only a small section near the clasp of the necklace that didn’t respond completely to the cleaning process. I’m happy to say that the piece will be returned to my wardrobe rotation this week.

If you are concerned about using this on your pieces, we suggest testing the method on a small corner of the piece before applying it the entire length or width of the piece. Thanks to bit.ly/1K6E0fo tutorial for the step-by-step video and wonderful idea.

Seeking our readers’ best decluttering tip

What’s your best tip for decluttering? Share it and you’ll be entered in a quarterly drawing for a gift certificate. Send tips to topdrawer@newsobserver. com. Be sure to include your name, street address and city. Put “Best for decluttering” in the subject line.

Best beef marinade

Tona Gilmer of Rougemont wrote in to share a simple marinade for beef on the grill. You will need:

1/2 cup beef broth

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 ounces (one jigger) bourbon or whiskey

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger root

Mix all together, pour over beef and refrigerate 5-8 hours.

Drain marinade and grill beef.

Best way to clean hardwoods naturally

Restore some of the shine to hardwood floors naturally with this homemade solution offered up on the Debbie Doos blog. You will need:

1/2 cup lemon juice

3/4 cups olive oil

1 gallon hot water

Mop the floor lightly with this solution, making sure to thoroughly wring out the mop before cleaning each section. You can let the floors dry naturally or wipe them dry with an old, clean T-shirt. Check out the original post at bit.ly/1mVtBc0.

Best tips for planning a move

Are you planning a move? Then a recent post on Buzz Feed has some advice for you. Here are a few that caught our attention.

▪ Wrap upright or boxed jewelry displays with Press’n Seal to keep the jewelry stationary and together.

▪ Take a phone photo of how your electronics’ cables are connected so you can remember where all the wire and cables go.

▪ Vacuum seal out-of-season clothing. It can go directly into storage in your new home.

▪ If you’re renting, take pictures of your cleaned-out old home and the new one before you move into it. This is essential if you hope to get your deposit back.

▪ Pack plates vertically, and with cloths or paper towels in between them. They’ll be less likely to break.

▪ If you can, visit your new home to pre-clean the bathrooms and kitchen before you move.

For these tips and more, visit bzfd.it/1He8pVw.

Best of the tube

On DIY

The Wedding Deck: Prashanth and Neerajah have big plans for revamping their neglected backyard: They want to use it for their wedding reception. The problem is it’s quite overgrown. Using an exotic hardwood called red balau, Paul and his team say “I do” and transform an unloved space into the most adored spot on the property. Will they live happily ever after? Find out when “Decked Out” airs at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Top Drawer."