Why is my necklace sticky?

[YunoYurbubson]

I bought a necklace. Costume jewelery, but not completely cheap crap. Debenhams, but can't remember brand - Oasis or DP or Warehouse I think? About £20.

I hung it on the hand towel loop in my bathroom where all my necklaces live.

Now it is sticky. ALL OVER. Tacky (the tacky which means sticky, not tacky like cheap jewelery )

Yes, I have small children, and obviously they feature large on the Prime Suspect whiteboard, but it seems too thorough a job for them. They couldn't have got it down and put it back (too fiddly) and I don't believe they could have managed to stickify every single mm of quite a large, complicated necklace, not missing a single loop out, and yet not have touched anything else in the bathroom, or indeed on the necklace towel hoop.

Yes, my bathroom is quite warm. No radiators, but we live in the ME. But it isn't meltingly warm. The weather is much cooler at the moment. And nothing else has ever melted or gone odd and sticky because of the heat. And I have a lot of similar costume jewelery.

I tried rinsing it. Didn;t make a difference.

I tried washing with soap. Still sticky.

Why?

And how to I get it off?

Maybe it was sprayed with some cleaning stuff accidentally or perhaps hairspray? Can't think of any other explanation.

Try leaving it in hotish water with washing up liquid mixed it. Agitate it with an old toothbrush. Be careful nothing falls off of it though.

Have you worn it? Could it be hair product or body lotion?

What's it made out of? Is is metal, or resin or beads?

Is it a pearl necklace?

Roffle AlpinePony.

Yes I have worn it a couple of times. I'm not big on unguents and lotions. Perfume maybe? No hairspray. And I think I've only ever worn it over clothes - it's quite long and goes over a dress or shirt.

It is made of rather cheap chain link interspersed with pretend pearls.

It is a lot like this - I think it must have been DP. But more chain link between the 'pearls' - one pearl every 2 or 3 inches of chain. The shorter bit is almost exactly the same, same pendants and everything. The pendant on the big bit (the back of which is not sticky) is different, and the longer chain different.

Sorry but PMSL at Alpine Pony.

Anyway, I had one which did this years ago - but it was v v cheap, more £2 than £20. I still have no idea why, it was a bit greeny in places too on the chain so I thought at the time it might have reacted to perfume or something and started to break down somehow....

I binned it due to the price, but if you're still looking to salvage you could try the silver cleaner you get from the supermarket and see if it helps?

The entire thing is probably coated in a spray on veneer which gives the fake pearls a bit of extra shine. Unfortunately over time if they are close to warm skin this tends to melt off and gradually they look duller and duller. It's a bit like a clear plastic coating ifyswim.

By leaving it in the bathroom it's probably melted the shiny coating hence the stickiness.

Nothing you can do unfortunately but it should be less sticky over time. To keep the plastic pearls from looking grubby I'd give them a little coat in clear nail varnish and that should keep them looking better for longer.