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I love to swing by the jewelers to have them clean my ring, but I'm embarrassed to stop by as often as I'd like!!! Is there a home remedy you use to make it sparkle?
I just soaked mine in vodka, and it did a pretty good job...!
I get out a little bowl and put some windex and water in there. It works like a charm!
haha @virginia i love swinging by the jewelers. but im afraid theyll know me by name if i go too often. lucky for me, our mall has several jewelers in different places :)
Usually just the red bottle of cleaner the jeweler gave me. Sometimes I soak it in dish soap and water while I take a shower. Mine doesn't get too dirty, It has a high setting, so I usually take it off as soon as I get home.
I have a jewelry cleaner calle Blitz that I got a Macy's. My godmother told me that the key to a brilliant sparkle is to dry your ring with a hair dryer. That way it does not have any water spots.
Nothing beats a good steam cleaning from the jewelers though ;)
I feel the same way Virginia! A friend of mine recommended this to me, she says it works great.
I have another question. How often do you clean your ring? Or how often are you supposed to? I know the jeweler requires you get it cleaned and inspected every 6 months.... but I take my ring to the jewelers about once a month because I love how shiny it gets! I switch from the one in our town to the one in my best friends town so they wont recognize me :)
Oh this is a great thread! I need this....been married since Aug and havn't had my rings cleaned since!
So windex and water, huh? Can anyone tell me if you use a toothbrush to "scrub" it or do you just let it soak and it comes out clean?
@spraguebride - I don't use a toothbrush, I just kind of rub it down in the bowl with my fingers, and then rinse it off with just water.
I actually saw this on our local morning news and it works great lol!
Toothpaste!
I use products by Connoisseurs! They're quick and fabulous! I also have a La Sonic Jewelry cleaner, which is quick, and relatively cheap, too!
http://www.connoisseurs.com/jc/cleaning_tips.htm
I love this little thing...it takes like, two seconds...brush your ring with the gel and brush, rinse with warm water, dry with a soft cloth, pop the ring back on your finger. I did it yesterday and was sooo surprised at how well it worked!
When I want to clean more than just my ring, I'll put my jewelry in here and it takes about 5 minutes to get everything looking sparkly and new!
@MandyW- I use those products too and they work great. But I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner. Does it work much better? Are the rings safe in there and how often can you use it?
I use a toothbrush and toothpaste. Two different jewelers have told me that little trick and it works great. I just always close the drain to make sure I don't drop it!!
I use Connoisseurs like MandyW, but mine's in a jar- it comes with a little tray and a brush and I just soak it for <30 sec and brush with the brush, rinse and that's it! It works great and I have a ring with lots of little engraving/latticework in it so it gets dirt stuck in it alllll the time.
@roxy821-- if you have a lot of jewelry that you'd like to keep clean, then I'd say it's awesome for it. I usually pop in my white gold earrings and necklaces, and it works wonders since I don't want to sit there and clean each piece individually. So I say if you want to clean a bunch of stuff, it's worth it.
If you're just looking to clean your e-ring, I don't think it works any better than the little brush and gel that I use inbetween sonic cleanings.
And you won't harm your jewelry using the cleaner...use it as often as you like! I usually clean my jewelry once or twice a month, but that's because I just looove feeling like I have sparkly new jewelry! You could use it weekly or even daily since it's harmless, but I don't think it's entirely necessary!
Oh! and there are certain pieces you CAN'T put into a sonic cleaner, like soft stones such as tanzanite, and pearls are another big no-no. They have all of that on the directions in the box though!
I read about toothpaste, and tried it. It worked very well, but the jeweller told me it will scratch the ring... I don't know if it's true or if jewelry clerks are taught that just to convince people to buy expensive products or to get it cleaned in store!
This is a good post b/c I really need to clean my ring. I am a messy eater and always getting stuff in my ring. I'm going ot try the windex n water!
oh man, i use tooth paste to clean all kinds of stuff. that and baking soda...it gets hair color and self tanner off your skin like a charm!
but i haven't used the baking soda on my ring...would that be too harsh?
anything we shouldn't be using to clean with?
haha i'm glad i'm not the only one that feels like a creep every time i go to the jewelers!! i haven't tried any household stuff - i just have gone to the jeweler every time. i'm embarassed, yes, but oh well :)
I've heard of using warm water and a little dish soap works well in-between cleanings.
do any of you ladies 'buff' the top of your diamond with a shirt? i feel like i am constantly doing it because i see some smudgies!
I soak mine in equal parts water and ammonia for 30 minutes, gently scrub with a soft toothbrush, then swirl in the water/ammonia mixture, and then rinse in fresh water. It's the method Darcy Miller (of Martha Stewart Weddings fame) suggests. It gets everything super clean and sparkly. And a jug of ammonia that will last you forever is less than $2.
I use windex! ammonia works really well too. i let them soak in that, then use toothpaste and a little kids soft bristle toothbrush to scrub after it soaks. I love cleaning my ring!!!! :)
@JennHasFeet--baking soda isn't too harsh on your ring, you should be fine on that front. A lot of toothpastes have baking soda in them, so it's pretty safe.
There aren't a lot of tips on what not to clean your jewelry with...just be sure to wipe them with soft jewelry cloths, which you can usually buy at drug stores or jewelry stores will often throw them to you for free.
One thing to keep in mind for diamond-alternative rings that have softer stones with turquoise, opals, garnet, peridot, amethyst, tanzanite, citrine, and quartz is that if you use cleaners with any chemicals in them, it could irreparably harm the stone and change the color. So use gentle cleaners with those stones!
(My parents have both been in the jewelry biz for years...haha I hear this stuff from them all the time!)
Just a warning bout toothpaste, it works and it works well. The reason for this is that it's full of abrasives! The same stuff that scours your teeth is scraping away at your rings. It's ok to use it every so often I think, but all the time and your metal could become pitted...
I also have the La Sonic ultrasonic cleaner and I love it. I haven't cleaned my rings in a while as I haven't been able to wear them but I did clean my e-ring the night before the wedding... Wow, did it sparkle. Love it.
I just take mine to the jeweler's monthly for a clean; I really don't want to do anything, even unintentionally, to my ring that would void the warranty. The only recommended cleaning for it is at the jeweler or just polish it with a chamois cloth.
I just wanted to echo what ToasterCat said...I am pretty sure toothpaste contains little silica particles. I would think over time there could be some negative effects especially on the metal.
I use Sparkle Bright: http://www.sparklebright.net/. Someone here wrote about how great it is and they were right! I just got a compliment on how sparkly my ring was the other day. She wondered if it was new because it was so sparkly, but we've been engaged for over a year. :) I probably use it every few weeks.
I use the red jar from Connoisserus too, which like Violete said, has a little tray and a brush. The jeweler gave it to my FI for me when he bought my engagement ring.
But for anyone who wants to try it- they sell it at Bed Bath & Beyond, and it's seriously only about 5 bucks.
@mandyw, thanks for the info! baking soda is seriously my go-to and i do have a jewelry cloth that i used to use to clean my flute with. works great!
I just went to the jeweler today and she suggested just using a toothbrush on it when in the shower (obviously don't take it off), Never thought of the Windex..so i'll try that. When i was on vacation a couple weeks ago and spending time in the hot tub...the chemicals in the water made my diamond so clean it was amazing! Maybe I should try to convice my FI that we need to get a hot tub. :)
I either go to the place where my FI got my ring - there are several around our area. So every time I walk by, my FI says "hey want to get your ring cleaned"? :)
In between stores cleans, they gave me a little jewelry cleaner, so I use it. I soak it in there and then use a soft brush to clean off stuff. Then I use a eyeglass soft cloth to clean it.
And inbetween home cleans, I take the soft eyeglass cloth to rub it clean sometimes.
I use a toddler size toothbrush (that I bought just for my ring) with a tiny bit of grease cutting dish soap on it - works great. I do it at least once a week, and I can see a difference in the sparkle when all the soap scum and crud is gone.
Verragio (my ring designer) has told me to not use ANY at home jewlery cleaners at all that vibrate or have harsh scrubbing bristols.....My ring has pave and it can cause the diamonds to pop out and scratch the gold (18k is softer). They suggested water and light windex...rub with a paper towel and rinse well....I didn't ask about using a hair dryer to dry it well...but that sounds like a good idea to take the water spots away....
It depends on how much time I have. If I'm in a pinch I'll use Connoisserus in the red container because I like how the little brush gets into the crevices. My mother has a sonic jewelry cleaner and when I went home a few months ago (right after getting engaged) I cleaned my ring with it every few hours... to the point of ridiculousness. Guess what I got from mom for my birthday! Now I'll use the sonic every once in a while but it's big to lug out to just use for a ring.... now I'm glad I don't because I also have a pave band! Thanks for the tip, BecomingMsWoods!
It was a very inexpensive method that impressed me the most. When I was looking at wedding bands a woman in one of the jewelry stores cleaned my ring... afterwards, it was the sparkliest I had seen it in a long time. I asked her how she did it she told me she used 1 part simple green cleaner and about 3 parts really HOT water. She made the point that diamonds get really dirty, (something about it being from carbon so it attracts the dirt like a magnet). To get them their cleanest, she suggested cleaning them in the hottest water I could because it losens the dirt (not boiling but really, really hot).
There may not really be any science behind what she told me but a few days later I tried soaking it in really hot water after scrubbing it with my Connoisserus brush and boy did it shine!
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