How to clean a diamond engagement ring
In this article, I’m going to teach you how to clean diamond engagement rings and other fine jewelry which is made of 14k gold, 18k gold, and platinum. I will also discuss the intended purpose of ultrasonic jewelry cleaners and provide advice as to how they can be used to clean your diamond engagement ring.
For the purpose of this article, it is assumed that your diamond engagement ring is in good condition and is not in need of repair. I suggest having your diamond engagement ring and other fine jewelry items professionally cleaned, polished and inspected by a qualified jewelry at least twice per year to keep them in the best condition and prevent stone loss.
Cleaning a diamond engagement ring:
It is likely that you will want to clean your diamond engagement ring between professional cleanings; the easiest and safest method of doing so is to mix an equal amount of warm water with liquid ammonia household cleaner, place the ring into something like the mesh tea strainer which snaps closed that is pictured above, and allow the ring to sit in the warm solution for several minutes to loosen up any dirt or grime which may have accumulated under the diamonds, or within the prong sections and such.
If there is a significant amount of dirt, hand lotion, etc., you can “gently” scrub the ring with a child’s soft bristle toothbrush, before swishing it around gently in the solution to further loosen any dirt which may have accumulated within the structure of the ring.
Leave the ring inside of the wire mesh tea strainer, and rinse it under warm, running water for a minute or two. Then remove the ring from the strainer and pat it dry with a soft, lint free, cloth. Be sure to check your ring and the tea strainer for any stones which might have fallen out during cleaning, this should not be an issue with rings which are in good condition, but it is not uncommon for stones to fall out of rings during the process of being cleaned regardless of how careful you may be.
Are ultra sonic jewelry cleaners safe?
Many of our customers have asked whether ultra sonic jewelry cleaners are safe for them to use to clean their jewelry, and in a word, the answer is no. Ultra sonic jewelry cleaners are intended to be used by jewelry manufacturers and professional jewelers to assist with removing metal shavings and polishing compounds which are used during the jewelry manufacturing process… the majority of the time, stones have not yet been set in the rings and thus the jarring effect created by the mechanism within the ultra sonic unit is not an issue.
Most jewelry professionals will not subject jewelry with mounted gems in it to ultra sonic cleaning, because the harsh vibration created by the mechanism will loosen diamonds, and could quite possibly create permanent damage to the setting in the form of vibrating the diamonds so that the girdle edge of the diamond actually cuts the seat of the prong which it is set in because the diamond is harder than the metal.
It should also be noted that the heating units which are incorporated within many commercially available ultra sonic units, produce a level of heat which can damage or destroy many colored gems in mere seconds. For this reason, I feel that the average person is best served by cleaning their jewelry using the method which I describe above, and that they should not use an ultra sonic cleaner to clean their jewelry.
If jewelry is taken to a jewelry store for cleaning, confirm that if they use an ultra sonic cleaner to remove polishing compound, dirt, etc., that the mechanism for the ultra sonic unit is not on when they clean the ring and that they are merely swishing the ring around in the warm water… this is especially important with rings which contain prong set or bezel set diamonds.
