subject: How To Clean Engagement Rings [print this page] My customers often ask what the best way is for them of cleaning their engagement ring. Whilst the official line is to always that they should take your ring to a good jeweller in order to clean it professionally, I usually give them an insider tip:- It is actually very easy to give a ring with hard stones (eg diamonds, sapphires or rubies) a simple clean at home and the results will often be as good.
Light coloured sapphires in particular really benefit from cleaning at home regularly. This is because when the light enters the stone it doesnt totally-internally reflect within the structure of the stone as well as it does with a diamond (this ability to totally-internally-reflect the light so well is what makes diamonds soooo sparkly). So with a light coloured sapphire, as life happens to your ring (eg hand cream, cooking etc) they can loose their sparkle dramatically when the back of the stones get a bit mucky. A quick 3 minute clean at home will make your gemstone sparkle again like new.
It is important to mention before I go any further, that home cleaning is only advisable for a really well made engagement ring which has had recent checks by a qualified jeweller that the stone settings are all completely sound. If you are at all worried that a gemstone may be slightly loose or that the claws are wearing a little thin, dont clean it but take it straight to a good jeweller for them to have a look at it. But if engagement ring is properly made from gold (white, yellow or rose gold), palladium or platinum and only holds diamonds, sapphires or ruby, then it is very simple to clean it in your own home in just a few minutes. You can clean it as you want and you are sure to be happy that you did because your gemstones will sparkle just like they did when you first bought your engagement ring.
It is very important that you dont try this if your ring has any other gemstones than ruby, sapphire or diamond. Always get some advice from a proper jeweller before you try to home-clean any other type of gemstone because many stones (particularly emerald, opal, tanzanite) can be severely damaged by home cleaning. Also materials like amber and pearls can be damaged by home cleaning. This is because these are porous and sensitive stones and even just tap water can cause them damage. Always get these kinds of rings cleaned by a jeweller (and furthermore be careful when wearing rings with any of these stones in them because all are sensitive and brittle and are not ideally suited to heavy wear).
(1) Have a really close-up look at your engagement ring. If you have one, you can even use a magnifying glass but this isnt essential. You want to check all of the claws or the settings and check over the surface of the gemstones. Check that you cant see any chips in the stones and check that they arent loose or moving in their settings. If your ring has any damage or claws that look a little bit thin, dont go any further because if you try to celan your engagement ring you may even risk dislodging or even loosing one of the stones.
(2) Fill a bowl or a basin with warm to hot water. If you are using the sink DO make sure that the plug is in to avoid dropping your ring down the plug!
(3) Leave the ring to soak for a few minutes in the warm water which will loosen off any dirt a bit (you can soak it for as long as you like it wont harm the metal or the sapphire, ruby or diamond which is good to know if you have pastry on your ring or something like that which might need a soak.
(4) Find a very soft brush. A sable paintbrush is ideal but I have also had success with a very soft bristled toothbrush (the softest type available) but I would say that a soft paint brush is even better. The bristles must be very soft to avoid scratching the metal. The stones are actually much harder than the metal.
(5) Use washing up liquid which is almost neat wet the brush then put a drop or two of this one your brush. Move the brush a bit in the palm of your hand to work up a bit of a lather.
(6) Brush the brush into and around the stones particularly concentrating on the backs of your stones. The reason that good jewellers leave the backs of the stones open is that otherwise it would be impossible to get any dirt out that inevitably works its way in through the top of the setting. This should allow you good access to the back of the stone. Brush all around the stone. Obviously dont apply too much pressure in from the back just be gentle (imagine you are carefully brushing a babys teeth!).
(7) Rinse the ring in your water and repeat as many times as you like until you are happy that you have removed all of the dirt. Remember not to put too much pressure onto the brush so that you dont move any gemstones or scratch the metal with the metal part of the brush just use the bristles only.
(8) Dry the engagement ring using a very soft and clean cloth. Ideally this should be a special gold or platinum cleaning cloth but otherwise a glasses-cleaning cloth is quite good.
(9) Stand back and admire the sparkle!
When you are storing a metal cleaning cloth or your glasses cloth, make sure that you keep it inside a plastic packet and not out in the open. If you leave it out then the polish impregnated into the cloth will dry away more quickly and also there is a risk that dust or grit can get onto it and then you will scratch your ring badly with it when you are trying to polish it.
If you find you have some really stubborn dirt of grease on your engagement ring, or if you haven't cleaned it for a really long time, it definitely helps to soak the ring overnight a stronger detergent like an all-purpose floor cleaner before you start but make sure it is just a liquid detergent not anything abrasive. What you need to do is just to put your engagement ring into a small glass or bowl and completely cover it in this liquid detergent. I advise that you then put this in an unusual place so that you don't accidentally pour it away down the sink by mistake with your ring in it!
Some people like to soak their diamond rings in gin overnight to clean them which does also work but seems like a waste of good gin to me!
Something that I often hear customers saying (passed down from the previous generation) is that you can clean a diamond ring with toothpaste. You can do this and it certainly wont harm your diamond but I dont recommend this as I think it is a bit too abrasive and could scratch the metal on a very fine setting.
