Cleaning a diamond

[DWhittles]

Does anyone know the best way to clean an engagement ring? Mine is filthy and I want to make it sparkle again!

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

You can use Heggertys(sp?) jewlery cleaner. Let it soak and then use a toothbrush. My husband's uncle was a jeweler and he used to say to boil it in amonia. It does work but the smell is not worth it. This must be a new diamond because when I first got mine I used to clean it every other day!!

 

[DWhittles]

You can use Heggertys(sp?) jewlery cleaner. Let it soak and then use a toothbrush. My husband's uncle was a jeweler and he used to say to boil it in amonia. It does work but the smell is not worth it. This must be a new diamond because when I first got mine I used to clean it every other day!!

It's actually about 7 years old!

 

[curlyjbs]

toothpaste! Just put a little on the brush and scrub away! You wont believe the ~*~*~SPARKLES~*~*~* !!

~Curly

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

ANd you never cleaned it in seven years!! LOL I am killing myself laughing. Well, clean it before Valentines Day and you will be able to tell eveyone you got a new one as a surprise gift. People will look at it and believe you too!!

Heggertys is available at Wal-Mart in the jewelry dept or in most Jewlery stores.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Toothpaste scratches the gold. It is too abrasive. At least that is what professinals tell me.

 

[curlyjbs]

works fine for me. Maybe crest isn't as abrasive as some?

~curly

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Hey as long as it works go for it. I guess you just better not use one of those extreme whitening types because it contains more grit to whiten.

 

[MsDisney23]

Believe it or not, but a denture tablet in a cup of hot water, it will come out shinning!

 

[DMickey28]

I use a jewerly cleaner or just go to a jewerly store. I just bought DH a titanium bracelet for valentines day and I had then clean my rings... OMG... They are so much better.

I started a new job a few weeks ago and my hands are in water and cleaning stuff all day... they were nasty... Now all sparkly and pretty. I keep looking at them.. people probably think they are both new!! Well my wedding band is only four months old!

 

[simpilotswife]

Toothpaste is also great for cleaning silver too.

 

[lovedisney]

toothpaste! Just put a little on the brush and scrub away! You wont believe the ~*~*~SPARKLES~*~*~* !!

~Curly<iframe border=0 frameborder=0 framespacing=0 height=1 width=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0 name=new_date noResize scrolling=no src="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=sales03-20&path=subst/home/home.html" vspale=0></iframe>

LOL I thought I was the only one who did that

 

[ckret01]

Oxyclean. I use the powder and put some in hot water to clean. Comes out really shiney.

 

[MsLeFever]

My mother swears by ammonia - just soaks the ring for a few minutes and then scrubs...

but if you are going to a mall anytime soon you can usually get it cleaned at a jewelry store.

 

[tinatark]

I am a clean jewelry freak - here's my recipe -

Boil about 1/8 c (or less) of water in a glass measuring cup (microwave)
add an equal amount of ammonia (NOT while it's microwaving!)
add a few tsp of dishwashing soap...

Soak, then brush with an old toothbrush. Then I usually pour the cleaning concoction into whatever happens to be in the sink, needing washing!

 

[NHAnn]

For hard gemstones and gold I use ammonia & water and a baby toothbrush, then a soft dry cloth and/or my blowdryer. For silver the toothpaste and brush works great if I don't have any silver cleaner

 

[DonnaLeah]

Try Windex!! Saw my jeweler doing this. (I normally don't have amonia at home)

 

[MI mom of 3]

I used to work for a 'diamond merchant' We sold a very exclusive diamond cleaner , that we made with liquid All and water. Oh we threw in the little scrubbing brush.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I have tried them all, I have a sonic cleaner as well, but lately I was using a product to dip my silver in (rather than polishing it for hours) and I read on the bottle that it cleans diamonds and that you only have to dip them in and rinse (I use very hot water to rinse). Anyhow I tried it and could not believe how the diamond sparkled with very effort on my part. The product is Tarn-X and I now not only clean my silver, I clean my diamond... Who knew????

 

[ohanafamily]

Hi all,

I work for a large diamond and jewelry importer in Texas, I am also a Graduate Gemologist. When we are talking about Diamond and Gold Jewelry there is lots of things that you can do. Various other gemstones are NOT as resistant to chemichals. (IE, NEVER PUT ANY TYPE OF PEARLS in Jewelry cleaner!!!)

curlyjbs, While for you the toothpaste may seem to work, it is actually scratching the ring. It is wearing the progs down and the gold/platinum off of your ring. This is what we call excessive wear and tear on the rings. Additionally, if you had your ring polished (at a jewelry store) you would see the small scratches that it makes on the soft metal. As I said, it may not SEEM like it is bad, but you are wearing out the ring part prematurely.

Mackey Mouse, We use TARN-X in our shop for Sterling Silver; I have never tried it on gold. It seems that it would brighten up the ring, but not break down the dirt. As I like to say about most jewelry cleaners, it will make it sparkle but not clean the dirt off of the ring.

ckret01, I saw the infomercial too. I would think that soaking it in this stuff would break down the dirt in a similar way to what any chemicals can do. I would suggest soaking it for a while. I would strongly urge against any other gemstones it it. I will suggest this to my shop foreman. Sounds like a great idea...

MsDisney23, A denture tab should work OK too

These are most of the ones that were different from what we commonly tell people, here are a few other ideas and comments.

How do we clean Diamond and Gold Jewelry? Well, we have people who can tighten loose stones and put back in stones that come out. This means that we can use more agressive techniques than you can at home. (we don't recommend ultrasonic cleaners for home use in case the stones are loose.
We start with an inspection and tighten any loose stones. We then (optionally) polish the ring to remove lght scratches. We do not polish the rings every time because this wears down the metal. After Polishing we put the ring into an electro-clean solution and run an electrical current through it. This breaks down surface dirt. We then use a COMMERCIAL ultrasonic unit for several minutes. This has heated cleaning solution and the ultrasonis waves. It gets most of the dirt off. We then re-rhodiumplate the white gold parts if it needs to be done. We rinse the jewelry in water and use high pressure steam to blow any residual dirt off. The last thing we do is to blow the jewelry dry with compressed air.
Once again, this is for Diamond and gold (or platinum) only. we have charts that tell us what gemsone can take what cleaning processes.

What do we recommend? Well, my boss was on a trip once and soaked his wifes jewelry overnight in Woolite. He tells everyone that this is the best thing to use. If you think about it, the detergent breaks down the dirt, so it should work well.
I usually tell people that if they want to use a consumer ultrasonic, be careful to listen for rattling stones after you finish. Most over the counter jewelry cleaners don't break down the dirt well, but are safe to soak the jewelry in. If you don't have access to jewelry cleaner, I used to make up a solution of water and Mr. Clean (just enough so it turns that beatiful green color. You can actually suspend the jewelry in the solution and boil it (low boil) for 20-30 minutes. you can even save the solution and re-use it. It is important to suspend the jewelry so it doesn't get burned on the bottom of the pot, and again Diamond and gold/platinum only)

One last thing, the Gemological Institute of America recommends that you have a jeweler (whom you trust) examine your jewelry every 6 months to check for wear and loose stones.

I will keep an eye on this thread in case any of you have any specific questions.