I don’t know about you, but it is spring where I live, so I am in serious “spring cleaning” mode. So far I have completed an arduous clean-out of old boxes in the garage (which I transferred to weather-proof plastic bins), I’ve gone through my winter clothing and repaired, stored, or donated the items that were looking a little dated or ragged, AND I’ve completely cleaned my house (like, even the closets, floorboards, and bookshelves).
Next stop: cleaning my jewelry!
I actually don’t own much jewelry a huge amount of jewerly, but what I do have is high-quality, so I try to be very careful when cleaning the pieces. For example, I have a diamond Concord watch that is not water proof (and I doubt it’s even water resistant, honestly), so I can’t submerge it in any jewelry cleaner or put it in an ultrasonic cleaner.
To clean the outside of this watch, I use a solution I got from my jeweler but that you can certainly make at home by using one part ammonia (Mr. Clean) and four parts filtered water. I will then take a small toothbrush that I have just for this purpose and use it to gently clean the watch, which I then dry off right away with a clean cloth.
For ring cleaning, I will either soak my rings in the same solution (mentioned above), then scrub them with the small toothbrush, then rinse with water, or I put them into an ultrasonic cleaner (I have this one, in case you’re curious) with some Dawn dishwashing liquid soap, then I let them air dry.
Some bling cleaning tips: some people like to soak their rings for long periods of time in the “jar” type cleaner you get from the jeweler. I don’t do this, and I have had several jewelers tell me that cleaner was never intended for use in an extended (or even “overnight soak) kind of way, and that they regularly hear horror stories from people who do this. I actually read an interview with Jessica Simpson while she was still married to Nick Lachey where she confessed to leaving her massive ring “in the ring soaker stuff” overnight, and I had images of her ring becoming damaged.
Three huge pear shaped diamonds (and wraparound diamond wedding band) soaking overnight in an ammonia-based solution on your bathroom sink? Say it ain’t so!
Interestingly, this photo displays the very problem we are solving with BlingWraps (large ring spinning/ falling to the side). Check it out here.
The bottom line: whatever the carat of your bling, be sure to proceed with care when cleaning. That jewelry will be with you for life, so proper care and maintenance is essential!