How to Clean Your Engagement Ring at Home

There are few things more mesmerizing than watching your gorgeous new engagement ring sparkle and dance in the light. It’s only natural to want to maintain that beautiful bling by giving your ring regular cleanings. Here is how to safely clean your engagement ring at home.

Avoid Damaging Your Ring

The only thing worse than a ring that’s lost its luster, is a ring that’s damaged due to improper care. Before you get too wrapped up in wacky cleaning hacks and old wives’ tales, we asked the professionals at Bell Jewelers their advice on how to safely clean your jewelry and what to avoid at all costs.

What Kind of Dirt

The first step should always be determining what kind of gunk has gotten on your ring. Are you very active outdoors or in the kitchen? Is there’s a hard compacted layer of oil or dirt? It’s best to get it cleaned at the jewelers using professional-grade products. That will restore the brilliance of the stone safely.

Safest Way to Clean Your Engagement Ring at Home

Has you ring been dirtied by common cosmetics? Hairspray, lotion, makeup, or perfume? A simple at-home cleaning should be sufficient. The best and safest way to clean your ring is to make a solution with warm water (almost hot) and dishwashing soap. Then soak your ring for about 20 to 40 minutes. Follow this by gently brushing the stone with a very soft toothbrush. Then rinse under warm running water…just be sure to close the sink drain first. If needed, of course, these steps can be repeated.

Keeping the Shimmer Shiny

There are certain substances that you should never use to clean your ring. Always stay away from any household cleaners such as bleach, chlorine, and acetone. These harsh chemicals will break down some of the base metals in your ring. You should also never use any kind of abrasive products. Things like toothpaste, baking soda, or any powdered cleaners can easily scratch the metals. This holds especially true for gold.

Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaning Machines

Also avoid at-home ultrasonic jewelry cleaning machines, especially if your ring features pavé set stones. If one of the prongs is weakened or if there’s the slightest error in workmanship, the vibrations from an ultrasonic machine will very likely dislodge a stone. Your safest bet is to take it to the jeweler. Trust the professionals to test the security of the settings first and fix them if anything should come loose.