Having your ring cleaned professionally is best, but this “cleaning recipe” works great when you want to clean a diamond ring at home! Use at your own risk.
This May will mark my 17th wedding anniversary–which considering I feel not a day past 30 seems downright impossible. Matt and I met in college when I was 18. The fact that we’ve been married for nearly as long as the age we met is absurd! Who is pressing that fast forward button on life? For our 10th wedding anniversary, Matt took me to the top of a mountain, read a precious poem, and proposed to me all over again. It had been an incredibly rough year for us–a year where I felt like giving him back the original rings. He wanted to give me a symbol of our “fresh start” and the opportunity to replace my original wedding rings with this new one, but I couldn’t part with the rings I had worn during our first decade of life together. My old rings stayed put, and I placed this new ring on my right hand. Left hand and right hand, he owns my whole being and my whole heart!
It’s romantic, yes? The only problem with this story is that I am a do-it-yourselfer who rarely wears gloves and often forgets to take off her rings. I knead dough, roll cookies, spray paint accessories, stain tables, prime walls, spray adhesive, cut wood, dig in the dirt, put on lotion, hot glue crafts, put on makeup, and sand tabletops all while wearing this ring. And you know what? It shows!
Um…this is embarrassing to share with you but it needs to be done. Do you see all of that dirty grime blocking the light from my diamond?! So gross. Not to mention the germs that must be harboring in there. I also have two furry pomeranians and apparently their fur gets caught in the prongs of my ring. It’s not at all noticeable with the naked eye, and I didn’t notice the fur until I was loading my pictures. Home cleaning did not get rid of the dog hair unfortunately. I will need to use tweezers to remove the fur.
Here’s one more shot of the “before”. By the way, trying to take decent pictures of a ring is really difficult! Hats off to all the wedding photogs out there.
How to Clean a Diamond Ring at Home
There are many DIY ring cleaning recipes on the internet, but most jewelry experts will agree that you should not use anything other than mild dish detergent and warm water on your jewelry. When you DIY anything, you take the risk of messing things up. Common recipes call for toothpaste, baking soda, vinegar, ammonia, etc. and can potentially damage your ring’s setting. Your diamond isn’t going to be damaged by most DIY recipes, but your setting is a different story. Use DIY recipes at your own risk!
This is what I have found works best for my rings.
- 4 ounces mineral water warmed in the microwave (not boiling)
- 4 drops lemon oil
- Dawn dish soap (to be added later after several minutes)
- Clean and fresh (not old) toothbrush or small flat paintbrush
Step 1: Pour mineral water into a microwave safe dish and heat your mineral water in the microwave (without your rings!!) until warm. This will increase the carbonation and bubbles and will help to clean your rings gently.
Step 2: Mix in a few drops of lemon essential oil. I’ve used expensive lemon e.o. and inexpensive e.o. with similar results. I use lemon essential oil in cleaning all the time. It is AMAZING at getting super-glue, paint, grease, etc. off of your skin. I knew it would work wonders in getting the goo off of my rings. Allow your rings to soak in this mixture for a few minutes. I wouldn’t go crazy and leave them in the mixture for long. It works quickly.
Step 3: Add Dawn dish soap to your mixture and scrub your rings with a soft clean toothbrush or clean flat paint brush. The soap will kill the carbonation but will help eliminate any remaining residue.
Step 4: Close your sink drain and rinse your rings in warm water. Pat dry with clean towel and admire how sparkly they are!
My ring is so sparkly! I tried to capture the sparkle with my camera but couldn’t quite get it.
Here is one more before and after for you below. Amazing! So ladies, try and do yourself a favor and remove your rings when you’re going to be getting messy. And if you forget, well then pin this recipe for later! 🙂
If you liked this tip, then you will like my tip page as well!
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Cheri says
I soak my rings in hydrogen peroxide and it works amazing – lifts the grime off without scrubbing. Curios why you wear your wedding ring on your right hand? LoL
Beth says
Thanks for the tip! I actually explained this at the top of my post: “For our 10th wedding anniversary, Matt took me to the top of a mountain, read a precious poem, and proposed to me all over again. It had been an incredibly rough year for us–a year where I felt like giving him back the original rings. He wanted to give me a symbol of our “fresh start” and the opportunity to replace my original wedding rings with this new one, but I couldn’t part with the rings I had worn during our first decade of life together. My old rings stayed put, and I placed this new ring on my right hand. Left hand and right hand, he owns my whole being and my whole heart!”
Tammi Jo Anderson says
I have a method I have used for years that makes my jewlery sparkle! Even though I don’t have dentures, I am always coming up with wierd concoctions to try for stain removal, organic gardening, cooking and cleaning ect.
When a family member left their denture tabs behind during their vaca and said just throw them out….it came to mind that if this is what people with dentures use for cleaning teeth then what else could they work on???
Turns out…a lot! After many experiments I have my go to cleaner. Heat a little fresh lemon juice and warm water together, pour in a glass container, hot but not boiling! Now add a little hydrogen peroxide to the mixture this is the base..add jewlery and toss in a denture tablet. The effervescent effect bubbles off any grime and debris. You can only leave your jewlery in the mixture for a short time 5 min.s or less! I wouldn’t use this on softer stones such as opals, pearls ect. You will not believe how sparkling beautiful your jewlery is after removing it from the mixture and rinsing! I lay mine on a soft absorbent cloth to dry..Finished cleaning your jewlery? Now throw the mixture into a load of whites to give your laundry an extra boost! Waste not want not, as my Granny always said!
Beth says
Wonderful tips! Thanks so much for weighing in and for stopping by. 🙂
Terra says
I love this idea! I renting became engaged so I purchased the cleaner from the jewelry store. The cleaner come with a small brush inside of it to gently clean between diamonds etc. However, the cleaner leaves a kind of tacky/ sticky residue on my ring it seems like. I’m anxious to try this remedy. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Beth says
Congrats on your recent engagement! So glad you found the tips helpful. 🙂
PattyP says
I have been a professional jeweler (changed professions later) and though your recipe is probably safe for diamonds, it may be too drying for softer stones. The Dawn is great for removing greasy build-up and helps loosen the grunge but could remove essential oils from softer stones like opal, jade, more. We always soaked silver jewelry (with no stones) diamond rings in hot water with lots of ammonia added. Lots of diamond jewelry was cleaned first in a hot poisonous solution of potassium cyanide. Yep, you heard me right. We had to use long brass or copper tongs to put the stuff in & take it out, and rinsed the jewelry before putting in the hot ammonia. Neither the ammonia nor the harsher chemicals have any effect on diamonds or gold alloys. I don’t recommend actually boiling diamond jewelry, but heat water in a pot, dump a goodly portion of ammonia in (maybe 1 part ammonia to 3-4 parts water), reduce to very low heat and add diamond & gold jewelry. Cook for 5 to 30 minutes, rinse well over a stoppered sink, or one with a VERY find mesh screen. We have found that sometimes the setting was so worn down that the grunge was the only thing still holding the diamond(s) in place. After cleaning, you can use tweezers to check each stone to make sure it does not wiggle at all. If anything wiggles do not wear the ring. put in a baggie and take it to a trusted jeweler to have the settings prfessionally tightened.
I have cleaned inexpensive Mexican silver bracelets (no stones) with the hot water and ammonia, but any white toothpaste will remove tarnish. The toothpaste is usually a bit more abrasive than the finest silver polish, so only use on items not so brilliantly shiny to begin with. Oil can be added back to turquoise, opals, etc, by rubbing the stone repeatedly on one’s nose (no makeup please). Yep, that’s what old time jewelers do!
Beth says
Thank you so much for weighing in! It’s always good to glean some professional advice!
PattyP says
You are quite welcome. I applaud you for selflessly taking the time to share great tips with others online.
PattyP says
I forgot to say that the ammonia water should be very warm, but not hot enough to burn skin.
Lara says
I can’t get past the fact that the ring has all that funk that’s getting into kneaded dough! 🙂
Beth says
So gross, right??!! I will say that I had NO idea exactly how gross my ring was until I took pics of it with my 1.4 35mm lens. Needless to say that after seeing the pics my ring comes off a LOT more now during my everyday activities. 😛
ROSE COOK says
Worked in a jewelry store for years and yes, you can use a soft brush on your rings. If your stone comes loose and you lose it. The prong was not tight enough anymore and had nothing to do with cleaning you ring with a brush. You should have your mounting checked on you rings every 6 months so you don’t lose your stones. Any jeweler will do this for you for no charge. Love this recipe to clean your diamond’s. I am going to try it myself. You are right about chemicals hurting your metals in your rings. Great idea.
Beth says
Thanks for adding your tips Rose!
Maree says
I was recommended a similar method by a jeweller, and he said to make sure when using a brush on the back of the stone that you hold the ring with your finger pressed agonist the front of the stone, so you don’t exert too much pressure against the prongs. Lie Rose, he also specified a soft brush – I would be wary of using a stiff brush like a toothbrush.
Maree says
Sorry – ‘Like Rose’!
Beth says
Great tip!
Junebug says
spare toothbrush and toothpaste works too.
Kathie says
Please never use a tooth brush or any other brush on your diamond rings or any type of good jewelry. You are increasing the likely-hood of have a stone fall out. If a prong is moved by the brush there goes the stone. Take it from someone that has had that happen. Ask your neighborhood jeweler for advise on how to clean your rings the correct way.
Deirdre Henry says
Thank you for tip on cleaning diamond rings. We don’t get Dawn dish soap here (Ireland) but my son is going to America at the end of the month and he is going to purchase it for me. Shall try your cleaning tip then.
By the way, your ring is beautiful.
Deirdre
Maree says
Deride, any mild washing-up liquid will work. When I brought my mam’s diamond ring in to be valued, the jeweller told me to clean it in a similar way, using a paintbtush and Fairy Liquid. He specified Fairy, as some liquids can be too harsh.
Callie says
I’m so glad you posted this! I’m a hair stylist, and you wouldn’t believe the junk that gets stuck in my rings! They’re channel set, so they have that groove on the inside where hair (other people’s HAIR?!) and product collect. It’s so gross. And my skin is sensitive, so all that grossness makes my finger break out. I can’t wait to try this!
Beth says
Let me know how it works for you! I’m finding that I’m kind of vain with my hand at the moment because I can’t get over how good my ring looks. It was so incredibly gross before!