Advice on gently polishing gemstones at home

[jeaniefish]

I hope I’m posting this in the right forum. I would really appreciate some advice on what to use to polish my sapphire, rubies and spinel gemstone Jewelry. I’m not talking about machine polishing but some kind of gentle paste or saturated cloth that would safely buff their pretty “faces” up a bit. . I know I read a post where someone mentioned a certain brand of polishing Cloth. I think it was in a discussion about a cute little inherited pink gemstone ring . I have searched and searched and can’t find it now. So…what do you use to make your CGS really sparkle when you clean your jewelry?

 

[LilAlex]

No chemical dip or "polish" ever.

Others here say a dab of dish soap in water and kids' toothbrush. We use the pre-made jar stuff our jeweler has given us (smells like there is a touch of ammonia in it but mostly water with a little surfactant) -- quick dip then scrub with a kids' soft toothbrush to get the pavilion, rinse with water, dry with something lint-free if you have hard water and care about water spots.

Makes an amazing difference. I love cabs because they can go a long while between such cleanings!

 

[jeaniefish]

No chemical dip or "polish" ever.

Others here say a dab of dish soap in water and kids' toothbrush. We use the pre-made jar stuff our jeweler has given us (smells like there is a touch of ammonia in it but mostly water with a little surfactant) -- quick dip then scrub with a kids' soft toothbrush to get the pavilion, rinse with water, dry with something lint-free if you have hard water and care about water spots.

Makes an amazing difference. I love cabs because they can go a long while between such cleanings!

Thanks LilAlex.I already use a mix of water with a few drops of Dawn and a very soft toothbrush. We do have hard water here. Guess I’d better do a longer dry off.
Maybe I should take my rings with me to my next teeth cleaning appointment and ask my hygienist to use some of her polishing compound on ‘em.
JUST KIDDING!

 

[LilAlex]

...I already use a mix of water with a few drops of Dawn and a very soft toothbrush. We do have hard water here. Guess I’d better do a longer dry off.

Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff. Are they softer stones or older rings that are accumulating scratches over the years? That can create a needs-a-good-cleaning look even when they are clean.

As I'm sure you know, there are some gems that even Dawn + water is not OK for like oil-treated and organic gems and some opals. Pretty easy to look that up online but I'm sure you know about that already after > 10 years here! I have only soaked and scrubbed diamond, corundum, spinel, and chrysoberyl.

 

[jeaniefish]

Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff. Are they softer stones or older rings that are accumulating scratches over the years? That can create a needs-a-good-cleaning look even when they are clean.

As I'm sure you know, there are some gems that even Dawn + water is not OK for like oil-treated and organic gems and some opals. Pretty easy to look that up online but I'm sure you know about that already after > 10 years here! I have only soaked and scrubbed diamond, corundum, spinel, and chrysoberyl.

I don‘t own any opals or emeralds ( darn it) and my few pearl pieces would never go in water unless I fell in the pool wearing them. I‘m sure the settings could use a professional polish, which is on my “ to do ” list. I have an ultrasonic cleaner but don‘t use it for pieces with pave’ diamonds in the ring….lost one tiny diamond in there , although it may have been loose and ready to pop anyway.
Thanks again for your advice. Much appreciated!

 

[fredflintstone]

I hope I’m posting this in the right forum. I would really appreciate some advice on what to use to polish my sapphire, rubies and spinel gemstone Jewelry. I’m not talking about machine polishing but some kind of gentle paste or saturated cloth that would safely buff their pretty “faces” up a bit. . I know I read a post where someone mentioned a certain brand of polishing Cloth. I think it was in a discussion about a cute little inherited pink gemstone ring . I have searched and searched and can’t find it now. So…what do you use to make your CGS really sparkle when you clean your jewelry?

I just use a toothbrush with either a little tooth paste or no tooth paste. Gentle enough for your teeth, gentle enough for your gemstones, excluding Welo Opal, Pearls and a few others.

 

[LilAlex]

I just use a toothbrush with either a little tooth paste or no tooth paste.

Isn't toothpaste pretty abrasive? I know folks squirt the old-school opaque stuff in their shotgun actions and pump it over and over to smooth it out -- so it must abrade steel to some extent? Poking around, it looks like it can be used to "remove" scratches from steel. Steel is only 4 on the Mohs scale but 18K gold is even softer at < 3. So I would not use it on jewelry but it's probably unlikely to damage most wearable gems.

 

[Avondale]

I use a toothbrush and whatever hand soap we’re using at home - currently a bar of baby soap. To polish in between cleanings I’ve found what works very well is one of those cleaning cloths that come with eyeglasses.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

we have very hard water here so i have to use bottled store brought water to clean mine

 

[fredflintstone]

Isn't toothpaste pretty abrasive? I know folks squirt the old-school opaque stuff in their shotgun actions and pump it over and over to smooth it out -- so it must abrade steel to some extent? Poking around, it looks like it can be used to "remove" scratches from steel. Steel is only 4 on the Mohs scale but 18K gold is even softer at < 3. So I would not use it on jewelry but it's probably unlikely to damage most wearable gems.

Been using toothpaste for years, but also a tooth brush without toothpaste much more unless the my rings are filthy & normally just on and around the gemstone and prongs and the back of the gemstone in the mount. Not talking every day, week or even month. If you are using a tooth brush with toothpaste more the say six times a year, then I'd suggest just a tooth brush but not soap as it can leave a film on stones if not washed off good.

If your stones can withstand ultrasonic jewelry cleaner, then the jeweler is the best place to go and many will do it for free if you're a customer and many will do it to motivate you to buy jewelry as a curtsy.

 

[jeaniefish]

I’m wishing I had a steam cleaner at home like my favorite local jeweler had. He’s recently retired and I haven‘t found another local jeweler that I like. But those machines are too expensive for home use ( aren’t they?) and I’d probably steam my fingers off!

 

[88_star]

I’m wishing I had a steam cleaner at home like my favorite local jeweler had. He’s recently retired and I haven‘t found another local jeweler that I like. But those machines are too expensive for home use ( aren’t they?) and I’d probably steam my fingers off!

I had a Jewel Jet at home and you may still be able to find them on ebay. Get a pair of long tweezers or tongs (I think I actually just use my eyebrow tweezers if you don’t have a pair of jewelers tweezers). The closest looking one now to the Jewel Jet seems to be the GemOro Brilliant Spa which is about $100



GemOro Jewelry Steam Cleaner | Black Diamond Brilliant Spa Personal Steam Cleanser

The Jewel Jet I don’t use at home anymore because it’s several years old and I hadn’t used it in a while. It got some water build up probably from infrequent use and though I thought I only ran distilled water through it, there was still some water build up so whatever machine you get if you choose to get one, make sure you empty the tank regularly and only use distilled and not hard tap water. I’d been looking at this smaller model that seems to also have good reviews.

Steamfast SF-1000 JULE Steam Jewelry Cleaner

 

[jeaniefish]

Thank you for your post. It’s always so much better to have a personal recommendation. I really appreciate it!