How do you clean your rings?

[girlyglam]

It occurred to me today that in the 4 months I've been engaged, I've never cleaned my ring. What do you all clean your ring with? Do you buy jewelry cleaner or is there an at-home method you can make? How often should rings be cleaned? Also, (and the reason I posted this in this forum), I have an alexandrite ring with diamonds...is there any substance/cleaning solution I should NOT use on my alex or for colored stones in general?

 

[Queenie60]

I soak my rings in warm water with Dawn dish detergent. Then I take a soft tooth brush and brush the ring. Then, rinse and dry with a soft cloth. Oh, and be sure to have the sink plug in when you rinse!!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I am sure your Alex is untreated so pretty much anything goes as far as cleaning goes. The only thing to consider is if your Alex has any inclusions that make it more fragile- which in case you might want to avoid an ultrasonic cleaner. The setting is probably the area of concern, for example certain chemicals can damage metals. For the most part I clean mine with dishwashing liquid and a soft toothbrush. I sometimes use scrubbing bubbles for a quick clean but that can damage metal even though I haven't seen any evidence of it in my rings.

 

[Arcadian]

dawn dish soap with a soft toothbrush, a 20 minute soak, a rinse, then another rinse in 91% alcohol (thanks kenny!), then air dry. I don't wear my rings enough for them to get really gunky, so for me this is enough.

 

[the_mother_thing]

Everyday cleaning is the same as others noted - dawn, soft brush, alcohol. I do on occasion break out the steam concentrator attachment on my shark (has the detachable handheld feature from the mop part), and give them a good steam clean as well.

 

[chrono]

Drop it into the alcohol-free and ammonia-free jewellery solution before I step into the shower, then when I'm out, rinse it under warm running water with a light scrub using a baby toothbrush, then pat dry with a lint-free soft cloth (pressurized air spray is best but I'm pretty lax about it). Alexandrite is a very durable stone so it can handle ultrasonic and steam cleaning.