Questions for Palladium/Palladium WG owners..

[Alybetter]

Hi All -

If you have Palladium or Palladium/white gold alloy pieces, how do you care for them?

My custom project should be in my hot little hands soon and I’m one of those people who clean their diamond jewelry daily, and do a deeper clean/soaking couple times a month.
Beyond just dish soap, I’ve always used either ammonia and water mix for a soak, or white vinegar. Usually both in succession. This was with YG pieces. It’s been ages since I had anything other than YG.

Will ammonia or white vinegar harm my PD white gold alloy? (I don’t have the exact alloy formula). I’d love to hear how you keep your Palladium pieces clean.

 

[oldminer]

There should be no effect on white gold or palladium from normal cleaning methods. Don't use anything highly acidic. Vinegar should not be problematic, but it is certainly not a standard cleaning agent. Stick to warm water and something like Mr. Clean and you have nothing to worry about. A steamer or ultrasonic goes well with such normal cleaning agents along with warm to hot water so long as you are not cleaning heat sensitive stones like emerald, opal, tanzanite and pearls. You don't want to clean oiled or dyed stones in a strong cleaning agent or with steam, either. The normal jewelry metals are very stable.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I wouldn't use vinegar or ammonia, either. Very warm water and a few drops of Dawn (blue) dishwashing liquid is good, too.

 

[Alybetter]

There should be no effect on white gold or palladium from normal cleaning methods. Don't use anything highly acidic. Vinegar should not be problematic, but it is certainly not a standard cleaning agent. Stick to warm water and something like Mr. Clean and you have nothing to worry about. A steamer or ultrasonic goes well with such normal cleaning agents along with warm to hot water so long as you are not cleaning heat sensitive stones like emerald, opal, tanzanite and pearls. You don't want to clean oiled or dyed stones in a strong cleaning agent or with steam, either. The normal jewelry metals are very stable.

Thanks. I like the vinegar to remove hard water deposits. I’ll be more careful with dilution.

 

[Alybetter]

I wouldn't use vinegar or ammonia, either. Very warm water and a few drops of Dawn (blue) dishwashing liquid is good, too.

Thanks - Is there a particular reason you would avoid ammonia for unplated PD white gold?

 

[elle_71125]

Every time I see a thread like this, I’m reminded that I’m a terrible bling parent.

Let’s pretend I’m off to go clean my rings…

 

[Demon]

I remember having this discussion a few years ago. Everyone said don't use ammonia on white gold, but never said why. I finally got someone here - can't remember who but it was a jeweler or appraiser - nailed down on it. They said not to leave white gold soaking in ammonia for a long time (more than 20 min? I can't remember the time frame) because it can discolor alloys. But using it do soak for a few minutes shouldn't be a problem.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Thanks - Is there a particular reason you would avoid ammonia for unplated PD white gold?

See Demon's post above. If you soak the ring in Dawn in warm water once a week or more and occasionally brush the diamond with a soft baby toothbrush, you probably won't need anything else.

 

[Alybetter]

I remember having this discussion a few years ago. Everyone said don't use ammonia on white gold, but never said why. I finally got someone here - can't remember who but it was a jeweler or appraiser - nailed down on it. They said not to leave white gold soaking in ammonia for a long time (more than 20 min? I can't remember the time frame) because it can discolor alloys. But using it do soak for a few minutes shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks! I’ve read so many of the ring cleaning threads and there seems to many opinions on this
I was under the impression that white gold shouldn’t be frequently exposed to ammonia because it can degrade the rhodium? )I actually found that to be my experience with white gold pieces I wore back in 2015/16. I’d clean them with Windex w/ammonia and they needed replating constantly. When I stopped, the rhodium seemed to hold on longer).

Since this ring is unplated PD White Gold, I was sort of hoping I could still use the ammonia. I love how it clean it gets the diamonds.

 

[StarshineSweet]

Thanks. I like the vinegar to remove hard water deposits. I’ll be more careful with dilution.

I've always used an equal part solution of white vinegar and hot water. That takes off our well water spots and cookie dough.

 

[Demon]

Thanks! I’ve read so many of the ring cleaning threads and there seems to many opinions on this
I was under the impression that white gold shouldn’t be frequently exposed to ammonia because it can degrade the rhodium? )I actually found that to be my experience with white gold pieces I wore back in 2015/16. I’d clean them with Windex w/ammonia and they needed replating constantly. When I stopped, the rhodium seemed to hold on longer).

Since this ring is unplated PD White Gold, I was sort of hoping I could still use the ammonia. I love how it clean it gets the diamonds.

Lol - most of the threads I remember didn't even mention rhodium and I don't know about how that would be affected. My few white gold pieces are unplated. On those, you can use ammonia for short durations, just don't soak for long periods.