How to clean diamonds at home: jewelers' tips

Like any other jewelry, gold jewelry with diamond inlays tarnish over time. The reason for this is simple: dirt. They are covered with dust, sweat and sebum, residue from detergents and cosmetics. All this forms a deposit on the metal and stones, because of which the jewelry loses its former attractiveness.

It is easy to avoid this: it is enough to clean jewelry once every 2-3 months. We share proven and safe recipes.

Soap solution

The simplest and most accessible means of cleaning jewelry, including gold rings and diamond earrings, is soap solution. You should use soap that does not contain a large amount of alkali. The optimal option is baby soap, cosmetic soap, cream soap, dermatological soap.

How to clean:

In warm water, add some soap and dip your jewelry. Leave it in for a few minutes.
Using a soft brush (a toothbrush with the softest nap or a special jewelry brush will do), gently rub the piece.
Rinse the jewelry under clean water.
Wipe the item dry first with a regular cloth to remove the main moisture, and then with a microfiber cloth (optic cloths, pieces of felt, velvet are excellent).

Pure alcohol

A fairly quick and effective way to clean gold with diamonds is medical alcohol.

Moisten a cotton swab or disk with alcohol.
Rub the jewelry with it. Make sure that the lint does not get tangled in the fastenings of the stone or other openwork elements.
Rinse under clean water.
Wipe the product first with an ordinary cloth dry, and then, polish with a cloth made of microfiber, felt, velvet.

Ammonia

Pharmacy ammonia is suitable for both periodic and general cleaning of jewelry with heavy contamination.

To clean gold with diamonds, which has minor impurities:

Mix ammonia with water in a 1:1 ratio.
Dip the item in the solution for 10-15 minutes.
Take it out, rinse it under running water.
Dry and polish with a microfiber cloth, felt, velvet.

To clean heavily soiled earrings or rings made of gold with diamonds, you will need:

Mix 200 ml of water with 10 drops of ammonia.
Dip the jewelry in the solution and leave it for 5 hours.
At the end of “soaking” you can gently rub the rings and earrings with a soft brush.
Rinse the jewelry under running water.
Dry and polish with a cloth made of microfiber, felt, velvet.

Hydrogen peroxide

Another drugstore remedy is hydrogen peroxide. For cleaning diamond jewelry use the following solution.

Mix 200 ml of water, 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, 3 teaspoons of ammonia and a few drops of liquid cosmetic soap.
Soak the jewelry for 2-4 hours in the solution.
After soaking – rinse under running water and dry.
Finally polish the jewelry with a microfiber, felt or velvet cloth.

Onion juice

The most popular folk remedy is onion juice. It is quite effective in fighting all types of dirt on gold jewelry.

Cut an onion and rub the onion juice on the jewelry. You can grate the onion and coat the jewelry with the resulting mush.
Place the ornaments in a glass bowl and cover with food wrap.
Allow to soak for a couple of hours.
Take the jewelry out and rinse under clean running water.
Dry and polish the piece with a microfiber, felt or velvet cloth.

How to clean white gold with diamonds

White gold is considered more delicate in care: often such products are covered with rhodium, which can be damaged quite easily. Of the above methods, cleaning with baby soap, as well as wiping with medical alcohol is suitable.

Another option is cleaning with a sugar solution.

Dissolve 2-3 teaspoons of ordinary white sugar in a glass of water.
Soak the jewelry in the solution for 12-24 hours.
Rinse under running water.
Dry and polish the item with a microfiber cloth, felt or velvet.

Finally, today there are many specialized compositions for cleaning jewelry. You can buy them both in jewelry stores and mass-markets. When using them, be sure to read the instructions carefully!

How not to clean diamond jewelry

Finally, let’s tell you exactly what you should not do with your jewelry if it is dear to you.

Cleaning with aggressive soap compositions: laundry soap, dishwashing detergent. Due to high alkalinity can oxidize the product and change the color of gold.
Cleaning with abrasive compositions: baking soda, whitening toothpaste, salt paste, chalk – forget these recipes! You will only scratch both the metal and the stone.
Cleaning with iodine and manganese: can destroy the top layer of gold and color both it and the diamond itself.
Chlorine-containing substances, acetic acid – can make the metal matte and the stone – cloudy.
Boiling, heating with a hair dryer: can make the stone cloudy, and gold – faded.
Brushing with stiff brushes: may damage the gold, stone or stone mounting.