Check out the new Jewelry Cleaning Education Page - Any thoughts?

[SomethingNew]

@SomethingNew great question, and one that's outside of my wheelhouse. Someone else in the community may have experience with this. I'll also check with a couple of gurus I know to get a proper answer.

Yes, THANK YOU! Of course I'd like to afford some intense or vivid color but they are all out of my price range, so I have seen some affordable light yellow diamonds, and jewelers would put in a cup to intensify the color. They look so pretty and of course when they are brand new. I am always wondering would gunk get in under the diamond and impossible to clean.

 

[sarahb]

Hi @Dancing Fire , I have the exact same US. But don’t like the jewelry hanger thing I have. Like your’s ALOT better—where did you get it?? Mine doesn’t have enough ‘posts’ to hang things IYKWIM.

Thank you @Dancing Fire , you even posted a purchase link--so kind of you!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Hey @Garry H (Cut Nut) - Can you read it again, more slowly, and tell me exactly what you disagree with?

Hint: I have put the relevant bits in bold.

<< Tooth enamel has a Mohs hardness of 5, and can be scratched by medium, firm or hard bristles. Most gems in jewelry will be harder than that, but gold alloys used for jewelry have an average hardness of 2.5 and platinum has a hardness of 4.5. Don’t use an old brush or one which might have detritus on it, as debris could also scratch your jewelry.>>

You caught me John!
I didn't read it.
Tooth enamel is not scratched by brushes - it is scratched by grit in out mouths.

BTW - Small shoulder diamonds are sometimes only held in by dirt and grease - so make sure your sink sieve holes are smaller than your smallest diamonds.

• Mix a few drops with warm water, around 100º (not hot) For 80% of the worlds population that is boiling water!
• Medium, firm or hard bristles can scratch precious metals. Impossible.
• Don’t use paper towels. Dab the piece and you wont get fibers caught - And if fibers get caught have the prongs checked.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

OHMIGOD I am such a (PS) loser. I haven't cleaned any of my jewellery, in, well......insert irrational time frame here....I must read these tips and take notice!

"Luckily", I have "super ideal" cut diamonds, and like that pink bunny they just sparkle on and on and on....

cheers--Sharon

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

HI:

OHMIGOD I am such a (PS) loser. I haven't cleaned any of my jewellery, in, well......insert irrational time frame here....I must read these tips and take notice!

"Luckily", I have "super ideal" cut diamonds, and like that pink bunny they just sparkle on and on and on....

cheers--Sharon

Sad to say - dirty ideal cuts lose more sparkle than slightly shallow (under 1.0 HCA) diamonds.
@Karl - care to comment?

 

[canuk-gal]

Sad to say - dirty ideal cuts lose more sparkle than slightly shallow (under 1.0 HCA) diamonds.
@Karl - care to comment?

I guess I can't believe what I read after all. I am happy living under a mushroom.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I guess I can't believe what I read after all. I am happy living under a mushroom.

Just read an article in the economist and they had this image

 

[Karl_K]

Sad to say - dirty ideal cuts lose more sparkle than slightly shallow (under 1.0 HCA) diamonds.
@Karl - care to comment?

I tend to agree with you on that.
I also feel that shallow diamonds are being unfairly punished for obstruction issues by major grading systems other than the hca.
But I dont know if the hca goes to far the other way.

This is mainly due to using unrealistic fixed viewing distances that many people will not achieve or use.
Obstruction distance/angle is not a number its a range and is not only use dependent but viewer dependent.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Yes, THANK YOU! Of course I'd like to afford some intense or vivid color but they are all out of my price range, so I have seen some affordable light yellow diamonds, and jewelers would put in a cup to intensify the color. They look so pretty and of course when they are brand new. I am always wondering would gunk get in under the diamond and impossible to clean.

You need a commercial bench jeweler with a high pressure steam cleaner and powerful ultrasonic from time to time. And get yourself an affordable setup.
Forget John's 'warm' and go for boiling water, ammonia and detergent.

 

[Wink]

Hey @Garry H (Cut Nut) - Can you read it again, more slowly, and tell me exactly what you disagree with?

Hint: I have put the relevant bits in bold.

<< Tooth enamel has a Mohs hardness of 5, and can be scratched by medium, firm or hard bristles. Most gems in jewelry will be harder than that, but gold alloys used for jewelry have an average hardness of 2.5 and platinum has a hardness of 4.5. Don’t use an old brush or one which might have detritus on it, as debris could also scratch your jewelry.>>

You caught me John!
I didn't read it.
Tooth enamel is not scratched by brushes - it is scratched by grit in out mouths.

BTW - Small shoulder diamonds are sometimes only held in by dirt and grease - so make sure your sink sieve holes are smaller than your smallest diamonds.

• Mix a few drops with warm water, around 100º (not hot) For 80% of the worlds population that is boiling water!
• Medium, firm or hard bristles can scratch precious metals. Impossible.
• Don’t use paper towels. Dab the piece and you wont get fibers caught - And if fibers get caught have the prongs checked.

One of the many things I love about this place is when two top quality individuals get into a tweak fest. John will call out Garry. Garry will call out John. Often, both are correct, depending on which side of the "disagreement" you are on.

Watching this continue in this thread with Garry actually agreeing with John, an old song from my second year in college (1967, also the year I joined the Marines and went to Vietnam because I believed in what we were supposed to be doing...)

Just change the word beat to tweak, and the song is perfect for enjoying these good spirited tweak fests.) The Beat Goes On

.

Wink

 

[SomethingNew]

You need a commercial bench jeweler with a high pressure steam cleaner and powerful ultrasonic from time to time. And get yourself an affordable setup.
Forget John's 'warm' and go for boiling water, ammonia and detergent.

Man.... this sounds complicated. And a powerful ultrasonic cleaner is okay for settings with halo and pave stones? Because that's what I am thinking, gold cup with halo and pave on shank.

what is a powerful ultrasonic cleaner, like the one @Dancing Fire has?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Man.... this sounds complicated. And a powerful ultrasonic cleaner is okay for settings with halo and pave stones? Because that's what I am thinking, gold cup with halo and pave on shank.

what is a powerful ultrasonic cleaner, like the one @Dancing Fire has?

Don't know what DF has, but I am thinking machines that cost close to $1k.
Any diamonds that fall out were going to fall out, so better sooner and caught than later and gone.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Man.... this sounds complicated. And a powerful ultrasonic cleaner is okay for settings with halo and pave stones? Because that's what I am thinking, gold cup with halo and pave on shank.

what is a powerful ultrasonic cleaner, like the one @Dancing Fire has?

One of the many things I love about this place is when two top quality individuals get into a tweak fest. John will call out Garry. Garry will call out John. Often, both are correct, depending on which side of the "disagreement" you are on.

Watching this continue in this thread with Garry actually agreeing with John, an old song from my second year in college (1967, also the year I joined the Marines and went to Vietnam because I believed in what we were supposed to be doing...)

Just change the word beat to tweak, and the song is perfect for enjoying these good spirited tweak fests.) The Beat Goes On

.

Wink

I want to be Sher - we are planning to go to Aspen in February.
What did the tree say to Sonny?


I Got ya Babe!

 

[yssie]

My other half is a coffee snot. We have an espresso machine that’s piped through all sorts of water filters and that has an excellent three-jet steam wand. Nice thing about steaming - never any water spots…

But I do burn myself a lot.

Edit: The coffee snot just informed me that the correct word is “plumbed”, not “piped”.

 

[Wink]

No plumbing for this coffee lover. I make a pot of strong coffee every morning, drink one cup and take another to work in my Thermos cup that keeps it hot until well into the afternoon. No sweet creamers need apply...

I learned to drink coffee in Brasil, and man, do they have GREAT coffee there. I took a group of Americans there on a friendship exchange many years ago and we spent a day at a coffee plantation. Luckily, they were roasting the harvest and the whole area smelled like fresh strong coffee.

It was nice that when I learned to drink coffee, my body would allow me to drink it right up to the time I went to bed and drop right off to sleep. Somewhere around 40 it turned traitor on me and no coffee after 4 P.M. if I want to sleep that night...

Wink

 

[Wink]

What did the tree say to Sonny?


I Got ya Babe!

Garry, that is just brutal...

You may have to explain it to the younger crowd though...

 

[Dancing Fire]

Don't know what DF has, but I am thinking machines that cost close to $1k.
Any diamonds that fall out were going to fall out, so better sooner and caught than later and gone.

Nowhere close to $1K. Think I paid like $350.

 

[luvmysparklies]

This thread is timely. I have one of those Salton Jewelry Spa machines. The JW10 model. The jewelry goes in a basket that has a gold plate at the bottom, I think it conducts some kind of electrical charge and heats up. I don't believe that this is an ultrasonic. There is a powder that came with it, that I ran out of. Long ago, there was a thread where someone found a replacement-Oakite-90? I believe. What I wanted to know is if this kind of powder is a necessary "catalyst" (for lack of a better word) in order for the functioning of the plate at the bottom of the basket to clean the jewelry? The powder/water mix did a fantastic job of cleaning. The steam part would start out being rather watery (I figured it was rinsing) and then it would give a powerful steam shot at the end that left no watermarks. I am trying to find out if there is an alternative to the powder that would function pretty much the same? A less toxic alternative? I would appreciate any insight.