Cleaning a pave setting--what''s the REAL scoop?

[reena]

i''ve been driving myself crazy reading all of the old "cleaning" posts here, but i still can''t seem to figure out a definitive answer to my question: what''s the best way to clean a pave set diamond ring? i''ve become somewhat obsessed about keeping my ring clean, but i''m still in that new-ring phase where i''m completely paranoid that i''m going to do something to hurt the diamond or the setting.

the person who made my setting recommended that i use dish soap, warm water and a soft toothbrush. however, i''m somewhat concerned repeated use of the toothbrush could loosen the tiny pave set diamonds (over time). should i be concerned about that (or am i just a paranoid loser)?

also is soap and water really my best bet, or would ammonia or some ammonia-based cleaning product (windex? spic and span?) give me better results? (or some combination of water, soap and ammoinia?) is ammonia too harsh to use every day? what about ultrasonic cleaners? i''ve heard they can be risky for pave.

ahhhhh! someone help me--i''m going batty!

PS--has anyone else noticed the NEW rodent in town:

?

 

[Hest88]

I''m not telling you until you post a ring picture.

Well, okay...

A soft toothbrush shouldn''t dislodge a well-set paved stone. It just shouldn''t.

Dawn or any other good de-greasing detergent should work. 1/2 ammonia cut with half H2O is what I use, and that''s safe as well. In fact, most of those jewelry cleaners out there use ammonia. I wouldn''t bother with Windex since sudsy ammonia is so cheap (and you can buy it in the same place), but I know some people use Windex.

 

[bichon]

Reena, I feel like I know you although I''ve only joined PS a few months ago! Congratulations on your engagement.

From my experience, liquid soap and water does a good job of cleaning my stones clean. One day, I bought one of those ammonia based cleaners at Peoples (Zales in the US I believe) and I found that the ammonia did a better job of cleaning those hard-to-reach spots (I think that dirt was starting to lodge in the crevices). Now my diamond always looks sparklier than ever!

 

[fortheloveofdiamonds]

HEST88,

Do you feel that H20 and sudsy amonia does the trick as well as any machine? I heard talk of the Salton Jewelry Spa on here. They said that it would be safe for pave? I haven''t rec''d my ring yet, but I know that i''ll want to keep it clean and shiny when I do.

Thanks.

 

[Hest88]

Forthelove: I have an ultrasonic cleaner, though I don''t have something like the Salton. I find that it''s easier (though more awkward) to clean my ring in the ultrasonic, but the results are nearly as good as when I just soak my ring (often overnight) and be sure to scrub the pavilion. I think if I didn''t have a basket (which covers the pavilion so much) I wouldn''t even both with the ultrasonic ever, and also if I cleaned my ring more often it would never be needed.

 

[fortheloveofdiamonds]

Feydakin:

wow! What a scare that would cause the sales associates! Yikes! The setting that I got is high quality IMO (Michael B. Three-Sided Pave) so I am not too worried about it. But I have seem some pave in some of the mall stores that did not look secure at all. It looked just like little bits of diamond dust...

 

[Mara]

I am the worst about cleaning, I am so rough on my rings. But they are prong set, not pave so maybe I feel okay because of that, who knows. Anyway I use windex and a small scrubby metal brush thing. The brush thing is like a mini bottle brush and the metal scrapes hard enough to scratch the platinum inside of my ring setting sometimes, but of course would not damage the diamonds themselves. So I try to go easy when scrubbing the ring itself, and then go nuts on the diamonds.

But of course I'm the worst model ever for care of rings, since I do everything with them on, gardening (no gloves mom!), kickboxing (with gloves of course), and my big diamond even came loose one night, probably from kickboxing repetitively with it on, but I just got it tightened. Rings are made to be worn and everything is insured anyway. Plus would it be so bad if the big stone got lost? Oops stone got lost, now I can get a 2c replacement with the big, fat insurance check.

I have my prongs checked every few months...I recommend it for everyone as well. It's just a trip to the jeweler, and we all love going there!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

A couple of my pieces have cracks that are hard to get into and I've found that if I soak these items long enough, like a half an hour that most of the gunk floats up away from the diamonds w/out need to scrub. I use a splash of amonia mixed with water.

You may not be able to part w/your ring yet for 1/2 hour

, but shower/blow drying activites works great for eventual official cleaning time.

Michelle

 

[reena]

thanks so much for the tips everyone. so, then it looks like i shouldn''t be afraid to use windex (straight? or diluted?) or ammonia or dish soap mixed with water, along with a gentle toothbrush once in a while. what about steaming? i don''t have a tea kettle or an espresso machine--anyone have any good alternatives?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Windex straight out of the sprayer is safe and a quick means of perking up your ring. I just rince and dry my diamond jewelry with a paper towel rather than fuss with steaming via my espresso maker, but I''m lazy too so I''m sure the paper towel solution isn''t the best.

 

[jesrush]

All the advice is good -- go with the 50% ammonia 50% water formula.

Like someone said before, if the stones are set *very* well -- you COULD go ultrasonic with a small unit like the Branson B200, but to be honest, it''s really not worth the risk just for the extra 5% cleanliness! I have a B200 and it only took a few days before a friend popped a pave ring in there (friends started flocking to my house to use the cleaner and sure enough a tiny .05ct diamond came right out, bouncing around on the bottom of the little metal floor and causing an awful high pitched noise.

My fiance uses the Branson on her e-ring occasionally, but for daily cleaning she uses 50% Parsons ammonia 50% water and it does a very good job!

JES

 

[reena]

thanks everyone. i feel confident that my setting person did a good job with the pave, BUT, why risk it? i''ll go out and get some ammonia (also the windex thing hs been working really well). i appreciate the advice.

 

[bichon]

I agree with MichelleCarmen about soaking the ring for a while. It really does the job. I actually have to get a new bottle of the ammonia solution because it''s kind of murky from dipping my ring every day ... sometimes twice a day. I usually dip the ring before I jump into the shower and remove it 5 minutes later. If it''s really dirty, leave it longer.