How to clean a diamond: using oil to remove oil!

[Supersleuth50]

The simple and effective way to clean my diamond ring: I use oil to remove oil before using detergent

I have a simple 18k yellow gold solitaire in a six prong setting.

I would be very interested to hear what the professionals on this site think of this method because it is very cheap, quick and simple and doesn’t involve boiling water, commercial jewellery cleaners, ultrasound, or toothbrushes. The results are excellent and, unlike other methods, this method not involve metal expansion/contraction metal fatigue, abrasive chemicals or mechanical damage to the setting.

Items needed:
A. A sink with a plug in it (the plug is very important);
B. Two egg cups;
C. Baby oil - this is basically mineral oil (with a little fragrance added) that is used to oil babies’ skin;
D. Washing-up liquid (I think that this is called dishwashing liquid in America – it’s the stuff you use to manually wash the dishes);
E. Optional: Windolene (this is a window-glass cleaner, another brand is Mr Muscle, and contains alcohol/acetone);
F. Supply of water.

Method
1. I place the plug in the sink (very important!).
2. I place my diamond ring in the first egg cup.
3. I pour baby oil into the egg cup until the diamond ring is completely covered.
4. I wait 30 seconds.
5. I remove the ring from the egg cup and rinse the ring thoroughly in cold water.
6. I place the ring in the second egg cup.
7. I pour washing-up liquid (dishwashing liquid) into the egg cup until the ring is covered.
8. I wait 30 seconds.
9. I dilute the washing-up liquid in the egg cup with water (about three parts water to one part washing-up liquid) and gently swirl the liquid.
10. I wait 30 seconds.
11. I remove the ring from the egg cup and thoroughly rinse the ring in cold water.
12. [Optional: I then squirt Windolene glass cleaner on the surface of the diamond and then immediately rinse the ring thoroughly in cold water]
13. I put the ring back on my finger and let the diamond air dry
14. Voila!

Technical bit.
1. Diamonds attract oil. This is inevitable.
2. Oil on the surface of a diamond is easy to remove with detergent providing that the oil hasn’t been there for very long. However, if oil is left on the diamond’s surface for any length of time the oil gradually reacts with air and becomes much more difficult to remove. In short, ‘new’ oil is easy to remove from a diamond but ‘old’ oil is difficult to remove.
3. Oil dissolves in oil (oil is a very good solvent) and therefore that if we dip a diamond covered in old oil into some new unreacted oil then the old oil will dissolve in the new oil and leave the surface. The diamond is now covered in new oil that is easy to remove with detergent.

This principle is already used in cleaning oil and fingerprints off stainless steel.

Miscellaneous
In case you are wondering why I cover the ring with washing-up liquid and then dilute it, I do this because in the UK the washing-up liquid is more viscous than baby oil and so I’m ensuring that the (diluted) washing-up liquid reaches all the areas of the ring that the oil might have adhered to. I’m not sure whether this diluting stage is necessary but I do it anyway. The optional Windolene ensures that there are no smears or deposits from the washing-up liquid left on the surface of the diamond.

Limitations and safety
[Please note that I have only used this method on diamonds and not on other gemstones. I have no information on the long term effects of this method. I have not used this method on white gold or platinum. I have not used this method on pave or complicated settings. I am careful to keep the products mentioned away from my eyes.]

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I think about everyone here will tell you that the oil bath is totally unnecessary! The rest of the process is okay! I don't heat anything. I soak my ring in jewelry cleaner for awhile, brush very lightly with soft brush, and then rinse with warm water. Easy!

 

[Christina...]

I agree with DS that it's likely an un-necessary step. I clean my rings on a regular basis, as often as everyday, so oils don't have time to build up or harden onto the surface of the diamonds. And even it did, Dawn isn't called the 'grease fighter' for nothing! If it's good enough to clean up oil spills then it's good enough to remove daily oil residue from my ring!

However, I've heard of rings that have been so neglected that dirt and grime was the only thing holding the stone in place. In these cases perhaps your method would work, but I'm guessing that a trip to a professional for a cleaning and inspection would be more in order. I guess I just cringe at the thought of soaking my pretties in oil! Regardless of how safe or effective it may be.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Yes, my first thought was that adding more oil was totally unnecessary. The dishwashing liquid soak would remove both old and new oil so that theory doesn't hold up for me either.

Thanks for sharing your method but so far degreasing my ring has worked wonderfully for me - to each his own though!

 

[TC1987]

The oil wouldn't hurt anything. It would soften junk like hand creams and bread dough and other caked-on solids. Then the detergent degreases and washes all the debris off.

 

[VRBeauty]

My mother lets her ring get so crudded over that it might maybe benefit from the oil treatment - I might just give it a try! I keep my stuff clean enough that It doubt it would help me.

 

[Supersleuth50]

Dear all,

Many thanks for your responses.

First of all, I’m being very careful here not to criticise the ways that you are cleaning your rings. I merely give information on what I am doing. I have tried using jewellery cleaner plus toothbrush and I have tried using detergent alone but the oil plus detergent plus Windolene (Windex) seems to work the best and involves no brushing.

Before everyone gets annoyed with me I have to say that doesn’t mean my method is better than your method. I’m here in the UK and I wouldn’t be surprised if the jewellery cleaner that I’ve bought isn’t very good. [To be honest, here in the UK the diamonds and the jewellers tend to be mediocre so maybe the jewellery cleaner is sub-standard too.] I am also using a different detergent. We don’t have ‘Dawn’ here in the UK; we have ‘Fairy’ instead. I’ve looked at the ingredients and they are definitely different.

Please note that I don’t want you all to go out and immediately try my method, especially with your most precious jewellery. This is why I am asking the professionals on the Pricescope site what they think. If you are going to try it please use a piece of diamond jewellery that you don’t care about. And even then do it just before you are going to have the jewellery professionally cleaned.

However, I don’t want you all to tell me that my method is wrong without putting forward some evidence. It may seem counter-intuitive but that doesn’t make it wrong. And it doesn’t make it right, either. Ideally we would do a controlled experiment. We would have a number of identical diamond rings. We would use a number of cleaning methods and make sure that the rings were dipped/brushed for an equal amount of time. We would keep temperature, pressure, humidity and any other variables constant. We would then either have an independent person judge the results (perhaps taking photographs and magnifying the images) or we would have a calibrated light-measuring device to judge which diamond had the least amount of oil/residue on it.

I know that this isn’t possible and so it’s going to have to stay as a ‘thought experiment’ unless one of the professionals is prepared to do a bit of experimentation for the good of the Pricescope fraternity, the diamond industry and, of course, mankind.

If in our imaginary experiment it turned out that all the methods were as good as each other and there were no long term effects of any of the methods then I would personally choose the one that didn’t involve brushing. This is because I know that rings wear away. I’ve been married 26 years (Hurrah!) and my 2.0mm width 18K yellow gold wedding ring is now 1.9mm. This 5% loss of gold is simply because the ring has rubbed against surfaces and other rings, and has had the occasional polish. We don’t notice this kind of wear because it happens so gradually. Suppose someone brushes their ring for 1 minute twice a week. They do this every week for 50 years of marriage. The accumulated rubbing time is 5,200 minutes or 86 hours and 40 minutes, or around three days 14 hours and 40 minutes. Yikes!

Being in the UK, I had to look up ‘Dawn’ on the Internet because I didn’t know what it was. Apparently this detergent is being used not only to clean dishes but also to clean oiled seabirds. (Quick cheer for Proctor & Gamble, everyone.) This sounds great to me and I like to imagine some newly engaged young woman helping to rescue and de-oil birds. On the way home she looks down at her hand and is astounded at how sparkly and clean her diamond looks….

Have fun,

Supersleuth

P.S. I've attached a photo of my ring just to give you an idea of what it's like.

 

[Christina...]

Perhaps you didn't receive the responses that you had hoped for, but I don't think anyone was annoyed with you or criticizing your method of cleaning rings, in fact no one even disagreed with the effectiveness of your process. In fact VRB stated that she wanted to give it a try, and TC pointed out that it would in fact be beneficial in some cases. I also stated that in cases where the ring was especially gunked up that it may work, but for the majority of people that clean their rings on a daily or even weekly basis I found the additional step to be unnecessary.

I didn't mean to come across as critical of your method and I apologize that you perceived it that way. Your rings are beautiful and your method certainly appears to be working for you.

ETA: I just wanted to mention that the use of a soft toothbrush when cleaning is meant to be used only on the diamond itself not on the shank or prongs, but you are correct, excessive brushing on gold will wear it away over time, however that isn't the case with platinum and why it is so often recommended...for the head of the ring at the very least.

 

[msop04]

Perhaps you didn't receive the responses that you had hoped for, but I don't think anyone was annoyed with you or criticizing your method of cleaning rings, in fact no one even disagreed with the effectiveness of your process. In fact VRB stated that she wanted to give it a try, and TC pointed out that it would in fact be beneficial in some cases. I also stated that in cases where the ring was especially gunked up that it may work, but for the majority of people that clean their rings on a daily or even weekly basis I found the additional step to be unnecessary.

+1
Please don't take offense, as no one criticized your method... but you did ask for the opinions of PS members. I think what others may be trying to get across to you is that, while your method may work, it's most likely unnecessary (and more time consuming) unless your ring is really really gunked up. If it's not that dirty, then why go from point A (dirty diamond)--->D--->C--->B (clean diamond), when the goal is simply to get to point B? A---->B is just much easier and more efficient.

Supersleuth:
We don’t have ‘Dawn’ here in the UK; we have ‘Fairy’ instead. I’ve looked at the ingredients and they are definitely different.

I wasn't familiar with Fairy, so I looked it up online. It's made by Procter &Gamble and cleans in the exact same way as Dawn. The ingredients are different, but the same (chemically). They both contain surfactants (SURFaceACTingAgeNTS). Water and oil don't mix because of surface tension, so surfactants act to lower that surface tension, allowing it to mix more readily with water. This creates an emulsion of oil and water and can be rinsed off more easily, leaving the object clean.

Your thinking is correct in theory and the method may certainly be effective, but is not very cost/time-efficient -- however, if you like cleanig your diamond this way, then more power to you!

 

[Rockdiamond]

I need to do a little more checking- but on the face, it sound to me like a brilliant idea. Genius actually. The best way to remove a sticky substance is with oil- that is for sure.
The fact that oil transforms over time to gunk is clear to me. I see a lot of people who's rings have it caked on the back of the stone- even though they swear they're not applying hand lotion when wearing the ring.
The body produces oil- healthy skin produces oil.
I'm not writing that based on any scientific knowledge, but it seems to. That would get on the diamond, and over time, transform to a thicker substance as it attracts more dirt.


In any event, I will definitely try your method.

Brilliant.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Is this the same idea as Goo Gone since that is also (I think) petroleum based?

And no, I'm not suggesting we all go out and slather our jewelry with Goo Gone -- I'm just trying to think through the "science" behind the basic concept.

 

[bgray]

i think this makes sense but only in the case of an extremely filthy ring with caked on "gunk." i spray mine with windex and hold under running water and occasionally use a little brush with dish detergent and it is fine.

 

[Supersleuth50]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your comments. Should anyone decide to try out the 'oil to remove oil' method I really would be very interested to hear their results.

With best wishes,

SuperSleuth

 

[Supersleuth50]

Any results?

 

[JulieN]

Doesn't make sense to rinse the new oil off with water before using soap or use cold water. Soap has one hydrophobic end that likes the oil and one hydrophilic end that likes the water.

 

[Supersleuth50]

Hi Julie,

I'm not sure that this method is perfect either but if someone has an old piece of jewellery that they would like to try it out on I'd be interested in their results. I suspect that people probably need to dip their ring in oil momentarily just before they do the usual cleaning routine. The rinsing in water probably only removes some of oil mechanically rather than chemically. The baby oil probably dissolves the sticky oxidised oil products leaving the detergent with a better chance of cleaning the ring. The real advantage is that no rubbing or brushing or vibrating is required. The reason I gave all the detail about my method is that I work with scientists. Scientists insist that the method is written in detail so that it is reproducible. The method is only valid if someone repeats it and gets the same results.

The real problem is that I have is that I have actually tried this out and found it better than other methods. Other people tell me that I am wrong but only talk about it in theory. If they tried it out and told me my method was rubbish I would accept it but so far no one has tried it out. Do you have any ancient unloved diamond jewellery that you don't mind experimenting on? Are you feeling scientific? Are you prepared to give it a go?

I have to say that baby oil is a lot more benign than other things that people dip their rings in.

Best wishes,

Supersleuth

 

[oohsparkly]

I think this sounds interesting. I have only recently begun to remove makeup with oil. It seemed like a gross idea but it works great as oil dissolves oil.

I do have a very unloved diamond ring since I got my upgrade, I'll give it a try! I just don't have baby oil so it'll take a few days till I can get some.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[thediamondshopper]

The science behind it seems valid, I will certainly give it a shot the next time I get a ring in for a cleaning. Though I may substitute the other steps for a quick bath in the heated ultrasonic and a quick steam blast, mainly out of laziness.