Ultrasonic cleaner recommendation please

[missy]

I know it would happen to me! Did you ever see the episode of Lucille Ball at the straw factory? My brother use to say I was just like her!

ROFLMOA Me too! I am Lucy Ricardo. Not kidding. Just ask my dh and my closest friends. The Chocolate factory scene. Classic Lucy and totally classic Missy

 

[MamaBee]

ROFLMOA Me too! I am Lucy Ricardo. Not kidding. Just ask my dh and my closest friends. The Chocolate factory scene. Classic Lucy and totally classic Missy

 

[Tonks]

I have an ultrasonic in my Amazon cart as we speak. Thank you all for the recommendations! This will be a nice upgrade from my toothbrush and dish soap routine.

Do I need a special solution to go in it? What do you all use?

 

[TreeScientist]

I have an ultrasonic in my Amazon cart as we speak. Thank you all for the recommendations! This will be a nice upgrade from my toothbrush and dish soap routine.

Do I need a special solution to go in it? What do you all use?

You don't need a special solution. A drop or two of Dawn dish soap and warm water will work perfectly.

And I second the photography compressed air as a good method of drying. But another method for streak-free drying is to use 90% rubbing alcohol and KimWipes. Fill a small squirt bottle with 90% rubbing alcohol (not 70%. The 70% has too much water and doesn't evaporate quickly enough. Search for the 90% at the drug store) and squirt it all over the jewelry after removing from the ultrasonic. Then take a KimWipe and wipe away the excess, although the 90% rubbing alcohol should dry away on its own almost instantly.

Try both methods @missy (compressed air and rubbing alcohol) and see which one works best for you.

 

[missy]

I have an ultrasonic in my Amazon cart as we speak. Thank you all for the recommendations! This will be a nice upgrade from my toothbrush and dish soap routine.

Do I need a special solution to go in it? What do you all use?

I use our dish soap and tap water and it is working well. Good luck @Tonks. Hope it works like a charm for you.

Try both methods @missy (compressed air and rubbing alcohol) and see which one works best for you.

Thank you @TreeScientist. I appreciate your input and I will try both methods. On my shopping list: Compressed air and 90% rubbing alcohol and kimwipes.

 

[TreeScientist]

Thank you @TreeScientist. I appreciate your input and I will try both methods. On my shopping list: Compressed air and 90% rubbing alcohol and kimwipes.

P.S. looks like you can buy 99% alcohol on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Swan-Isopropyl-Alcohol-99-Pint/dp/B001B5JT8C?th=1

I've never seen the 99% stuff in U.S. drugstores, but this would be ideal if you could find in in a store near you, or if want to order it online. 99% alcohol is actually what we use in the lab for cleaning when we want something that dries fast without streaks (like when cleaning microscope slides). Pretty much completely free of water. Then again, the 90% alcohol is nearly just as good, and would probably be cheaper in a local drugstore. Depends on how OCD you want to get with cleaning.

 

[Dancing Fire]

It doesn't matter which method you use once you go to the restroom and then wash your hands.

 

[TreeScientist]

It doesn't matter which method you use once you go to the restroom and then wash your hands.

Cover your hands in heavy metal-containing tap water and creamy hand soaps?!? What gem-loving individual would do such a thing?!?

If given the choice between contracting salmonella or contaminating your rings with soap scum, I think we all know the correct choice to make...

#FoodPoisoningMakesYouSkinnyAnyway #WorthIt

 

[missy]

It doesn't matter which method you use once you go to the restroom and then wash your hands.

Hahaha this is so true. I wash my hands dozens of times a day probably and if I am not at home I leave my rings on while I wash and the rings get filmy no matter what I do because in order to wash properly you have to thoroughly cover your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Rings suffer.

 

[missy]

P.S. looks like you can buy 99% alcohol on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Swan-Isopropyl-Alcohol-99-Pint/dp/B001B5JT8C?th=1

I've never seen the 99% stuff in U.S. drugstores, but this would be ideal if you could find in in a store near you, or if want to order it online. 99% alcohol is actually what we use in the lab for cleaning when we want something that dries fast without streaks (like when cleaning microscope slides). Pretty much completely free of water. Then again, the 90% alcohol is nearly just as good, and would probably be cheaper in a local drugstore. Depends on how OCD you want to get with cleaning.

Thank you @TreeScientist! I just ordered the double pack of the 99% alcohol plus the KimWipes on Amazon. My dh informs me we have denatured alcohol which he thinks is 100% alcohol but it doesn't have a list of ingredients on the bottle. He brought it up from his workshop in the basement for me to try. Do I dare LOL. Thank you for all your helpful tips. I am not generally OCD about cleaning (haha just ask my dh) and in fact do not clean my bling often at all but the halo setting that Bubbalah is currently in is proving not to be as low maintenance as a simple solitaire setting.

 

[TreeScientist]

Thank you @TreeScientist! I just ordered the double pack of the 99% alcohol plus the KimWipes on Amazon. My dh informs me we have denatured alcohol which he thinks is 100% alcohol but it doesn't have a list of ingredients on the bottle. He brought it up from his workshop in the basement for me to try. Do I dare LOL. Thank you for all your helpful tips. I am not generally OCD about cleaning (haha just ask my dh) and in fact do not clean my bling often at all but the halo setting that Bubbalah is currently in is proving not to be as low maintenance as a simple solitaire setting.

I wouldn't recommend denatured alcohol, as most denatured alcohol sold in the U.S. for industrial/scientific purposes in 90/10 Ethanol/Methanol. Methanol is some nasty stuff (mutagenic properties and can cause blindness) and it absorbs through the skin extremely rapidly. I wouldn't use that unless you're very careful and wear nitrile gloves while working with it.

Stick to the isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). It's innocuous except for causing skin dryness with prolonged exposure.

 

[missy]

I wouldn't recommend denatured alcohol, as most denatured alcohol sold in the U.S. for industrial/scientific purposes in 90/10 Ethanol/Methanol. Methanol is some nasty stuff (mutagenic properties and can cause blindness) and it absorbs through the skin extremely rapidly. I wouldn't use that unless you're very careful and wear nitrile gloves while working with it.

Stick to the isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). It's innocuous except for causing skin dryness with prolonged exposure.

Thank you so much @TreeScientist! I am staying away from it and will wait for the isopropyl alcohol from Amazon to arrive. Appreciate your input very much!!!

 

[TreeScientist]

Thank you so much @TreeScientist! I am staying away from it and will wait for the isopropyl alcohol from Amazon to arrive. Appreciate your input very much!!!

Also, bonus use for the 99% rubbing alcohol since you ordered it: It's great for cleaning laptop keyboards! If you're like me and sometimes eat around your laptop (no shame ), it can be a pain to clean smudges that form between the keys. With 99% alcohol, there's so little water that even if a little seeps through the keys and into the body of the laptop, it won't cause any damage (still make sure it's turned off though ). Actually, IT people use 99% alcohol to directly clean computer components (like CPUs) when they open up a computer.

Put a bit of the 99% alcohol on a Kimwipe and wipe all over the laptop. Your laptop will be shining like new in no-time.

 

[lilmosun]

I purchased a steamer/ulttrasonic combo similar to the one from Costco (HSN had them on clearance last year). It takes up too much counter space to leave out so I find myself only using it every few months. In between, it's soak and scrub with a soft toothbrush.

Does anyone know if the kimwipes are soft enough to use on softer gemstones such as tourmaline? I've tried researching this in the past but haven't been able to find an answer.

 

[marcy]

Missy, I already told you what I use in our other thread but thought I'd respond here too. I used US (cheap ones that lasted 6 - 12 months before leaking) for about 8 years before buying a more expensive one with stainless steel tubs and it leaked worse than the cheap ones. I did have issues with stones coming loose. My husband told me from day one they will make my stones come loose but I wouldn't listen to him. Then a friend of my told me to turn it on low and put my finger in the tank; then I got it! i threw that leaky sucker out. IMO Dawn and filtered water clean really well. i generally use diluted Windex to soak my jewelry. I will occasionally use a baby toothbrush to scrub the side and bottom of the stone where I can get to them. After cleaning jewelry, I dip them in another bowl of filtered water and dry them right away with either a paper towel or glass cleaner cloth (one of those shiny slick ones). I do have a jewel jet that I will get out occasionally to steam clean anything that looks smudgy. I don't recommend canned air because they can leave a film especially when the can is getting low.

 

[TreeScientist]

I purchased a steamer/ulttrasonic combo similar to the one from Costco (HSN had them on clearance last year). It takes up too much counter space to leave out so I find myself only using it every few months. In between, it's soak and scrub with a soft toothbrush.

Does anyone know if the kimwipes are soft enough to use on softer gemstones such as tourmaline? I've tried researching this in the past but haven't been able to find an answer.

Kimwipes are made of very pure wood fibers (like paper towels) so they are certainly fine to use on tourmaline (mohs hardenss 7.5). We use Kimwipes to clean very expensive glassware (mohs hardness 7) all of the time.

Missy, I already told you what I use in our other thread but thought I'd respond here too. I used US (cheap ones that lasted 6 - 12 months before leaking) for about 8 years before buying a more expensive one with stainless steel tubs and it leaked worse than the cheap ones. I did have issues with stones coming loose. My husband told me from day one they will make my stones come loose but I wouldn't listen to him. Then a friend of my told me to turn it on low and put my finger in the tank; then I got it! i threw that leaky sucker out. IMO Dawn and filtered water clean really well. i generally use diluted Windex to soak my jewelry. I will occasionally use a baby toothbrush to scrub the side and bottom of the stone where I can get to them. After cleaning jewelry, I dip them in another bowl of filtered water and dry them right away with either a paper towel or glass cleaner cloth (one of those shiny slick ones). I do have a jewel jet that I will get out occasionally to steam clean anything that looks smudgy. I don't recommend canned air because they can leave a film especially when the can is getting low.

I'll address each of these in order:

1.) Been using a cheap VGT-2000 Ultrasonic (with a stainless steel tub) for a few years now for various applications with 0 issues. I'm not expecting it to last forever, but if it lasts 4-5 years, I'll have gotten my money's worth. Still no leakage on mine whatsoever, so maybe you got a lemon? Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "expensive" when you said you got another expensive one as a replacement. Is it German or American made? Was it 400+ dollars? If not, it is probably no better than the cheap-o $30 Ultrasonics. A lot of the Ultrasonics in the 100 dollar range still have cheap-o Chinese components, they're just re-branded with fancy packaging and a flashy exterior.

2.) Yes, there is a high risk that small stones in delicate prong settings (think pave and shared-prong type settings) will come loose over time. This can be accelerated with using an ultrasonic. That's why it's generally not recommended to use ultrasonics on rings with pave, and if you do, you should ALWAYS check each stone individually after removing it from the US by trying to wiggle it with a needle. If it moves, then the stone will need to be tightened professionally.

Then again, small stones can come loose in a lot of other ways as well (knocking, rubbing, general wear and tear of the small prongs, etc). I remember one trade member made a comment that, in his opinion, it is better to have a stone come loose while cleaning in an ultrasonic, because then you can at least catch it after removing the ring and checking the stones individually rather than having the stone fall out somewhere randomly.

3.) What kind of friend would ever tell you to stick your finger in an ultrasonic?!? You should never stick your finger in an ultrasonic. I'll repeat, NEVER STICK YOUR FINGER IN AN ULTRASONIC. Your flesh is not a stone. You are composed of cells. Ultrasonic waves will cause the skin cells in both your upper and lower epidermal layers to instantaneously burst. It is not a pleasant experience, and will feel like a terrible shock (and may leave a bruise on the tip of your finger).

4.) Canned air is not canned air. There are different purities of canned air. The "normal" canned air that you use in a shop is definitely not pure, so you are correct that you should not use that on jewelry. We were recommending "photographic" quality canned air. This stuff is extremely pure. People use this to clean extremely high end camera lenses and microscope components, where even a speck of dust could throw off an image. So I'm pretty sure it's fine for your diamonds.

 

[lilmosun]

Kimwipes are made of very pure wood fibers (like paper towels) so they are certainly fine to use on tourmaline (mohs hardenss 7.5). We use Kimwipes to clean very expensive glassware (mohs hardness 7) all of the time.

Good to know...thank you!

 

[missy]

Missy, I already told you what I use in our other thread but thought I'd respond here too. I used US (cheap ones that lasted 6 - 12 months before leaking) for about 8 years before buying a more expensive one with stainless steel tubs and it leaked worse than the cheap ones. I did have issues with stones coming loose. My husband told me from day one they will make my stones come loose but I wouldn't listen to him. Then a friend of my told me to turn it on low and put my finger in the tank; then I got it! i threw that leaky sucker out. IMO Dawn and filtered water clean really well. i generally use diluted Windex to soak my jewelry. I will occasionally use a baby toothbrush to scrub the side and bottom of the stone where I can get to them. After cleaning jewelry, I dip them in another bowl of filtered water and dry them right away with either a paper towel or glass cleaner cloth (one of those shiny slick ones). I do have a jewel jet that I will get out occasionally to steam clean anything that looks smudgy. I don't recommend canned air because they can leave a film especially when the can is getting low.

Thanks @marcy for chiming in here. Appreciate you sharing your experiences. Still waiting on the 99% alcohol delivery (Amazon ground transport so not their usual 2 day delivery time) but the kim wipes came yesterday. Have not yet tried them but today I will. I am not cut out for high maintenance diamond cleaning care so looking for the easiest way possible to keep the ring clean and hoping the alcohol with kim wipes and toothbrush with soap will be it. If not solitaire setting here I come sooner than anticipated. Time will tell.

@TreeScientist thanks for your additional input. Looking forward to trying all the options you suggested and will report back here as soon as the alcohol arrives. Haha after all this agonizing over cleaning methods I think I need this type of alcohol.