How to Clean Diamond Jewelry
Diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring material on earth, but diamond jewelry still needs to be cleaned with care. It’s all too easy to accidentally damage less hardy parts of your jewelry, like your precious metal. It’s also possible to damage a diamond with chemicals found in household cleaners, to lose a diamond after damaging its setting, or even to chip a diamond by putting force on it at just the wrong angle.
Fortunately, once you know what you should and shouldn’t do when you clean your diamond jewelry, cleaning it is simple. To help you safely clean your diamond jewelry, here’s our diamond jewelry cleaning guide. First, we’ll share our step-by-step at-home diamond jewelry cleaning method. Then, we’ll discuss professional cleanings and go over the things you want to avoid doing when cleaning your diamond jewelry.
How to Clean Diamond Jewelry at Home
Over time, diamond jewelry will get dirty. Things like dust, grime, lotion, hair spray, perfume, makeup, and your skin’s natural oils can combine to create build-up on your diamond jewelry. This can make diamond jewelry look lifeless since it blocks a diamond’s ability to capture and reflect light to its fullest.
To restore your diamond jewelry’s sparkle and luster, use this simple, safe, and effective soap and water cleaning method. To make sure your diamond jewelry always looks its best, clean frequently worn pieces using this method weekly. Clean infrequently worn pieces as needed.
Jewelry Cleaning Supplies
Warm Water - You want to use very warm, but not hot water when cleaning diamond jewelry. Warm water is ideal because it helps loosen build up on your jewelry, without being so hot that it could damage certain jewelry materials.
Mild Dish Soap - Any gentle, non-moisturizing soap can be used to clean jewelry. Dish soap is our top recommendation, since most people already have it on hand, but you could also use a gentle shampoo or body wash. Don’t use a soap that contains moisturizing ingredients, as those can cling to your jewelry and make it look even dirtier.
Small Bowl - Any small bowl will work as long as it's clean and deep enough to fully submerge your jewelry.
New Soft Toothbrush - The bristles of a new soft toothbrush work wonders at gently cleaning the tiny crevices on fine jewelry. For an even gentler option, you can use a new makeup brush. Either way, you want your cleaning brush to be new so that it doesn’t have remnants of toothpaste or makeup, both of which can contain harsh or abrasive ingredients.
Soft Cloth (Optional) - A soft, lint-free cloth will help you dry and polish your jewelry without damaging it. Examples of soft cloths that work well for cleaning jewelry include jewelry cleaning cloths, jewelry polishing cloths, and glasses cleaning cloths. Don’t use paper towels to dry jewelry, as they can be harsh enough to scratch softer precious metals, such as gold. If you don’t have the right kind of cloth on hand, it’s best to just let your jewelry air dry.
Jewelry Cleaning Instructions
Combine warm water with a few drops of dish soap in a bowl.
Soak your diamond jewelry in your soap and water cleaning solution for 20 to 40 minutes.
Remove your diamond jewelry from your solution and gently scrub it with your soft toothbrush. Make sure you clean the back of your diamond’s setting, which often holds hard-to-see grime that can dull your diamond’s sparkle.
Rinse your diamond jewelry in warm water. The safest way to do this is in a bowl away from any drains. Empty your bowl, rinse it, refill it with fresh warm water, and rinse your diamond jewelry off in your bowl. You can also rinse your jewelry off under running water, but make sure you plug your drain before doing so.
Repeat the process if necessary.
Dry your diamond jewelry. Let your jewelry air dry or gently dry it using a soft cloth.
A Note on Professional Cleanings
It’s vital to have your diamond jewelry professionally cleaned from time-to-time. A professional jeweler has the skill and tools to deep clean your diamond jewelry in a way you simply cannot do at home. On top of that, a professional can spot structural problems like loose prongs, then fix them before they cause permanent damage or gemstone loss.
Jewelry that you wear everyday should be professionally cleaned at least twice a year, while less frequently worn diamond jewelry should be cleaned once a year. Note that it’s especially important to get regular professional cleanings for diamond rings, such as your diamond engagement ring or wedding band. Rings tend to experience more bumps, scrapes, snags, and drops than other types of jewelry, so it’s smart to have ring settings checked fairly often.
What Not to Do When Cleaning Diamond Jewelry
Understanding what you shouldn’t do to your jewelry is an important part of fine jewelry care. Fine jewelry is made of durable materials, but these materials can still be damaged by things like chemicals and force. Avoid that by heeding these tips on what you shouldn’t do as you clean your jewelry.
Don’t Use Harsh Chemicals
It can be tempting to use household cleaners on fine jewelry, but these often contain harsh chemicals that can damage your jewelry. Some particularly harmful household chemicals include chlorine, bleach, and acetone. These chemicals are very harsh on precious metals, so they should be avoided.
Don’t Use Abrasive Cleaners
Another thing that can easily damage diamond jewelry is abrasive cleaners. Examples of abrasive household products include toothpaste, baking soda, and powdered cleaners. Though these types of products probably won’t hurt a diamond, they are abrasive enough to scratch precious metals. To avoid that, stick to non-abrasive cleaning methods for diamond jewelry and gold jewelry.
Don’t Forget Other Gemstones
Some gemstones can be permanently damaged by things like heat, abrasion, and chemicals. If your diamond jewelry contains other gemstones, you need to be mindful of them as well when you clean your jewelry. For example, if you have a pair of diamond and pearl earrings, you’ll want to be extra careful to avoid scratching the soft pearls with anything abrasive. You also don’t want to let diamond and pearl earrings rub up against each other during the cleaning process. Diamond, the hardest natural material on earth, will scratch pearls with ease.
Don’t Use Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaners
Machines that are specifically made to clean jewelry should be safe to use on your jewelry, but sadly that’s not necessarily the case for at-home ultrasonic jewelry cleaners. Ultrasonic cleaners use vigorous movement to clean jewelry. While this will get jewelry clean, it may also damage it. It’s not uncommon to lose a gemstone after an at-home ultrasonic cleaner loosens the gemstone’s setting. Ultrasonic cleaners can also lead to scratching or even gemstone chipping. Use at-home ultrasonic jewelry cleaners with great caution or, ideally, don’t use them at all.
Don’t Clean Next to an Open Drain
Before you get set up to clean your jewelry, take a look around. Are there any drains or grates your jewelry could fall into at this location? If so, cover these hazards completely and securely or move to another location. If you don’t, you risk having to call a plumber or another professional in the hopes that they can retrieve your diamond jewelry.