Do you have beautiful jewelry that you don’t take great care of? I’m sure, if I took my rings into a local jeweler, they’d be happy to clean them for me. But really, who has time for that? I’ll pencil that in for the second Tuesday of next week. I have 2 rings I wear all the time: I don’t remove them when washing my hands, when taking a shower, or applying lotion. While the risk of loss is low (unlike my diamond earrings, apparently ☹), they can start to look pretty nasty.
Somewhere along the lines, I heard a tip to use toothpaste to clean your jewelry, more specifically, your rings. It sounded like a great at-home solution to keep those gems looking their best. And bonus – who doesn’t already have toothpaste lying around?! The first time I tried it, I went all in: I cleaned my wedding ring. In hindsight, this wasn’t the best idea y’all. It really could have gone awry. Fortunately, my diamond sparkled, and there was no damage to my ring or stones.
It’s really quite easy to do. First remove your ring. It will be much easier to get all the nooks and crannies if you’re not wearing it. Also a great tip: presuming you’re near the sink, plug the drain (you’re welcome). I loaded up a toothbrush (I did use a soft-bristled one) with a generous amount of toothpaste (I don’t think it matters what kind/brand), added water, and gently brushed all over, letting the toothpaste lather. Make sure you get underneath the stone, if it’s exposed beneath the setting as well. Rinse and repeat if necessary. As you can see from the photo below, my blue topaz (or is it aquamarine, I’m really not quite sure), went from pond-green to good as new!
A quick disclaimer: I am clearly not a jeweler, nor a professional cleaner of any sort. This is simply a quick, inexpensive way to clean your jewelry at home, that I’ve found has worked very well. Do me a favor: please don’t try this on precious family heirlooms – I can’t have that on my conscience y’all.