Today’s post is inspired by the fact that I had to bring my engagement ring to the jeweler for its first annual cleaning yesterday. I dropped it off at the jeweler who sold FH my ring (and who of course was trying to upsell me on the male and female wedding bands!—but apparently she gave FH a great deal on my ring so we’ll definitely consider her for the bands), which got me thinking about how I’ve been taking care of my ring, so just wanted to share that with you guys.
Mark Schneider Engagement Rings / Image via WeddingWire.com
Remove the ring before showering, washing dishes, or any activity that involves long exposure to water.
The last thing I want is for this bad boy to fall down the drain. It’s not even worth the risk, so I pretty much always take it off before doing these activities. I am guilty of wearing it sometimes while swimming (like when I’m on vacation and I don’t feel comfortable leaving it in the hotel safe), but for the most part you should definitely avoid exposing the ring to chlorine—it can cause damage.
Buy a ring holder so you always store it in the same place.
FH bought me this adorable little elephant ring holder, so I always put the ring there whenever I remove it for a prolonged period of time. A jewelry dish also works really well. If you have a large house you may want to have more than one of these, but keep the jewelry holder/stand/dish in the same place so you always know where to find your ring.
Elephant Ring Holder from Urban Outfitters
Clean the ring as often as needed. (There are a number of ways to do this.)
My friend Alyssa introduced me to the art of cleaning your ring with a toothbrush and toothpaste (yup, you read that correctly). She apparently does this every day and her ring always looks impeccable. Just give it a nice light brushing (dilute with a splash of water, and you may not want to use an abrasive toothpaste as that may scratch up the gold) for 15–30 seconds to really get into all the nooks and crannies, rinse, pat dry with a towel, and voila—a sparkly ring that smells vaguely minty fresh! It may sound crazy, but it works. Just make sure you PLUG THE DRAIN BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I’ve heard you can also use clear alcohol like vodka to clean the ring (and it kills germs too!). Also heard that dish soap, liquid detergent, or just plain old jewelry cleaning solution work too. Oh, and ALWAYS PLUG THE DRAIN BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY CLEANING.
Take your ring for an annual “checkup.”
As I mentioned above, you should take your ring once a year to the jewelers for a professional cleaning but, most importantly, to make sure that the prongs holding your diamond in place have not become loose. It’s worth it—my jeweler only charged me $25. Just make sure it’s a jeweler you can trust since they may need to keep your ring overnight. (The last thing you need is someone switching out your diamond.)
Got any more ring-care tips, bees?
I never take my ring off except once a year or so when I am making bread. My mother and grandmother wore theirs 24/7 without any issues, and I plan on doing the same. I have always heard that the most surefire way to lose your ring is to take it off often. Aren’t you worried? I’m worried for you!!!
I as well take mine off. I generally take off my jewlery once I get home from work because I have a tendancy to hit it against something. I also don’t want it getting dirty/sticky or have a prong come loose etc. during a simple activity.
Yeah, I also take my jewelry off when I get home- I always put it in the same spot. I just can’t cook or sleep OR workout for that matter, with jewelry on.
Totally agree with the ring holder advice. Before I got engaged, I had a terrible habit of taking off my rings and leaving them all over the place. There were a significant number of freakouts as to where my rings were. Then, my girlfriends bought me a ring holder as a little gift right after we got engaged, and it has been a lifesaver. It’s like autopilot – I always put it there and I don’t have to worry about it!
I take mine off to sleep (I sleep with my hands under my cheek, and the ring hurts!), as well as to do dishes or any messy cooking that requires my hands (like cookies or bread!).. I also make sure I take it off when I shower, when I do dishes, and before I swim (especially in the ocean! My best friend got married at a beach, and the day after their wedding, her hubby lost his ring in the ocean.. yikes!). I teach children with autism, and early on I was worried about possibly hurting them with it.. but no one else at my job takes theirs off (except with sensory activities like play doh, shaving cream, lotion, oobleck, etc) so neither do I now.
I take my ring often to. In fact, yesterday I forgot to put it on and off all days to not slip in on when just making a quick trip to target, I run into an old friend who of course wants to see the bling! Oh well. I usually put it on after my morning shower and I am ready for the day, its like the last part of my getting ready routine and wear it throughout the entire day unless I am doing something that involves water like you said. I take it off at night before bed because I can’t stand sleeping in jewelry and the last time I accidentally fell asleep in it I woke up with huge marks on my face from the ring (I to sleep with my hands under my face). I have also lost about 15 pounds since my FI had my ring sized 2 years ago and its to big. I need to take it in and get one of those clasps to make it smaller. I don’t want to resize it because I am actually smaller than I want to be but stress etc. has made me loose weight! But for now, it makes me afraid to wear it sometimes.
I looove your ring holder! So cute! I have a simple Lenox glass ring holder that was a gift from our engagement party, but now I’m having some envy haha. I take my rings off for showering, working out, and swimming, but that’s about it. I’ve found the toothbrush cleaning method works wonders!
i take my ring off all the time (I’m not wearing it right now) I never wear it at home because I’m usually do something (cleaning, showering) and I never wear it to the gym. I always keep it in a ring dish and that’s the ONLY time I take it off so i’m not worried at all about losing it. I’d be more worried losing it or damaging it keeping it on all the time
Someone I know who takes jewelry to different events said that they use liquid tide to wash their jewelry and that the fancy cleaner is pointless. who knew!
I bout a cool tree ring holder in my bathroom…but there’s 3 other rooms in which I take my ring off so I should get a few more. Thanks for the suggestion!
You JUST reminded me I need to clean my ring! HAHA I’m such a slacker! But Mr. B also bought me a cute ring holder so mine would never get misplaced at home!
@Miss Leopard: I’m not worried! Since I always keep it in the same place when I take it off, I never worry about where it is. I just worry too much about damaging it (I am very clumsy and am always bumping my hands into things). Plus I also cook alot and the last thing I want is for flecks of raw chicken or beef to end up in the little nooks of the ring lol.
My MOH got me a beautiful Belleek ring holder with shamrocks for an engagement present. It happily sits on my kitchen counter for when I am doing dishes. I used to keep the ring box on my bedroom dresser for showering and to take it off to sleep, then a lovely friend bought be a Waterford ring holder for my bridal shower. Now my ring is always in one of those two places. It was even there after an evening when I may have imbibed a bit much and didn’t recall taking my ring off. See that habit paid off, no fear when I woke up that morning.
I always take mine off too, and I have one of those little black velvet stands like you see in a jeweler’s display case that I got on eBay for like, $3. Since I work with a lot of things like paint creating items for my shop on a daily basis I feel better knowing I am not going to get anything like E6000 glue on my rings so they spend a lot of time on that little stand. I keep it on my desk and that way I know my rings are safe. I put them there before showering on going to bed as well. I put them on before I leave the house for anything (even my daily post office run!) and I clean them with jewelry cleaner about twice a week and they sparkle like crazy.
sometimes i’ll put windex + water and heat it in the microwave for like 10 seconds ( no more, it’ll burn) then put my ring in that. super shiny!
This is *NOT* a sales pitch, just something I genuinely find cool. I recently found a website with ring holding necklaces. They have different shapes and you can slip your ring onto the pendant without having to remove it from the chain. I want one so bad for working out, manicures, cleaning, etc. It’s emilyc.com
I love, love, LOVE that ring holder…but I’m too scared to take my ring off. I know I’ll loose it.
I am planning on making this to hold my ring.
http://saucypants.com/blog/2011/08/15/fab-display-for-an-engagement-ring-or-other-trinket/
I am terrible and almost never take off my ring. I have been trying to remember to take it off to shower, and I really shouldn’t wear it at work.
Your ring holder is adorable! I take my rings off while sleeping and working out, you can damage the prongs on sheets or blankets, plus they just get uncomfortable to wear all the time.
I work at a jewelry store and I inspect women’s rings daily. Girls, please take off your rings! The world won’t end and I swear you won’t loose it. I agree that having a place to put it, like in it’s box (or on a cute elephant) is a good idea. I put mine in it’s box every night when I sleep, when I do dishes, when I shower, and when I work out or do anything messy with my hands. You would be surprised how dirty rings can get and the wear the prongs can go through. It is easy diamonds can become loose and fall out if the prongs are not taken care of. Some stores will inspect and clean your ring for free, take advantage of that the next time you are at the mall.
Miss Mongoose, New Haven, CT Age and Occupation: 28, Digital Advertising Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Business Development Engagement Date: November 19th, 2011 Wedding Date: May 2013 Venue: Hotel Nelligan in Montreal, CA About Me: I was born and raised in Queens, NY (though you would never know due to my lack of a "real" New York accent) but currently live in Connecticut with my fiance. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a crazy obsession for planning and organizing things, so it comes as no surprise that I'm currently obsessed with planning our wedding. I love dancing, music, traveling, reading fiction novels, cooking, the color blue, cupcakes, all things space science-related and TV shows created by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams. My fiance and I have been together for seven years and are so excited to finally get married next year. We are planning a peacock-themed destination wedding in Montreal, one of our favorite cities in the world, with 100 or so of our closest family and friends. While we may look very different on the outside, we have eerily similar personalities (probably due to the fact that we share the exact same birthday) and share very similar passions. But above all else, we love each other and love to have FUN!!!
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