DIY Jewelry Cleaner

Please allow me a few minutes to dust the cobwebs off this here blog.

Ok, all set.

Sorry it's been so quiet over here lately.  I've just been enjoying life, binge-watching Real Housewives of Orange County, and spending a week at the beach with my family and some of our friends.  I hope you'll forgive me!

During that lovely week at the beach, my finger started to get a bit irritated under my engagement and wedding rings.  

It was way worse yesterday.  Hydrocortisone cream worked wonders.

Both of my rings have a channel underneath where the small stones are set, and they tend to get a bit gooky (pronounced like "looky").  I always take my rings off to shower, apply lotion/suncreen, etc. to avoid gook buildup, but then I leave them on when I bathe Max and apply his lotion, so it kind of defeats the purpose.  I took them off to apply the sunscreen all last week, but many days I'd put them back on right afterward, therefore trapping the gook underneath.  Silly me!

I normally use store-bought jewelry cleaner, but I always felt like it left my rings feeling weirdly sticky afterward, even after a thorough rinsing.  So today, I looked up how to make my own jewelry cleaner at home.  Let me tell you, it works WONDERS!  I wish I had before pictures to show you to drive home how well this works.  I wasn't even planning on sharing this with you all until I saw how sparkling my rings were afterward.

At-Home Jewelry Cleaner

What You'll Need:

• small bowl
• aluminum foil
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dish detergent
• 1 cup hot water
• paper towel
• old toothbrush

What You'll Do

1. Place a square of aluminum foil in the bottom of the bowl.
2. Top foil with baking soda, salt, and dish detergent.  Add the hot water.  The mixture will fizz.
3. Add jewelry and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
4. Remove jewelry and gently scrub with the toothbrush.  Rinse, then pat dry.
5. Admire your sparkling gems.

That channel was FILLED with nasty gook.  And now it sparkles just like the rest of the ring!

This is so gentle that it is safe to do repeatedly and should be safe on a variety of metals and gems.

I'm so glad I did this today.  It happens to be our 2 year wedding anniversary, so I had to have my bling sparkling for our celebratory dinner tonight!