It is March 15th, 2020 as I write this.  Everyone is worrying about the coronavirus and where it is safe to go.  Nobody knows the answer as we are all waiting to find out what to do.  As a jeweler I can say that in addition to keeping your hands washed, you should also keep your jewelry clean.  Your jewelry should never be in contact to bleach or 409 or anything that contains bleach.

If you put a gold ring in a solution of bleach and leave it overnight, it will disolve into gold particles. This is because the bleach breaks the alloy down and leaves only the gold.

To keep your jewelry clean and free of germs you can use this simple home formula:

25% ammonia

75% water

Splash of dish washing liquid and stir.  You can leave your all diamond jewelry in this solution overnight.  If you have sapphires, tourmalines, aquamarines, you can leave your jewelry in this solution for 10 to 15 minutes.  After soaking, use a soft toothbrush on the back of the gemstones and try not to brush the metal.  Then rinse with water.

Warning:

Do not soak your pearls, turquoise, blue lapis, emeralds, rubies, opals, or soft stones in the solution.  Also, do not clean any costume or gold plated or silver plated items.  To clean this type of jewelry, please use a dry, soft cloth.

Hopefully, this home jewelry cleaning solution will come in handy!