Hello there. I am Jill Maurer. Make sure
to hit that subscribe button right now so we can see each other again. Today I'm
talking about wedding rings and engagement rings. So maybe you just got
your engagement ring, and you're not sure how to take care of it. Or maybe you've
had your wedding rings for a while, and they're looking like they're in need of
a little love. I'm here to help you understand how to take care of your
wedding rings. First I'd like to discuss taking a wedding ring on and off. Now
most wedding rings have diamonds in them or a center diamond, and they're usually
gold or platinum. And this is a pretty durable combination. So that's the good
news. But what I want you to know about a diamond is diamonds really absorb oil. A
lot of people don't realize that. I see people putting their wedding ring on and
off. They just put their finger right on that diamond and take it on and off. Well
you've just put oil all over that diamond, which it sucked up, and what that
does is make it not as sparkly.
So the way that you take your ring on and off,
and I will do a close-up of this, you hold the ring in a way where you're not
touching diamonds if at all possible. If you have a typical single stone ring, you can
do sort of the pitcher's grab. You split your fingers. If you have a three stone
ring where you have more diamonds, just see if you can get your fingers on there
somehow even if you have to do it on the side, if you hold it on the side. Put it
on and take it off like that. If what you have is an eternity band where you have
diamonds all the way around, it's going to be more difficult.
I would actually
advise you to just grab a paper towel or a cloth or something, and put the ring on
that way. It will look better. Like all of your jewelry, your engagement ring and
wedding ring should be the last thing you put on in the first thing you take
off. A lot of people say "oh you know but I like to do everything in my engagement
ring or my diamond ring". That is not in the best interest of your engagement
ring or your wedding ring. You should not take a shower. Soaps get all in there, and
you have a chance of pulling at a prong. You shouldn't swim in in them. Chlorines
can affect jewelry. And also if you're in cold water, your
fingers can actually shrink, and you might lose that whole ring. You also may
lose the stone. And I promise you, if you lose the stone in a swimming pool, you
will never see it again. I went a little southern there didn't I! You don't really
want to do heavy duty cleaning in your wedding rings so just be able …
At home
have a nice place where you can take them off when you're doing these things.
And take it off every night. So the best place to put your your wedding rings is
in a soft space that is away from your other jewelry, because they can get
banged up, the metal part, and the diamond can actually scratch other
pieces of jewelry. The jewelry box that they came in is a good place to store
your wedding rings. And there are all kinds of little jewelry boxes and
containers, and they're made for this.
Just make sure that it's separate. If you
don't have any of this, a dish with a little washcloth or even a paper towel
on it will be fine to separate your jewelry. Get in the
habit, when you put lotion on, of trying not to put it all over your diamond.
Because again the diamond is going to absorb that oil, and it just won't
sparkle like you'll want it to. So just get in the habit, when you put lotion on,
of kind of skipping over that. Let's get to cleaning because the good news is if
you do, if you get soap scum, if you get lotion on your diamond, this is a piece
of jewelry that is fairly easy to clean.
All you want to do is soak it in some
warm sudsy water. You just want a gentle liquid soap. Soak it in there for a
minute. Lay a washcloth down in the bottom of
your sink. Get a baby toothbrush and then take the ring out and just gently rub it
with the the baby toothbrush. You can dump out that water. Put water in and kind of
just dunk it and rinse it until it's nice and rinsed out. And then just dry it
a little bit with a towel or even let it dry. And that that is all you really need
to do.
The idea is to just be gentle with it and to make sure that you don't bend
any of the prongs. If your ring is not a diamond, even if it's just plain metal
you'll be fine doing that. But if it is another kind of stone, make sure that you
understand how to clean that stone because they can be a little bit
different. When you are out and about go ahead and wash your hands, and keep the
ring on. I would not … don't get in the habit of
taking your ring off out shopping or in foreign places. Just go ahead and wash
your hands, and keep your ring on your finger.
About every six months you want
to take your your rings in to a jeweler. Just have them inspected, especially the
prongs, to make sure that nothing has shifted, and that the diamond is in good
good shape. It's it's being held well. There are couple ways of remembering
this, to do it every six months. You could remember it by taking it in on your
anniversary and you're half anniversary. That's one way to remember it. Another is
if you're very good about getting your teeth cleaned every six months, take your
your ring in when you get your teeth cleaned. Those are two good ideas. You can
you can come up with your own plan, but the general idea is to go in there every
six months.
The other thing they can do is give that ring a good cleaning while
you're in there. Another thing is if you notice that you have banged your hand
really hard on something, or you have caught your ring in a sweater, take it
into the jeweler right away because you may have shifted a prong and you're
gonna want to know that before you lose that diamond. There are a couple of other
ways that jeweler can help you with your wedding rings. If you have two rings and
they they spin a lot, and that's annoying you, a jeweler can tack those together so
that they won't spin. And it'll just be one ring and they can do it in a way
that it can be undone if you ever want to undo it.
They can also completely fuse
those rings together if you'd rather it just be one ring and have it be that way. Another thing that a jeweler can do for you is if you're someone whose fingers,
like me, whose fingers are considerably larger in the summer months than they
are in the winter months. If you experience some swelling in the summer
months, the best thing I've found for that is to get the ring the bigger size,
the size that fits you in the summer. And then the jeweler can put on … it's just a
little ring guard, and they can put it on for you for the winter and then take it
off for the summer. It's very inexpensive. It's very easy to do, and that'll make
sure that you don't lose your ring in the winter because your fingers are
smaller. I would also encourage you to consider having a stunt double. And what
I mean by this is a ring that makes you feel like you've got a wedding ring
on wherever your you are but isn't necessarily your primetime wedding ring.
I used a stunt double when I travelled.
So I actually did a cubic zirconia ring
that looked very much like my wedding ring and … but I knew that when I was
traveling if somebody, you know, wanted the ring or was robbing me, they could
have it. It was meaningless to me. The other thing people will do is they'll
wear a ring that's … They're sort of like these silicone rings or something. So if
you're somebody who mountain climbs a lot or does these activities, but you still want
to be wearing their wedding ring, there is a stunt double option for you. The
last and final thing that I would say is to get your ring appraised so that you
know exactly what it is, and it can be identified if it is lost or stolen.
You
can even have it laser engraved which will discourage somebody from stealing
it. Or if they do, it will let a buyer like a pawn shop know where that diamond
actually belongs. And you may also want to consider getting it insured. It can
be a rider to your normal insurance, or you can get insurance just for that ring. Depending on the value of your ring, you may want to consider doing that. Those
are my tips for taking care of your wedding rings and hopefully avoiding any
mishaps. Let me know in the comments below if you have had any mishaps with
your wedding ring. I have heard some doozies. Remember to subscribe so that we
can see each other again. Bye for now!.
