How to Clean a Diamond Engagement Ring at Home

With warm water, a few drops of mild dish soap and a soft toothbrush. It takes about half an hour, most of it soaking, and it works for diamond, lab-grown diamond and moissanite in gold or platinum.

1. Soak the ring for about 20 minutes in a small bowl of warm, not hot, water with a few drops of mild dish soap.
2. Brush gently with a soft toothbrush kept for jewellery, mostly under the stone and around the claws, where lotion and skin oil collect. Don’t pull at the claws or force the bristles into tight gaps.
3. Rinse the ring in a second bowl of clean warm water, not over the sink.
4. Pat it dry with a soft, lint-free cloth.
5. While it is clean, look at the claws. If a stone moves, or a claw is bent or catching on clothes, stop wearing the ring and have it checked.

Lotion, soap and skin oil on the underside of the stone, not the diamond itself. A diamond, lab-grown or natural, does not go cloudy with age, so a ring that looks dull usually needs a clean. If it still looks hazy after a gentle wash, have it looked at rather than scrubbing harder.

Our guide to whether lab-grown diamonds get cloudy explains why, and how to clean a cloudy engagement ring covers stubborn film.

Not at home. GIA advises against ultrasonic and steam cleaners for home use because they can loosen stones in their settings, which is why a jeweller checks the setting first. The vibration can also chip pavé stones where their edges touch, and treated or coloured stones need more care again.

Toothpaste, baking soda, chlorine bleach and harsh household cleaners. Toothpaste and baking soda are abrasive and scratch the gold or platinum around the stone. Chlorine, including pool water, and strong cleaners can damage gold alloys and some stone treatments, so take the ring off before swimming or cleaning the house.

Boiling water and sudden changes of temperature are a risk too. Warm water is enough.

About once a week if you wear it every day, with a wipe from a soft cloth in between, and a check of the claws once a year. Bring the check forward after a hard knock, if the ring starts catching on clothes, or if a stone moves.

The same soap-and-water soak works for gold and platinum. Afterwards, buff the band with a soft jewellery polishing cloth, and keep toothpaste and baking soda away from it.

Most white gold is rhodium plated, so clean it gently to make the plating last. When the warmer gold underneath starts to show, it needs replating rather than more cleaning; does white gold turn yellow? explains when. Platinum wears to a soft grey patina, which a jeweller can polish back to a shine if you prefer it.

An ultrasonic bath, a steam cleaner and a polishing wheel, used after checking the claws and making sure no stone moves. Polishing takes off a fine layer of metal, so it is worth doing only when the ring needs it. How do jewellers get rings so shiny? goes through each step.

We have no showroom, so if something looks wrong, send us a photo. We will tell you whether a home clean is enough or whether the ring should be posted to us for a check.

No. A lab-grown diamond is the same material as a natural one, as GIA explains, and moissanite takes the same soap, warm water and soft brush. Every diamond on our ring builder is lab-grown and IGI-graded, and every ring we make is solid 14k or 18k gold or platinum, so this method suits all of them, halos and pavé bands included.