My secret? My ring had gross stuff in it!! But, I did NOT know it. I'm so ashamed.
Not really. It wasn't my fault.
But I am sharing the dirty news because I was amazed at how much CRUD was hiding out in my wedding ring! Little gunks and goobies just nestling away in nooks and crannies. Ewww.
The problems is that my ring has LOTS of holes and openings on the back side. See?
The thing is, I get it cleaned professionally at least 2 times a month, and I clean it at home every 2-3 days. Plus I wear it in the shower and when I wash my hands. I always take it off when I'm putting on lotion or rubbing stuff into my hair. I THOUGHT it was pretty clean.
I thought wrong.
The picture below is NOT pretty. I am telling you right now so you are not totally in shock when you see it.
Please keep reading AFTER the picture so you can understand the reason for this post and learn what I learned in trying this technique!
Are you grossed out?
It's okay. I was too when I saw the results.
The cup on the left is after I had soaked, and shaken, my ring in straight hydrogen peroxide for 20 minutes. The cup on the right is plain HP.
What a difference, huh?
I did this 3 (THREE!) more times until I was able to get a completely clean ring with no floaties on the top of the HP. The next 2 times were almost as bad! The last time was mostly clean. The 5th time was totally clean.
Now, keep in mind that the lighting creates a shadow that is not normally there, so the water looks dirtier in color than it really was. But, it was dirty, and those floaties were all there.
I know. Freaking amazing, right? And gross.
Anyway, the reason that I tried this little experiment is because of a conversation I heard at the lab the week before when I had to get some bloodwork done. One of the techs had grabbed a test tube vial and poured some Hydrogen Peroxide in it, dropped her ring in it, and started shaking the vial. The other tech asked her what in the world she was doing, and her response had me intrigued!
"I'm cleaning my ring! It's the best way to do it. The bubbles in the peroxide go in and grab out all the proteins. They will float to the top and my ring gets cleaned!"
AMAZING CONCEPT!!
So a couple of days later I poured some peroxide into an empty pill bottle and plopped my ring in. Gave it a shake, and walked away for 20 minutes.
When I came back, I could not believe what was floating in there! I poured it into the little dixie cups so that I could see it more clearly and show my husband.
And take a picture for my blog, of course. Gross as it was, it had to be shared. :D
Now...words of warning:
1. Hydrogen peroxide is STRONG stuff. It will even remove blood stains, if you didn't know that already. Pay attention whenever you are using it!!
2. Do NOT do this on FAKE metal or costume jewelry. I'm certain it might kill it. Or something like that. I'd hate for you to ruin some pretty little thing you really like.
3. DO NOT do this on pearls...I am afraid that something bad will happen to them because you're not even supposed to use store-bought cleaner on them. So just don't do this with them. Please.
4. If you don't want to use the peroxide straight, then add some white vinegar to it. That will make it less potent.
4. Rinse your jewelry WELL in hot water afterwards.
5. I am not a jewelry professional. You may not sue me if you do this and ruin your jewelry. 'Nuff said.
Next time I go to the lab, I am going to THANK that tech. She has changed my life.
Since the initial "cleansing" of my ring, I have done it every 4-6 days. The peroxide has never looked anything close to what it looked like the first time I did this. Now that I have my little secret, I am making sure to keep on top of it! I love how clean and shiny my ring looks all the time now!
Ahhhhh. Doesn't life improvement feel good??
