Blackening ring: what to do?
A ring tends to blacken for two reasons. The first that comes to mind is: the piece of jewelry is fake. But despite its quality, a ring can still blacken over time, all the more that some metals are more subject to quicker oxidization because of everyday activities like housework or sports.
There is no way to know exactly why your ring blackens. However, we can give you some tips, so your rings don’t blacken too soon. This way, you’ll be able to make your blackening rings shine again.
What are the metals that blacken?
Depending on their quality, different metals can blacken over time if the jewelry is worn too often. A jewel blackens often because of physical exercise that causes sweating an humidity, or because of housework products which componnents can attack the metal of your ring.
Here are the metals that blacken over time:
Each metal has its tips to prevent it from blackening or tarnishing over time. If you can, of course, give your rings their shine back with specific products, there are also simple methods that you can follow at home for a small budget.
Cleaning a gold ring
A gold ring is very easy to clean using foodstuffs:
- lemon
- coca cola
- Marseille soap
- toothpaste
If you use lemon, just let your ring soak in some lukewarm water with lemon drops. Do the same with Marseille soap mixed with water and let the gold ring soak in the solution for about 20 minutes.
As for coke, you don’t need to mix it with water since it’s acid enough to erase the blackening marks from a gold ring.
Using the toothpaste, rub your gold ring in lukewarm water to make the dirt marks go away.
Cleaning a silver ring
To clean a silver ring, there’s nothing more efficient than sodium bicarbonate., white vinegar or lemon juice. Mix a little water with bicarbonate and rub the jewel with this solution and a soft cloth. You can also get rid of the blackening stains on your ring by leaving it in a bowl of vinegar for about 30 minutes.
Cleaning a steel ring
Just like a silver ring, a steel ring can be cleaned with bicarbonate. All you have to do is mixing it with a little water to make a consistent paste and rub your jewel with a toothbrush. You can also clean a steel ring by rubbing it with a little toothpaste, still using the toothbrush. But don’t do that with a toothpaste with micro-beads that could damage your jewel. We rather advise you to opt for a simple and cheap one.
How to prevent a ring from rusting
To prevent a ring from rusting, you first have to determine which metal it’s made of. Indeed, all metals don’t rust, or at least not the same way.
To stop a steel ring from rusting, just rub it with water mixed with bicarbonate. For a silver ring, let it soak in this solution for a few hours.
