« Tips for Polishing »
You have taken particularly good care of your wedding ring, but now it has happened: The first scratches are visible. Unfortunately, these signs of wear cannot be completely avoided and usually appear after just a few weeks. To make your wedding ring shine like new again, you can polish it at regular intervals. We show you how to do this with rings made of silver, gold and platinum, what special features each ring material has, and when it is better to leave the task of polishing a scratched wedding ring to a professional.
Everyday Life Leaves Its Mark
As unfortunate as it is, your wedding ring no longer shines as beautifully as it did at the ring exchange at the registry office or before the altar after a short time, and it may be scratched. Since you wear it every day, it inevitably gets signs of wear, for example when lifting heavy objects or when coming into contact with door handles or handrails on buses and trains. Add to this possible contact with harsh cleaning products – the result is that your wedding ring becomes scratched, loses its original shine, and simply looks worn after a longer period of time. By the way, it makes no difference whether the surface of the wedding ring is polished or matte – scratches can occur on any material and on any surface finish.
What Can You Do Yourself?
It is understandable that you do not want to take your wedding ring to a professional for refurbishment several times a year. In most cases, small damage that is only superficial can be removed at home, as can light soiling or tarnished spots, which occur regularly on silver rings. The simplest way to make scratched wedding rings shine again on your own initiative is to use a soft microfiber cloth in combination with a little lukewarm soapy water. Especially if it is just about removing dirt that is easy to remove, you can achieve a lot with this method. A very soft toothbrush can also be helpful here – but only on surfaces that are not polished, as this would result in even more unsightly scratches on the ring. We recommend using special polishing cloths and corresponding pastes, which are available from specialist retailers, if your ring is scratched.
Wedding Rings Made of Silver
Silver jewelry is not only significantly cheaper than jewelry made of gold or platinum, but also much more sensitive when it comes to scratches on the ring and especially discoloration. You probably know the old silver cutlery that used to be brought out of the cupboard only for special occasions and had to be thoroughly polished first. If your wedding ring is scratched and you want to restore the tarnished surface to a new shine, a bath in salt water before treatment with the polishing cloth is helpful.
For this, ordinary table salt is dissolved in water in a ratio of 1:5 in an aluminum bowl or alternatively a container lined with aluminum foil, and the jewelry is placed in it. Once no more discoloration is visible, the jewelry is rinsed with clear water. If the ring is slightly scratched on the surface, these damage can then be polished away. If you want to prevent discoloration from the ground up, you can have silver wedding rings rhodium-plated by a jeweler – this is also a good solution to protect white gold.
Wedding Rings Made of Gold
With rings made of gold, scratches can often be removed in the same way as with silver models by cleaning in a lukewarm soap bath. Here too, the rule is: if the surface is not polished, a soft toothbrush can be used. Any soap residue must be rinsed very thoroughly with clear water, then you can treat the finest scratches on the ring with a polishing cloth. Please be careful if your wedding ring is scratched and at the same time set with diamonds or other precious stones, as is often the case especially with ladies' rings. These stones should not be treated with the polishing cloth.
Under no circumstances should aggressive cleaning agents or even scouring pads be used, as they would only scratch the ring further, regardless of what material it is made of. It should also be noted that when polishing gold jewelry, a certain loss of material must always be factored in to make the damage optically disappear. For this reason, you should not perform a cleaning treatment or polishing more than twice a year at most.
Wedding Rings Made of Platinum
Do you think that jewelry made from the precious precious metal is completely insensitive to scratches in contrast to jewelry made from softer gold? We're afraid we have to disappoint you, because platinum rings also show signs of wear from day one. The great advantage of a platinum ring with scratches, however, is that it can be refurbished with virtually no loss of material. Since there is hardly any abrasion when polishing, the surface can simply be restored to its original state as often as you like. If your wedding ring is scratched, in mild cases a bath in lukewarm soapy water and subsequent polishing of the ring with a soft microfiber cloth also helps with platinum.
Wedding Rings Made of Steel and Titanium
Both very hard materials are unfortunately also not protected from scratches, but the damage does not penetrate as deeply into the material as with rings made of gold or platinum. However, this small advantage also brings a disadvantage with it: steel and titanium rings can hardly be refurbished – renewed matting, polishing or removal of scratches and other repair work are not possible.
When to See a Professional
If the damage to the wedding ring is not just superficial and cannot be removed by cleaning or polishing at home, it is absolutely recommended to have the valuable jewelry cleaned and refurbished by a jeweler. The professional always has very high-quality care products available and is also able to use special cleaning techniques such as ultrasound or high pressure. For stubborn damage and deep scratches in the material, grinding equipment is used.
Even if your wedding ring is scratched and it is a model in which one or more diamonds or colored precious stones are incorporated into the ring shank or placed on top of it, it is advisable, regardless of what ring material it is, to take it to a professional. The jewelry is professionally cleaned and polished there, so it looks like new afterwards. In addition, the jeweler can renew any existing rhodium plating when you have your wedding ring polished, as this protective layer also wears away over time as the ring becomes scratched.
Starting Over
No matter whether you do it yourself when your wedding ring is scratched or prefer to leave your platinum ring with scratches to a professional – after refurbishment comes before refurbishment, because wear and tear cannot be completely avoided, but at best can be delayed a little. Removing the wedding ring, for example during gardening or similar demanding activities, as well as when handling aggressive cleaning agents, is a step in the right direction. Chlorine and perfume can also attack the delicate material and contact should be avoided to prevent unnecessary wear and tear on the jewelry.
