cleaning with hydrogen peroxide

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Post#1 @ 08-23-02 , 12:49 PM

Hi all,
I did a search on cleaning rings with hydrogen peroxide and couldn't find anything. The girls who I work with are always cleaning their rings with H2O2.(we work in a pharmacy and it's easily accessable).
I was just wondering if it's harmful to gold or diamonds? I know that bleach is..... It seems to do an amazing job, and the natural bubbles seem to pull chunks of gook out of the rings. They come out super sparkly, and leave gross floaties in the peroxide. Does anybody know if this is safe though?

Thanks

ccuheartnurse My Profile Joined: 05-27-02 Posts: 291 Years: My Karma Power: 52 Points: 10 Referrals: 1	Good Question. Post#2 @ 08-23-02 , 01:07 PM I'd like to know the answer myself. I'm a nurse, & the nurses at work do the same thing. haha Must be that its there, its free so why not use it?! I've never used Hydrogen perox. on any jewelery personally. Judy

sweet7696 My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 09-10-01 Posts: 1,207 Years: My Karma Power: 65 Points: 10 Hits: Out=0, In=1	Post#3 @ 08-23-02 , 01:20 PM I'd like to know how this works on sims and sapphires. Jess

KaylaElizabeth My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 08-23-02 Posts: 60 Years: My Karma Power: 49 Points: 10	Post#4 @ 08-23-02 , 02:12 PM I've never cleaned any of my jewels w/ Perioxide, what I do is boil hot water w/ Dish Washing Liquid (palmolive,etc..) and then put the jewels in there for 2 -3 min. then put it under a cold running fossit and scrub it w/ a old tooth brush.. I guess thats just an old remedy

sandalwood My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 01-06-02 Posts: 125 Years: My Karma Power: 52 Points: 10	Post#5 @ 08-23-02 , 02:18 PM Couldn't the heat/boiling be dangerous?

210diamond My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 03-29-02 Posts: 449 Years: My Karma Power: 0 Points: 6 Hits: Out=662, In=0	Post#6 @ 08-23-02 , 02:20 PM I never heard of hydrogen perox damaging gold or platinum. Use with diamonds would be safe.Soft stones like Emerald, Opal, pearl etc should not be cleaned except with weak soap and water. They can be damaged.

KaylaElizabeth My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 08-23-02 Posts: 60 Years: My Karma Power: 49 Points: 10	Post#7 @ 08-23-02 , 02:22 PM i dont know if it would be damaging, but so far so good...

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Post#8 @ 08-23-02 , 02:31 PM

Hydrogen peroxide is used in the jewelry industry to give a very shiny finish to the gold as a final finish known as "bombing" that is hydrogen peroxide and cyanide.

To use hydrogen peroxide to clean your jewelry is absolutly safe as long as you don´t clean organic matter as pearls or coral because they are damaged by the catalytic reaction, also stones like lapislazuli, turquise and many stones that are died with color can loose their color because the hydrogen peroxide is a very strong oxidant and bleaching agent.

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sweet7696 My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 09-10-01 Posts: 1,207 Years: My Karma Power: 65 Points: 10 Hits: Out=0, In=1	Juan Post#9 @ 08-23-02 , 02:38 PM So, is hydrogen peroxide okay to use on the sapphires and VG's in my rings??? Jess

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Re: Juan

Post#10 @ 08-23-02 , 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sweet7696
So, is hydrogen peroxide okay to use on the sapphires and VG's in my rings???
Jess

Sure Jess, but is more practical to use liquid soap.
Hydrogen peroxide in concentrations at 3% that is the one found in drogery stores or hospitals is not strong enough to clean a ring better than soap.
For your rings you can use hair shampoo and brush the stones with a soft tooth brush and rinse and from time to time you can clean your rings with ultrasonic but not every day and for more than ten seconds.

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sweet7696 My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 09-10-01 Posts: 1,207 Years: My Karma Power: 65 Points: 10 Hits: Out=0, In=1	Thanks Juan! Post#11 @ 08-23-02 , 02:56 PM I've never tried soap. I've always just used amonia and water. Thanks for the tip!!! Jess

PyroPrincess My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 03-31-02 Posts: 155 Years: My Karma Power: 51 Points: 10	Juan, Post#12 @ 08-23-02 , 03:06 PM Did you tell Jess not to use the ultrasonic for more than 10 seconds because of the pave in her rings or because her stone is a VG and might be damaged in some way?
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sweet7696 My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 09-10-01 Posts: 1,207 Years: My Karma Power: 65 Points: 10 Hits: Out=0, In=1	Post#13 @ 08-23-02 , 03:09 PM I'm pretty sure it's because of the pave. He has told me that before, when I asked him about cleaning the pave. I'm pretty sure that VG's will stand up to ultrasonic just fine! Jess

PyroPrincess My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 03-31-02 Posts: 155 Years: My Karma Power: 51 Points: 10	Post#14 @ 08-23-02 , 03:18 PM Thanx!
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Itbit My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 07-23-01 Posts: 2,879 Years: Last seen wearing: Aquamarine (Beryl) My Karma Power: 147 Points: 6652	Post#15 @ 08-23-02 , 08:11 PM Cleaning my diamond jewelry regularly with a child's toothbrush and liquid soap works well at keeping the items looking nice and sparkly.

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Post#16 @ 08-23-02 , 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KaylaElizabeth
(snip)...boil hot water...then under cold...(snip)

Gems can be sensitive to drastic temperature changes...warm water for the rinse would be safer. I've used this heat on the stove trick too...sorta a last ditch effort when I'm cleaning a friend's jewelry and it's too gunked up.

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diamondangel My Profile Joined: 11-06-00 Posts: 1,953 Years: My Karma Power: 0 Points: 10	Post#17 @ 08-23-02 , 10:11 PM Drastic temperature changes such as going from boiling water to icy cold can actually cause stones to crack or worse...just think of what happens to glasses when you take them straight from the dishwasher and pour ice water into them. Don't risk your precious gems this way!

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Re: Juan,

Post#18 @ 08-23-02 , 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pyro Princess
Did you tell Jess not to use the ultrasonic for more than 10 seconds because of the pave in her rings or because her stone is a VG and might be damaged in some way?

Hi P Princess,

The stones are not damaged by the ultrasonic, but is a fact that the ultrasonic loose the stones if abused.
When the pieces are really dirty after polishing with rouge when you put them in the ultrasonic you can see like an explosion in the water in the first one or two seconds, is better not to give a ultrasonic clean for more than ten seconds, if the dirt is not loose in ten seconds is because you need to soak the piece in the hot sulution before turning on the untrasonic.
Even in the pieces that are set with prongs, the ratle between the stone and the prongs can cause erosion in the metal and make the stone loose.

Never brush a piece just with water or dry because it will be scratched but if you add soap or shampoo it will be polished instead while you brush it.

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tonysgeko My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 05-11-01 Posts: 472 Years: My Karma Power: 70 Points: 1247	Post#19 @ 08-23-02 , 11:38 PM Juan, I use baking soda and add just enough water to make a paste and with an old toothbrush clean under the stones and prongs then rinse with water. Am I making the stones loose by using this cleaning method? Let me know if this is the

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Post#20 @ 08-24-02 , 02:29 AM

Eek, this is what turned up when I did a search on cleaning platinum with hydrogen peroxide. Don't know what to make of it! Could someone explain?

"Contact with metals including iron, copper, chromium, lead, silver, manganese, sodium, potassium, magnesium, nickel, gold, platinum ; metal alloys such as, brass or bronze; metal oxides such as lead oxides, mercury oxides, or manganese dioxide; and many metal salts, like potassium permanganate or sodium iodate could result in violent explosions . Tremendous explosions can also be caused by unstable mixtures with concentrated mineral acids."

From website http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/health...ecognition.html

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It's all about concentration

Post#21 @ 08-24-02 , 03:11 AM

Hi Sandalwood,

Check out www.h2o2.com for all the info you need on hydrogen peroxide.

To answer your question, and put your mind at ease, it would appear that the link you were reading was referring to a highly concentrated industrial grade h202. Normal baking soda and home use peroxide would be concentrated at a little under 3% solution. The dangerous stuff is concentrated at about 90% (i.e. rocket propellant). Check out this page to calm your fears:

http://www.h2o2.com/intro/hazard.html

Hope this helps.

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Post#22 @ 08-24-02 , 03:22 PM

The bubbles you see when you clean your jewelry with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) are in fact, oxygen.

Cleaning your jewelry in this matter is unnecessarily and repeatedly exposing it to an oxidant.

You would be much better off using one of the easily available inert cleaning solutions, or rolling your own with a mixture of sudsy ammonia, water and a smidgeon of dishwashing detergent.

Never use a solution containing chlorine, or combine chlorine bleach with ammonia; you'll create a highly poisonous gas.

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Post#23 @ 08-24-02 , 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by oldsalt
Never use a solution containing chlorine, or combine chlorine bleach with ammonia; you'll create a highly poisonous gas.

Several years ago when we bought a condo, I had a professional (?) cleaning service come in. In cleaning the guy put an ammonia based cleaner in the toilet and apparently forgot and later put bleach in on top of that, sucked up the fumes and passed out. He was found shortly, thank god, by an employee of his. He almost died. Several days in the hospital and a chance of permanently damaged lungs.

So, to expand on what oldsalt said, be careful, really careful. It seems like a remote chance, but it actually happened to someone who just wasn't thinking. He admitted knowing not to combine the two and he was in a hurry to get done and forgot. It could happen to anybody.

Last edited by Gin : 08-24-02 at 04:21 PM.

Adamas2 My Profile Registered User : offline Joined: 08-10-01 Posts: 361 Years: My Karma Power: 56 Points: 10	Steam Cleaning Post#24 @ 08-24-02 , 04:39 PM Many on DT recommend steam cleaning. Has anyone used the Eureka Hotshot Steamer shown here?

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Post#25 @ 08-24-02 , 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tonysgeko
Juan, I use baking soda and add just enough water to make a paste and with an old toothbrush clean under the stones and prongs then rinse with water. Am I making the stones loose by using this cleaning method? Let me know if this is the

Tony,
baking soda is a light abrasive, it will not scratch your cz's much less a diamond but it can scratch the gold or platinum if it is new or highly polished.
Liquid soaps and specially hair shampoo contain brighteners that will help to polish instead of scratching your metal.
If you want to clean cz's or diamonds try a special liquid detergent that is used in the dish wahsers machines to clean fine glasware because this detergent don't leave water spots when dry.

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