How do i dry my diamonds?
April 26th, 2004
lab90210 asked:
plan to empty the family vault this weekend and clean the jewels therein. amongst the hoard are several decent sized diamonds and Emeralds i plan to wash these with soap and then pop them into the Microwave to dry. Is there a better way?
posting this twice as the Scientists had no idea
why not the Microwave??
plan to empty the family vault this weekend and clean the jewels therein. amongst the hoard are several decent sized diamonds and Emeralds i plan to wash these with soap and then pop them into the Microwave to dry. Is there a better way?
posting this twice as the Scientists had no idea
why not the Microwave??
Entry Filed under: Diamonds
5 Comments
1. tania_d_ann | April 29th, 2004 at 7:15 pm
wash them with joy soap and a very very soft used tooth brush (because emeralds are soft) to scrub any debris away then dry with an old soft t-shirt or cloth diaper.
2. wolfatrest2000 | April 30th, 2004 at 7:26 pm
Rinse them with distilled water and just let them air dry. Or use an old t-shirt to dry them. That should be lint free and leave a nice shiny finish.
3. rowlfe | May 3rd, 2004 at 8:30 am
Washing with plain soap and water is fine. Metals and gemstones are not affected for the most part, except for opals and some other porous stones which absorb water. Diamonds do not absorb water, but I am not sure of emeralds. Using a microwave would be a very BAD thing to do. Microwaves do not respond well to metals inside. Metals can cause arcing and sparking and these can damage the gemstones and scar the metals. And if the stones do absorb water, they can fracture as the water flashes to steam inside the stones. No, better to use the soap and water, then rinse well in distilled water so as to not leave any mineral residue from the soap and tap water and then simply let them air dry in a well ventilated space where the air circulates. You could also rinse them in pure isopropyl alcohol, the 99% kind you get as rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol comes in 2 strengths, 70% and 99+%. You want the 99+%, and be sure to get unscented. Scented can leave behind the residue from the scenting agents used. The alcohol will attach to the water in the crevices and make it easier to evaporate the water/alcohol to dry things. Use a gentle soap, something like Ivory or Woolite since these do not contain any cleaning agents which might tarnish the metals. This will not remove any tarnish present, just remove any dirt and oils from skin, that sort of thing. Tarnish is actually a metal oxide which forms on the metals when exposed to air. You see this in silver tableware which relatively quickly turns black from the silver oxide which forms on the surface when exposed to oxygen in the air.
4. taximomuv3 | May 5th, 2004 at 10:52 pm
I dry mine with a hair dryer on medium/low heat after wiping off most of the excess water. The microwave may possibly hurt your gems (if this is even a real question) and unless you don’t care, don’t do it. If you value them, then dry them properly.
5. Adelina | May 6th, 2004 at 9:41 am
don’t use the microwavethey will turn int carbon gas and just evaporate