What to do With Jewelry When Cleaning Dishes

While washing the dishes may seem a fairly harmless chore, doing so can cause serious damage to your rings. Even if you use mild dishwashing detergent, the action of scrubbing and having the ring pressed against metals and ceramics and the like can cause damage to both the band and the stone.

Pots and pans especially can risk damage, while the sharp edges on cutlery could cause dents and dings in softer metals such as gold and platinum. While wearing rubber gloves can help, doing so doesn’t completely guard against potential damage and wear.

Needless to say, rubber gloves should always be worn when using harsh chemicals and cleaners. As well as protecting your hands, this will prevent, for example, harsh chemicals from damaging your engagement ring. But what should you do with your rings and bracelets when you’re cleaning dishes? After all, the last thing you want is to lose your precious items of jewelry. We’ve got all the answers you need below.

Be Consistent

Whatever system you choose to use, regarding taking off your jewelry before cleaning the dishes and where you’ll place the items, consistency is key. This reduces the risk of forgetting where you’ve put your treasured jewelry or having it get lost. Once your new system is in place, be rigorous about following it every single time.

Have a Specific Dish Near the Sink

While it’s tempting to simply take off your rings and bracelets and place them on a nearby countertop before starting work, this could be a really bad idea. Should you forget to put your jewelry back on straight away, it could easily get, for example, accidentally knocked to the floor or moved with other kitchen items, or even inadvertently be caught up with peelings, junk mail, and the like and disposed of.Nightmare.

Place a small bowl or dish near the sink, specifically for your jewelry. Never use it for anything else, and get into the habit of removing your rings and bracelets every single time you’re about to clean the dishes. Ask other family members to kindly not use this receptacle for anything else to avoid the danger of your things getting caught up with other household items.

Install a Hook

Alternatively, you may wish to install a small hook near the sink, again, specifically to hang your jewelry from before setting out to clean the dishes. Whichever option you choose, the important thing is to always put your items here to avoid them being lost or caught up with other things. If either your dish or the hook is located near enough to the sink so there’s any chance it could drop in, then it’s also important to always make sure the plug is in the sink before placing the items there - just in case.

Other Activities You Should Remove Your Rings For

It’s not just cleaning the dishes that can cause damage to your rings. They should also be removed before undertaking any cleaning task in general, as well as for playing sports or working out, gardening, bathing, showering, and swimming.In terms of the latter, chlorine can risk tarnishing precious metal, while hot temperatures may result in cracks and other damage to jewelry.

You should also remove your rings when cooking. Otherwise, there’s a chance that bacteria present on the surface of your jewelry could transfer to the food you’re preparing - not something you want to happen. Further, high temperatures, physical impact, and abrasive substances and materials - all of which can be encountered during cooking -could cause serious damage to your bling.

Many people choose to remove their jewelry at bedtime to help ensure a good night’s sleep; it’s easy for jewelry to get entangled in hair, pajamas, or bed clothes, disrupting our slumber. Plus, getting snagged on material risks, for example, pulling the metal bands of a stone’s setting out of shape.

The Takeaway: Simple Steps to Keep Your Jewelry Safe

An item of jewelry may be one of our most treasured possessions, such as an engagement or wedding ring or a bracelet that’s been handed down through the family for generations. Cleaning the dishes is often such a regular, everyday chore that we undertake it without thinking - and certainly without giving any consideration to taking off our jewelry before getting started.

Doing so, however, is vital to protect our precious items of jewelry and prevent unnecessary damage from occurring. Having a system in place regarding this means that not only will you get into the habit of doing so, but you will negate the risk of putting your rings, etc., down on a tabletop or counter and then forgetting to put them back on again. Whatever system you choose to use, be consistent with keeping your jewelry safely out of harm’s way.

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