Tungsten rings are incredibly durable and scratch-resistant.
But that doesn’t make them dirt resistant.
If your job demands blood, sweat, and tears, there’s a good chance a lot of that is going to grime up your ring, even if you’re working at a desk.
To help you keep that ring clean, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to cleaning your tungsten ring.
What Not To Do When Cleaning Tungsten Rings
How to Care for Your Tungsten Ring
About Tungsten Rings
As I said before, tungsten rings are incredibly durable. Not only are they virtually scratch-resistant (diamonds are their only weakness) and incredibly hard to bend or break, but they’re also hypoallergenic and won’t irritate your skin.
While tungsten isn’t a precious metal, that doesn’t mean it deserves any less care.
In fact, much like diamond and titanium rings, tungsten rings have specific cleaning requirements you need to remember if you want to take care of it.
For the rest of this article, we’ll be breaking down exactly how to clean your tungsten ring, step-by-step.
If you need help cleaning other jewelry items, check out our Ulitmate Guide to Cleaning Jewelry.
Before we get started here’s a short list of things you’ll need.
Things You Will Need
- Your Tungsten Ring
- Rubbing alcohol
- Access to Warm Water
- A Bowl (For washing in warm water)
- Dish Soap or Vinegar
- A toothbrush and/or cotton swap
- 2 a cloth rags or towels
How to Clean a Tungsten Ring
1. Remove Your Ring
Sure this is pretty obvious, but washing your hands doesn’t equal a clean ring. For a worthwhile cleaning, your ring must come off.
Pro Tip: If taking off your tungsten ring has turned into a more involved process than you expected, check out our article on, How to Get a Ring Off: The Ultimate Guide.
2. Inspect Your Ring
With your ring free of your hand, you can properly inspect for grime and dirt. Take care to identify groves and details that dirt likes to hide in as these will need the most attention.
3. Fill Your Bowl with Warm Water
Fill a small to medium-sized bowl with warm water so that it will comfortably submerge your ring. But, don’t put your ring in it just yet.
4. Add Cleaning Solution to the Bowl
Use dish soap if you have it, as it won’t tarnish the ring. If not, a vinegar and water solution will also work.
Don’t use any harsh chemical cleaners to clean your ring. More on why that’s a bad idea later.
5. Clean with Rubbing Alcohol
Cover the rubbing alcohol bottle with your cotton swab. Then, gently tilt the covered bottle to transfer some of the rubbing alcohol to the cotton swab.
Use the rubbing alcohol imbued cotton swab to wipe down your ring. This is great for removing oily and grimy substances that may have built up on the outside of the ring.
Alcohol can leave a residue on rings so after cleaning your ring with the cotton swab, take it immediately to the next step.
6. Clean Your Ring the Bowl of Cleaning Solution
Add your ring to the cleaning solution.
Let it soak for 35-40 minutes.
Wipe Down the Ring with one of the rags or towels.
7. Finley Scrub Your Ring with a Toothbrush
If you have an engraved ring or a custom ring, there maybe be dirt trapped in a few hard to reach spaces. If so, it’s time to break out the toothbrush.
Again, tungsten rings are super durable and can only be seriously scratched by things like diamonds. So you don’t have to worry about a toothbrush scuffing or scratching your ring.
Pro tip: Don’t have a spare toothbrush? A second cotton swab or a q-tip will also work to help clean out those dirt-trapping areas of the ring.
8. Dry Your Tungsten Ring
Take your second dry towel and dry off your cleaned tungsten ring.
Rinse and Repeat as Needed
If your ring still isn’t clean then repeat these steps until your ring reaches your desired level of cleanliness.
What Not to Do When Cleaning Your Tungsten Ring
Don’t Use Ultrasonic Cleaners
While tungsten is extremely durable, tungsten carbide (which makes up most tungsten rings) is not suitable for ultrasonic jewelry cleaners.
An ultrasonic ring cleaner can cause microscopic fractures in your ring, weakening it, and making it more likely to trap dirt. But if I really can’t change your mind about ultrasonic jewelry cleaners, use them exclusively.
Don’t combine them with any other cleaning solutions or soaps, and don’t leave your tungsten ring the solution for more than 1 minute.
Don’t Use Harsh Chemicals on Your Ring
Tungsten is extremely durable but it’s not invulnerable. Chemicals like, Bleach, Chlorine, and Ammonia can damage your tungsten ring, and leave spots on its surface. If your ring comes into contact with harsh chemicals clean it as soon as possible, and don’t use them to buff or shine your rings.
How to Care for Your Tungsten Ring
Keep Your Ring Separated From Soft Metals
While tungsten is scratch-resistant, it’s great durability means it’s more likely to scratch softer metals like gold and silver. To protect your other jewelry, place your tungsten ring in its own soft bag or box, separate from your other pieces.
Keep Your Ring Away From Diamonds
One of the only things that can seriously scar up your tungsten ring is a diamond. So, keep your tungsten jewelry separated from your diamonds.
Keep Your Ring Away From Chemically Cleaned Jewelry.
You should also separate your tungsten ring from any jewelry that you have chemically cleaned. As we mentioned earlier, tungsten is very sensitive to chemical cleaners. Separating your tungsten ring from chemically cleaned jewelry will keep any residue from spotting up your tungsten ring.
If one of your tungsten rings has been damaged and you’re looking for a replacement, check out our collections of tungsten carbide rings.
Closing Thoughts
I hope that you found this guide to cleaning your tungsten rings helpful.
We want this guide to cleaning tungsten rings to be an evolving resource. So, if you feel that there’s anything we’ve missed, please leave a comment letting us know.
Resources
titaniumkay.com, americantungsten.com, weddingbandsforboth.com, forevermetals.com, tungstenly.com
