4 Tips to Caring for Men's Wedding Bands

Men haven’t always had the luxury of wearing a wedding band. At one time, they didn’t wear any visible item to show that they were marri...

Men haven’t always had the luxury of wearing a wedding band. At one time, they didn’t wear any visible item to show that they were married at all. Today, we live in a different time when wedding bands are popular for men, and not just for the fairer sex. The first generation of men to wear wedding bands were getting married in the 1940s when they would show off their gold rings. Now you can get all kinds of men's wedding bands: titanium, gold, silver, you name it.

If you work with your hands, you’ll notice that your band has a tendency to collect grime and dirt if it’s not properly cleaned. This is why men who work indoors tend to gather dirt on their bands. Here are a few tips to help you care for your wedding band and keep it sparkling and shining.

Most men can clean their bands if they only need a minor clean. You can use warm water and liquid soap, and soak your ring for a minimum of 30 minutes. Then rinse it with warm water and air dry the ring. If it has scratches and tarnishes, however, you should take it to the jeweler.

Whether you need to polish your ring or not depends on what material it’s made from. If it’s made from gold or silver, it will need to be polished by a qualified and trained jeweler. It may only require a one-off polish to remove the nicks. If they’re deep, however, it will need a minor repair job. If your profession involves a lot of manual labor, you’d be better off with a tungsten or titanium ring that has a reputation for maintaining a quality polish and shine.

If you’re looking to retain the polish and shine for your ring for the long-term, you can take care of your ring at home. There are simple tips for DIY wedding ring maintenance to help you with this.
You’ll find that your ring gathers a lot of grime, dirt, and sweat. You should clean your ring at home at least once every two weeks. If you are’t confident that you’re cleaning it sufficiently, you should probably take that up to once a week.

You won’t need to spend much to keep your ring clean at home. Many cleaning products are safe and inexpensive. Here are four ways that you can clean your wedding ring and maintain that shine.

Wedding Rings with or Without Stones

Choose a quality liquid soap and combine it with water to clean your ring. For rings with gemstones, you can clean the dirt between the stones with a toothbrush. Leave the ring in soak for a while with the soap and water solution.

Gold Wedding Rings Without Gemstones

You should use light and cold beer brew to clean your gold wedding ring. Stay clear of dark beer brews. The hops in beer brew have certain alpha acids that can help you remove the dirt from your ring. Poor the beer on a washcloth and rub the ring to get rid of the dirt and stains. The hops will also help to protect the ring’s surface.

Silver Wedding Ring Without Gemstones

This one might be the most surprising tip, but ketchup is a great cleaner for silver, and you can successfully remove the dirt from your ring by applying ketchup on a toothbrush. It reaches those narrow corners and removes the dirt from the cracks. Ketchup contains natural acids like vinegar that are found in tomatoes. Just make sure to rinse it off as soon as you’ve finished cleaning, as you could otherwise cause the metal to break down.

All Wedding Rings With or Without Gemstones

Alka-Seltzer tablets might be best known for treating headaches, but they’re also useful when it comes to cleaning wedding rings. They contain sodium bicarbonate, along with another anhydrous citric acid that creates fizz. The fizz is what helps to remove the dirt. Dissolve a pair of tablets in water and soak the ring for approximately 30 minutes. Once the band has been soaked, remove it from the water and give it a good rinse. Then grab a soft cloth and dry it. Your wedding ring will look sparkling.

Final Note

So if you have a wedding ring you want to take care of at home and keep the dirt away in order to maintain that shine, try following the above tips. They’re cost-effective and simple enough for you to follow to help you maintain that shine for years to come.