Many of us have had to live with the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly a year now, making significant changes to how we conduct ourselves when out in public. Amid government-mandated lockdowns and stay-at-home orders earlier in the year, we’re still wearing masks and keeping our distance from each other in order to limit the spread of the virus. According to the CDC, washing your hands often and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces are important guidelines intended to protect from the virus.

As with clothes and other surfaces, it’s important to clean and disinfect your jewelry. But how does one go about that? Well, we’ve put together this guide to go over safe ways to clean your jewelry. Take a look.

Cleaning Your Jewelry, the Right Way

The most effective and safe way to clean your rings and keep them germ-free—and to keep your fingers and hands clean—is to remove them when washing your hands or when you’re applying hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizers can be harmful to certain metals and gemstones, and if you don’t remove your rings when washing your hands with antibacterial soap or using hand sanitizer, you risk not disinfecting them at all. Antibacterial soaps may also cause damage to organic gems like turquoise, pearls, and crystals.

Washing Your Hands Properly

The CDC’s COVID-19 handwashing guide involves five steps:

Wet hands under clean, running water, turn the faucet off and apply soap.

Lather hands by rubbing soap over them. Make sure to get the soap on the backs of your hands, under the nails, and between the fingers.

Scrub your hands for a minimum of 20 seconds.

Rinse hands under clean, running water, and turn off the faucet.

Dry hands with a clean towel or air dry them.

Avoid Wearing Rings if Possible

Considering the fact that studies have found that the skin underneath rings contains more germs than other comparable areas of skin on your fingers, we recommend you temporarily avoid wearing rings during the pandemic. This will help minimize the chances of contaminating other surfaces with COVID-19 and being infected with the virus.

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We sell unique handmade beaded earrings online and beautiful custom beaded necklaces. Browse our selection of handcrafted beaded necklaces and handcrafted beaded earrings online today.