By Chris Franchetti Michaels
Ultrasonic cleaning is a great way to keep your fine jewelry
clean and looking its best. There are many small ultrasonic units on the market
today that are both affordable and easy to use. In addition to jewelry, they
can be used to clean other small, hard-to-clean items like electric razor heads,
eyeglasses, and even dentures.
What They Do
A
standard household ultrasonic cleaner is made up of a metal-lined tank containing
a removable plastic basket. The tank is filled with water and, optionally, a
special cleaning solution. Jewelry is placed in the basket and submerged while
it cleans. The cleaning cycle only takes a few minutes, and the jewelry is clean
and ready-to-wear when it's finished.
Note: Ultrasonic cleaners remove dirt and oils from jewelry,
but they will not remove tarnish from metals. Tarnish-removing cloths or dips
should be used for that purpose. Some ultrasonic cleaners now come equipped
with separate tanks for dipping jewelry into tarnish-removing solution.
How They Work
Ultrasonic cleaning units use ultrasound to clean on
a microscopic level. Ultrasound refers to sound waves that are above the frequency
audible to the human ear. Ultrasonic energy is generated by a transducer
beneath the cleaner's metal-lined tank.
A transducer is a common electronic device which can change
one form of energy into another. In ultrasonic cleaners, the transducer converts
electricity from your household wall outlet into ultrasonic energy. That energy
is pushed up into the metal-lined tank causing the water or cleaning solution
to become filled with very tiny bubbles called cavitations.
The cavitations build in pressure until they explode. It's actually
the shock waves created by those exploding bubbles that remove dirt and debris
from your jewelry. The explosions are microscopic but very high-energy, so they
can reach into tiny design details and around prong-set gemstones.
Important Precautions
Here are some precautions to follow when using your ultrasonic
cleaner:
° Some gemstones and other
materials (for example, wood) can be damaged by ultrasonic cleaning. Always
ask your jeweler if a particular stone or design is "ultrasonic safe." Here
are some examples of stones that usually are not
recommended for ultrasonic cleaning:
- pearl and mother of pearl
- opal
- turquoise
- topaz
- emerald
- iolite
- tanzanite
- peridot
- any gemstone that contains flaws, like internal cracking
° Only use special ultrasonic
cleansing solution formulated for ultrasonic cleaners in your machine. Using
any other cleanser may at best fail to clean your jewelry, and at worst damage
your jewelry or the cleaner itself.
° Never turn on your cleaner
when it doesn't have water in it. This can seriously damage the machine.
° Never submerse your
hand into the solution when the machine is running. Doing so could cause permanent
joint damage to your fingers. Obviously, also never leave the machine running
unattended or in the reach of children.
° Always unplug the machine
before opening the lid and removing the basket and jewelry, to prevent possible
electrocution.
° When the cleaning cycle
is finished, always remove your jewelry right away, to avoid dirt and debris
resettling on its surface.
° Carefully read through
all the operating instructions and safety precautions for your machine before
using it.
Editor's Pick:
This
affordable little cleaner available through Amazon.com
is compact, stylish, and easy to use. It's just the right size for cleaning
jewelry and other small items.
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