Follow our care and cleaning FAQ’s simple rules for proper and regular care, and avoid letting your jewelry encounter these harmful substances and situations too much, and there’s no reason your fine cubic zirconia jewelry from CubicZirconia.com can’t last you a lifetime. For longest-lasting cubic zirconia jewelry, we invite you to familiarize yourself with these things to avoid.
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Water: Some water is OK and can cause no problems in your jewelry after years of exposure. Repeated exposure over time to other water can ruin gold, sterling silver and both real and artificial gemstones (including our 5A cubic zirconia stones). It really just depends what’s IN that water. Since we can’t tell customers around the world what's in their local water with any certainty, our recommendation is to avoid getting your jewelry wet regularly (except when cleaning for brief moments). Read more in our FAQ question “Can I get my cubic zirconia jewelry wet? Swimming? Washing my hands? Showering?”.
The only real exception to “don’t get your jewelry wet!” advice would be for a few moments during a gentle jewelry cleaning such as that described in the answer to FAQ “How do I clean my cubic zirconia jewelry?”.
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Hard Knocks & Contact Sports: Try not to wear your cubic zirconia jewelry when it may be struck sharply. Even though CZ are very hard, they still have thin edges and points that can fracture if they are hit hard enough. And even if the cubic zirconia stones can take the hit, your precious metal likely won't come out without a ding or two. Examples include contact sports, or sports with fast-moving hard objects that could hit you and/or your jewelry (think: softball, baseball, cricket, football, rugby, field hockey). Plus, if you're sweating a lot that's another reason not to be wearing nice jewelry (see below).
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Rough Jobs: Some jobs qualify as "hard knock" environments, too...including, but not limited to: manufacturing assembly line workers, food preppers, health professionals, athletes and coaches, welders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, construction workers, gardeners, fitness professionals, swimming pool cleaners/installers...and really anyone that works regularly with their hands around materials that are hard (like other metals, concrete, and so forth) should avoid wearing rings in these environments.
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Harsh Chemicals / Ammonia / Bleach / Household Cleaners / Toothpaste: These substances can cause a chemical reaction that disintegrates the alloys in jewelry over time. Remove your rings and bracelets when disinfecting your house, or cleaning the tub with a harsh chemical like Comet or C-L-R. Don’t try to clean your jewelry with household floor/glass cleaners, ammonia, bleach, or toothpaste! If you decide to clean your jewelry yourself, it’s easy...just please see FAQ question “How do I clean my cubic zirconia jewelry?” first.
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Chlorine: Whether it’s found in bleach used for cleaning or in the swimming pool or hot tub, extended exposure to chlorine can degrade even fine jewelry to the point of disintegration (stress corrosion cracking). So, keep your fine cubic zirconia jewelry out of the pool and hot tub! Because chlorine is a chemical that eats away at almost any metal, one hour in a pool or hot tub can be the equivalent of a year or more of normal wear-and-tear on sterling silver, gold, or palladium precious metal jewelry. Platinum will be fine with chlorine, but since CZ stones can crack or discolor with too much exposure to chlorine, take off your platinum cubic zirconia jewelry, too, before swimming or getting in the hot tub!
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Saltwater: Exposure to salt water can erode soldered joints on gold, platinum, or palladium jewelry (such as the connection between the prongs and the band of your ring). Salt water can also increase tarnishing effects on sterling silver, as well as over time create undesirable effects with even the highest-quality cubic zirconia stones (such as those from CubicZirconia.com). Besides that danger, cold water will cause your finger to shrink...and that ring could be lost at sea before you know it. For these reasons, it is recommended that you remove any precious metal jewelry prior to swimming in a saltwater pool or the ocean.
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Cosmetics & Hand Soap: Makeup, hairspray, sunblock, bug spray, perfumes and certain hand and body lotions can contain chemicals that may damage jewelry. Necklace links and ring prongs are especially susceptible to getting gunked up with this stuff. Even gentle bar soaps can leave a residue on your jewelry, blocking the light from entering your cubic zirconia stones and diminishing their brilliance. Taking jewelry off before washing hands will help your purchases from CubicZirconia.com last a long time. Putting jewelry on only after applying hairspray, sunblock, bug spray, perfume, makeup, or hand/body lotion will limit exposure of your jewelry to any potential damage. Don’t apply these substances to your hands or body while wearing your jewelry and you’ll be good; wait a minute after application, wash your hands and then put jewelry back on.
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Sweat: Any jewelry can become dim and less beautiful because of a build-up of sweat combined with dust. Plus, you’re more likely to lose a ring or earrings at the gym or on the playing field than almost any other activity anyway. So just take it off when you’re playing sports, working outdoors or working out.
- Gardening: Dirt and small rocks are abrasive to jewelry. If not cleaned right away, jewelry can be permanently damaged. Plus organic material like leaves, grass and twigs can gunk up your hard-to-reach spots like between multi-prong accent settings and underneath a ring's center stone. Beware the dangers of scratchy-as-hell gardening gloves, too (i.e. don't just wear your ring under gardening gloves because you're just trading one problem for another).
Looking for a way to keep your jewelry safe while swimming, exercising, playing sports, gardening or working with your hands? See the FAQ answer to question “What's the best way to keep my ring or earrings safe while I take it off to swim/work-out etc?”.
