Well. That sounds like a lovely topic, doesn’t it? But I wanted to address it because if you’ve experienced a rash under your rings, you’re probably frantically searching for a solution. I know I was.

In September of 2011 we were moving into our new house. After loading up the moving truck, I noticed I had some irritation under my rings. Figuring I scraped myself somehow, I put some antibacterial lotion on it and went about my business. Instead of it clearing up, however, it got worse. Within a week the skin was dry and itchy, and not long after that it was bright red and bumpy.

I tried it all — creams, lotions, you name it. Nothing worked. I was getting desperate and was about to go to a dermatologist for a steroid cream when I became pregnant and didn’t want to risk using it. And so the rash continued for over a year. It was painful and itchy and really ugly. I felt like freak and worried that it would never go away.

I was embarrassed by it, but finally started talking to friends and realized I wasn’t alone. So many friends had the exact same rash! Knowing now that it was pretty common, I started researching a solution. Below is what has worked for me. I did it once and noticed an immediate change and only just did it again almost five months later when I noticed some irritation. This procedure has caused no change or damage to my rings.

How to get rid of ring rash: (DISCLAIMER: I found this solution somewhere on the depths of the Internet. I no longer remember the original source. Some have claimed they had some tarnishing after using this — especially if their rings were sterling silver. Mine are white gold and I have had no problems at all. But to be safe, use at your own risk.)

Step 1:

Combine 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide with 1/2 cup white vinegar. Drop rings in and let soak for at least 30 minutes, but longer won’t hurt. Those little bubbles you see are from the peroxide doing it’s thing and killing germs and bacteria lurking on your rings. Ewwww.

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Step 2:

Use a soft toothbrush (I used a kid’s one) and a little bit of dish soap and give your rings a good scrub. Get into all the nooks and crannies. Rinse in warm water.

 

Step 3:

Boil some water and suspend your rings over the top of the pot. I rigged up this contraption using a chopstick and a hair tie. You want your rings submerged, but not touching the bottom so they don’t bounce around.

photo 1

Boil for 20 minutes. The water will kill whatever the peroxide/vinegar mixture didn’t.

Annnd…you’re done. Dry your rings and admire how sparkly they are now!

afterlight

After your rings are pretty again, you should probably get rid of your chipping nail polish…meh.

Some notes:

 

– After cleaning your rings, you still need to let your rash completely heal, otherwise it will just continue to get irritated. That means no rings until the rash is gone. When mine was really bad, I left them off for almost two weeks, unless I was going out.

– Like I mentioned above, this caused no harm or discoloration to my rings. I would double check the pot of water before you dump it, though, just in case you had a loose stone that came off. Actually, if you had a loose stone, I wouldn’t recommend doing this!

Ring rash, be gone!