On Sep 21, 3:10*pm, "FC..." wrote:
On Sep 20, 11:51*pm, Peter W. Rowe
wrote:





On Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:40:36 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry Ted Frater
wrote:

*It depends on the setting of the diamonds, the area difficult to clean
is under the stone, so a tooth brush and tooth paste is a good way to go.
*Rinse well of course.

The trouble with that, Ted, is that toothpaste is abrasive. * Only slightly, and
not even all brands. *But of those that are, they will damage any polish on the
metal, such as in reflective areas behind the diamond. *Not an issue of course
on exposed worn metal, but there's no need to scratch up the parts that might
still be bright, with toothpaste. *Just use the brush by itself (an old one,
never to be used on teeth again...) to remove anything loosened by not removed
by the boiling. *A bit of detergent and/or ammonia added to the boil also helps.

*Then theres the baby feeding bottle sterilising tablets. there sodium
hypochlorite *and one tablet in a glass of water overnite will sterilise
the ring

yes, but this is a really poor idea. *sodium hypochlorite is, essentially,
bleach. *And bleach attacks gold alloys (kind of messes up silver too, but only
on the surface). *Please don't clean gold, especially white gold, with anything
even remotely resembling (chemically) bleach. *It can damage the metal,
sometimes leading to stress cracking that can cause prongs to break, losing the
stones. * The boiling water will be quite sufficient to sterilize the ring.
There are only a very few infective agents that aren't killed by boiling (the
agent that causes mad cow disease, for example. *It's a prion, not an actual
living organism or virus, and it's rather harder to kill being merely a
particularly unfortunatly shaped protein that isn't actually alive...
Fortunately, it also isn't likely to be on her ring...)

Peter Rowe

The general consesus regaring MRSA 'surface longevity' is pretty
clear. *3 months as the MAXIMUM for MRSA and although that is a LONG
time for a bacteria, the conditions would need to be 'condusive to
growth' (perfect). *Also, the possibility of infection to a healthy
person is LOW and this is why so many people in Hospitals contract and
actually 'die' from MRSA.

Although Peter suggests that BLEACH is not good for your ring, one of
the ONLY chemicals that WILL kill MRSA 'AND' 'denature' a PRION is in
fact concentrated BLEACH. *What Bleach has a hard time with, is
'Spores'. *Having stated that, Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide WILL Kill
MRSA within 60 minutes at a 'SAFE' dilution of 3% (OTC peroxide) with
regular Table Vinegar. *50/50 mix, used in WELL-VENTILATED AREA and/or
in a 'Film Canister' to preserve the strength of the HP. *In turn,
this will not harm your ring like BLEACH will with 'White Gold' (much
less a 'Hardy Substance' than 'Yellow Gold' as far as 'bleach' is
concerned.)

Here are some interesting Factoids on Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide

http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benef...a-disinfectant...

Cheers,- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -




Hi everyone and thankyou to all who replied on this subject. The
diamond ring is a single diamond in yellow gold. I am torn on what
to do. You see, I am not a germaphobe but there are scarey things on
the internet about MRSA. However, again, this infection was in her
bladder/urine and the ring never came in contact with that! Some
people have MRSA in a wound form, that could be really contagious if
not covered and taken care of. I've even wondered if I am
overreacting to this totally. I say this because heck, I have some of
her furniture and I didnt go disinfecting any of that. I just brought
it over to my house and here I am a year later, healthy and fine.
When I was with her, I didnt go home and scrub my hair. I would go
home and shower but not always wash my hair. So any MRSA germs I was
exposed to, would have gotten in my hair and clothes, which I didnt go
home washing either. She had a catheter and a urine bag (sorry if too
much info.) so I just really wonder if I am blowing this out of
proportion even? You wont hurt my feelings if you tell me I am
blowing this out of proportion. In fact, it would be great to think
nothing really had to be done at all.
Did one of you say that MRSA germs live on a surface for 3 months
max? If that is the case, its been 12 months now. The ring has been
in a brown velvet bag up until last night when I did put on rubber
gloves and looked at it and then wrapped it up in kleenex and put it
on my dresser. I remember one of the hospital nurses saying they are
so use to seeing MRSA, that while they have to take precaution, due to
hospital protocal, it really doesnt phase them anymore and a couple of
nurses would come in and not even glove up while touching her. Again,
you would think that as long as you didnt go playing with the urine
bag, you would be fine. I was in the mall earlier today and talked to
a very reputable jeweler and she told me to not use toothpaste for
sure. She told me that for a small fee, they would take care of it
for me while I waited. I tend to be one who second guesses whether I
do something good enough or thorough enough and maybe it would be good
to just let the jeweler do it. Paying the small fee is no big deal to
me. Or maybe the MRSA doesnt even exist on the ring? Maybe it never
really did? I have her nightstand next to my bed and all I did with
that was dust it off. I didnt disinfect it. Here I am, 12 months
later, fine. So I am torn as to how to proceed. It's been a very
lonely year for me without my mother and I have had no one to talk
this over with so it helps to run this past people. (sigh!)
Anyone here think maybe nothing needs to be done at all? Thanks to
all for input!

Suzie