Put enough ammonia in a cup/bowl to cover your jewelry & place the cup/bowl (minus the jewelry) in the microwave long enough to get it really hot (maybe 30-45 seconds). The liquid should be bubbling. Then drop your jewelry in, cover w/ a plate or saran wrap & leave in there for 20 minutes or so. No scrubbing necessary…I use a chopstick to swirl my rings around for a moment but they come out WAY shiny & it gets all the gunk out from around & under the setting, too.

By the way. People may now and then see commercially sold jars of jewelry cleaner. They come with a jar of solution, a little basket to hold the jewelry and a little brush usually. The solution is often colored with some nice looking dye, and maybe some scent, to help justify the several dollars cost. But that’s just marketing. The solution itself is not too different from ordinary hand dish washing detergent in water. It works best when used frequently, and when the jewelry is left to soak, perhaps overnight. If you make a similar solution, and warm it up (microwave it, but not with the jewelry in it yet, if you like. Not to boiling. Just hot) then it will be quite effective, quicker than that commercial jar, and much less costly.

@Athena. yes, funny. But if you wash dishes in a ceramic sink rather than, say, stainless steel, be a little careful not to bang your diamonds on the sink. Many people are surprised to learn that diamonds, thoough durable and very hard, can still be a little brittle, especially in certain vulnerable directions. Ceramic kitchen sinks are rigid and hard. Not hard enough to scratch a diamond of course, but hard enough to impart some force to the diamond if you bang the two together accidentally. Hit it at just the wrong angle, and you can chip the diamond. So be a bit careful here. Also, if your ring isn’t regularly cleaned, AND you haven’t had it checked or check it yourself for loose stones, especially the little side ones, then remember that if, while washing dishes, you clean off the gunk that’s helping to hold an otherwise loose little diamond in the ring, then that diamond might end up going down the drain. Safer to be sure the stones are secure by cleaning in a container such that if anything falls out, it’s not lost…
Cheers
Peter

But alcohol isn’t the best cleaner. The diamonds get dirty from grease, oils,dead skin, soap scum, etc. What cleans that? Detergent and hot water. Take a saucepan, fill with hot water and add some good strong liquid detergent, and if it doesn’t already have it, a bit of ammonia. Hang your gold or platinum and precious stone jewelry over the edge of the saucepan on a hook made from an unfolded paper clip, so it’s suspened in the solution. The solution will be much the same strength you might use to scrub the kitchen floor, and it will, when simmering, dissolve the gunk in short order. After about five or ten minutes, if there remain bits, use a soft toothbrush to loosen, soak a bit more, and rinse. THEN, if you like dip in alcohol and dry. The alcohol will dry without leaving water spots. An optional step, but you can do it. The main thing is hot, detergent laced water. In jewelry shops before we had ultrasonics or steam cleaners, such a saucepan is how we cleaned jewelry before working on it, and how the polishing compound after buffing was removed. This does work, folks, and works well. Note that this needs to be stones that can take this. Not jewelry held together by glue, nor made of plated cheap metals. No stones like pearls, malachite, turqoise, or other porous and fragile gems. But fine for your diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and the like. If you’re not sure whether your jewelry is safe for this, then instead of the strong detergent used hot, instead use hand dishwashing liquid, in warm water, and soak for longer. maybe overnight. Gentler, and almost as effective. And a couple things Never to use. Toothpaste is sometimes touted. it’s abrasive, and will scratch the metal, and some soft stones. Don’t use toothpaste. Same thing for scouring powder. And NEVER use anything with bleach of any kind. Most are based on chlorine bleach compounds, which react to gold and silver, damaging them. Hope that helps. If you wish more, got to google groups and ask on the rec.crafts.jewelry newsgroup. (I’m the moderator of that group) Lots of other jewelry pros there to help.

And, instead of rubbing alcohol, I use the cheapest vodka I can find because it has no smell. (Which also makes it useful for mixing my own household cleaner – vinegar, vodka, a dash of Castille soap and usually lavender or tea tree essential oil.)

So, yes, my bathroom counter often has a shot glass of vodka out …