Did you know you could be hurting your ring without knowing? Here are some of the ways you could be damaging your prized possession:

You clean the ring wrongly

If you search for ways to clean your ring, you will find plenty of hacks from cleaning using baking soda, white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, and many others. You might be having the impression that these hacks will give your ring a sparkling look you are after, but they don’t. In fact, they end up damaging your piece.

Expert jewelers agree that you should have your Marine Corps ring or any other one you could be having cleaned by a professional at least once every six months, but you should also clean the ring at home.

To maintain the original look of the piece, don’t use acidic chemicals or products to clean your ring. This includes store-bought jewelry cleaner, as you will damage the piece.

The right way to do it is to soak the ring in warm water and wash up liquid for 20-30 minutes. After the ring has soaked, gently polish it using a cotton towel, then scrub off dirt from all the gaps and engravings with a soft toothbrush. Once you are done, rinse the ring with clean water.

You treat the ring as indestructible.

As much as your ring is made from tough, precious materials, this doesn’t mean that it’s indestructible—it’s fragile, and if you are careless with it, you can easily damage it by chipping or setting the stones loose.

To keep your ring intact, don’t punch anything. This calls for you to avoid using your hand to hammer anything. Also, don’t fist pump too aggressively or do anything that can cause damage.

You shower while wearing the ring.

As much as you love your ring, it’s wise to remove it while showering. The reason for this is that the chemical compounds you find in shampoos and soaps deposit cloudy patches onto the gemstone or diamond, giving your ring an ugly look.

The best way to go about it is to leave the ring outside as you go into the shower.

If you are fond of exfoliating your face, remove your ring, as the face washes can cause micro-scratches on gemstones and other metal bands.

You don’t give attention to your ring.

The ring is made from metal, so it doesn’t need any maintenance, right? Well, wrong. While it doesn’t need much attention, it doesn’t mean that you should ignore it—you should give it some attention and regularly check its condition.

If you notice the settings on the ring begin to loosen or you see scratches on the ring, take your ring to a professional to be fixed.

There are plenty of unscrupulous people that purport to have ring repair skills, but they end up damaging your ring, so take your time to research and find reputable and experienced professionals that know what they are doing.

It will be better if you take your ring to the store you bought it from.