Tuesday, March 12, 2013

It is a Misconception.

I recently exhibited my product, Jeweler in the Dishwasher, at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago.  I always learn a lot when I do these trade shows, whether it's about packaging, manufacturing, or about new products that are coming to the market.  This year, I moved my booth to an area across from the inventor's corner, which was a really good place to be, because I was able to hear about several new products that were being pitched to a panel of judges for a completely unbiased, sometimes, heart wrenching review.

One of the products that caught my attention was a "new, improved" jewelry steam cleaner.  One of the judges asked the inventor how she came up with the idea for the product.  She said that she had received an engagement ring and wanted to keep it clean.  WHAT?????  That's it???  There's no experience in the jewelry industry that goes along with this product? 

After all, I am a seond generation bench jeweler and I have 40 years of experience designing, repairing and manufacturing fine jewelry, and I have owned and operated my own retail jewelry store for over 15 years. It is the experience I have  in the jewelry profession that led to the inception and design of Jeweler in the Dishwasher.  Although customers see jewelers using a steam cleaner in their shops, it is almost always used in conjunction with an industrial ultrasonic.  I believe it is a huge misconception that all you need to clean fine jewelry is a steam cleaner.

The steamer in my shop operates on 60-70 lbs. of pressure, and weighs about 50 pounds.  I have seen how small the steam cleaners for home use are, and I can't imagine that they generate enough pressure to even begin to remove caked on dirt. They may remove surface residues, but that's about it.

Jeweler in the Dishwasher works just as well as an ultrasonic followed by a steamer.  The degreaser in the detergent mixes with the hot water and GENTLY soaks the enclosed pieces.  After removing the jewelry from the Jeweler in the Dishwasher, brush away remaining residue with a toothbrush and dry with a soft towel.  Why spend $160.00 plus shipping for a steamer that won't work as well????














































The above before and after picture is a ring that I cleaned using the Jeweler in the Dishwasher. I used the detergent that I always use, and I ran the cycles that I normally do, along with a full load of dishes. Once I removed the ring, I brushed under the stones with a toothbrush. Nothing else was used during this cleaning process. You can easily see the difference in the before and after picture.







The stones in the picture above, are from mountings that I have bought from customers, and then removed the stones.  I placed the stones upside down when I took the pictures so that you can easily see the gunk that had been trapped behind the stones while they were in the mountings.  The small yellowish stones in the lower right corner of the before picture are actually diamonds.  Pretty disgusting, right?  The same diamonds are in the after picture in the lower right corner.

 I thought I would see what would happen if I placed loose stones in the soaker tank.  Would they get clean? Would they go down the drain?  The results are; YES, as you can see, they did get clean!  And NO, they did not go down the drain.  The Jeweler in the Dishwasher does not use a vibration process like an ultrasonic.  It does not use force like a steamer.  It GENTLY soaks the enclosed jewelry.  The openings in the eggs and the soaker tank are so small that the water trickles in, it does NOT blast in, and then it slowly drains out.  This is a very gentle process!


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