Home : Beauty tips : Jewelry : Stuck ring on finger : Getting a stuck ring off of your finger

Getting a stuck ring off of your finger

Submitted by Juliaaaa

OK... the string method didn't work for me. I'm fat.. not pregnant.. and my finger had swollen terribly. The string was painful... besides.. this ring was soooo tight that could barely get dental floss (used instead of string) underneath it. But I didn't want to give in. OK so this is what I did..

I first put tape around my finger just past the ring. As the fluid is squeezed out.. your ring actually will be slightly tighter at first. Don't panic! Then after a half hour of having the tape on... ice your hand and taped finger while holding it above your heart. In 15 minutes.. remove the tape and *quickly* saturate your finger with window cleaner.

Start to twist your ring around your finger while you are pulling it off. If it gets stuck and your finger starts turning color.. apply more ice and keep your hand above your heart. Apply more window cleaner to your ring and dry the fingers your pulling with. Pull one side then the other.. back and forth.. if it is moving slightly it will come off.. so don't panic about your finger's color.

Keep working until it comes off. This is a painful procedure... so ice your finger when your done. If at anytime during this procedure your ring wont budge at all... then spray more windex push it back on and go to a jeweler... they will have to cut it off. Good Luck!!!

Visitors comments

The RING!! IT CAME OFF! Comments By: Cheryl

My daughter is pregnant and could NOT get her rings off no matter what we did. We were heading to the jewellers today but I did a search and found this method. What can I say other then BRILLIANT!! yes, it hurt (but pain is over now) and the rings are totally off intact. WOW

Take the ring off today! Comments By: Tracey

The ring has been there long enough, today is the last day you are putting up with it. 2 Man job - one to spray the window cleaner, wipe, dry, wet, respray etc. Pull and twist and suffer - 15 minutes cold pack, 5 minutes twisting and pulling and putting up with pain - FREEDOM! Happy finger, released after 2 years of suffering and stress.
THNAK YOU SO MUCH.

THIS REALLY WORKS!!!! Comments By: Maleika

I also tried soap, cold water, and lotion, oil, etc...nothing. I was scared I'd have to go into the emergency room to get my ring cut off. After finding this, I tried for 30 minutes and it came off...of course it hurt, but at least it came off! I'm glad I found this article and tried it!!!!

i want to give this woman a big fat kiss Comments By: vique martin

i had tried every lubricant i could think of and the string trick. i had a callous and a bulge from weight gain and just wearing a ring that was too small for me in the first place. i hadn't been able to remove it for a couple of years. but who wants to cut off their grandparents wedding ring? that would be so sad. my sister got involved and found your comment on this website [it wasn't there when i searched for answers about 6 months ago]. and it worked! the windex worked! it hurt a lot and my finger was very red, but it worked! i am SO happy. so.... thank you! vique

I'm in shock - the ring came OFF!!!!! First try, too! Comments By: Dottie

A ring I normally wear on my ring finger felt loose yesterday, so I slipped it on my index finger amazed it went on so easily. I went to bed forgetting to remove it, and when I woke up it my finger was pink and swollen on the fleshy pad below the knuckle.

The ring would not budge! It felt very uncomfortable. I went online for tips and tried the string method. No luck. I mean, this finger was SWOLLEN! I saw this tip and thought what the heck, I'll try it. Instead of tape I used saran wrap and wrapped it as tight as I could. I wrapped from the base of the ring all the way to the tip of my finger, using strips of saran wrap about 4" wide.

I could see my finger turning purpley pink through the saran wrap. But I held my finger above my head for fifteen minutes (after using the cold water soak before wrapping)and then immediately after unwrapping blasted it with Windex, using a twist motion moved the ring over the swollen buldge of flesh. It worked almost instantly! I was amazed!!!

I'm so happy and relieved. It wasn't all that painful in my opinion. I had visions of big bills for a jeweler to cut it off and then more bills to repair my poor ring.

Now... the RING is FINE, my FINGER is FINE, and all is well in my world! Woo hoo!

Stuck for 12 years!! Comments By: Rena

My husbands ring has been stuck for the past 12 years without seeing daylight. We tried everything to get it off. I can't believe this actually works. Don't go cut them off anymore, this one is a proven truth! Good luck everyone!

FINALLY...... THE RING IS OFF!!! Comments By: Amy in WI.

OMG!! This really works! I put my wedding bands on for the first time after having my baby and I was so excited that they actually fit.. After sitting in the sun all day they didn't want to come off. WE tried everything that we could think of and finally went to bed..(sleepless night!!!) After dealing with a very crabby wife my husband went up to the computer and found this advise. I used suran wrap insted of tape and soaked my finger in a cup of ice water for 5 min then wraped my finger from the top down as tight as I could. I put my finger above my head for 10 min and then with the suran wrap still on my finger I soaked it again for 5 min. Took the suran wrap off and used windex as was suggested.. POOF the rings slid right off!! And it was painless!! THANKS SOOO MUCH!!!!

Thank GOD!!!!!!!! and YOU!!!!!! Comments By: Kelley

Wow, I was getting nervous! I too am FAT, post baby but none the less, so fat my diamond ring was stuck, not to mention swollen fingers due to my blood pressure. After trying all day I went online and found a few tips. Having tried them all (and boy does the dental floss hurt an already swollen finger)I decided to search again and WOW~ thank GOD I did. My husband would have killed me if I had to get my ring cut off. Any way, I took the Tylenol and wrapped my finger in Cling Wrap. I held my arm over my head with my son's frozen teething ring also wrapped around my finger. I kept it up until it turned blue, about 7-8 minutes then quickly unwrapped my finger and covered it in Windex. It took about a minute of wiggling, spinning and rocking and some major pain but off it came. Not a moment too soon, I was about to give up. Thank God! Oh but you should see my finger now, OUCH, it is so RED, but feels soooooo much better! By the way my diamond has never looked as sparkling as after the Windex!

I was NOT telling hubby ring was stuck! Comments By: Monique

Yesterday hubby decided to have his jewelry cleaned."I should have brought mine" I commented. He said he would take it for me tomorrow. Well, I realize I cannot remove my wedding ring. Although the increase in fat mass is quite apparent, I was NOT going to give him that kind of satisfaction! Your trick worked immediately. Thank you for letting me keep my pride.

Good technique! Comments By: Steph

I also found that as I was working the ring off, applying pressure to the underside of the finger to give it a little more "give" on top, and then gradually wiggling the top part of the ring over the knuckle worked really well. The top part of a knuckle doesn't bulge like underneath, so it works pretty well. Ring's off!

What a life saver! Comments By: Karen

I stupidly put my wedding ring on at 3 weeks post partum. It's been stuck for 7 months. I just found out that I need an MRI, so I had to get it off. I tried this last night. My ring was off in a second. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Absolutely Fantastic!!!! Comments By: Alicia

Six weeks after having my daughter, I too was so excited that my wedding ring finally fit. Normally a very intelligent woman, I didn't even consider that the summer heat would cause my fingers to swell and, after one day of wear, my finger was so swollen that I knew I would have to cut my beautiful engagement ring and wedding band off. I couldn't sleep because my wedding ring was too tight and I felt like my circulation was being cut off. I woke my husband at about 3:00 in the morning to help me with this process. It's now 4:47 am and I had to write to say that this worked. Both rings have been removed and now I can sleep! Just one tip: take a very strong pain reliever before proceeding. I did and it still hurt but I can only imagine what it would have felt like without it. Good luck!

Saved my life! Comments By: Debbie

Thanks SO much. It worked a treat and I've still got my ring intact!

Thank You ... Thank You ...Thank You Comments By: Sarah Jane

This really does work! My finger was swollen and killing me - I was going to go to urgent care because I was scared of the pain, but Saturday night I couldn't take it anymore. I took 2 advil and We used medical tape and wrapped my finger very tightly I elevated it for 15 minutes - it was grey by then - then put ice on it and kept it elevated for another 15. My finger was the scariest color but we unwrapped it and my fiance pulled and windexed for me while I kept it elevated - It hurt like hell but after 6 minutes it was off and my antique ring was saved! I highly suggest you have someone else to help with the pulling - I couldn't have done it myself!

THE RING IS OFF!!!! Comments By: Kimberly Stovall

I used the advice and also kept running finger under cold water while pulling. It worked, ring is off and intact. It hurts while doing it but don't give up. THANK YOU!!!!!

ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty Comments By: Jay and Jana

I get off of work at 4am and come home to a crying wife. It seems that she took off her anniversary band and instead of putting it in her jewelry box - she slid it on another finger. Fell asleep. Yep you guessed it - whamo slammo - swolen finger. Well we tried cold water baby oil dawn detergent - nothing.

Then I found this site - zomg! After 5 minutes in an ice wrap - then saran wrap and ice water for 5 minutes and then windex/coldwater tugging - PRESTO!

Thank you so much - and oh yeah - definetly take the Tylenol!

Thank you sooooo much! Comments By: Amy

My fourteen year old daughter was wearing a cheap $1.00 ring I bought her at Target. Well, her finger swelled and she could not get the ring off. She has tried everything ( and she is not heavy at all). I read your comment and tried the ice then the windex. Wa-La! the ring came off after the 2nd application.

It worked!!! Wonder why the Windex helps? Comments By: aloha from hawaii

My son tried on my daughter's ring (probably thinking it was a man's ring since it is rather chunky)and couldn't get it off his finger. We tried everything - detergent, oil, butter - but nothing could get it off. His sister came home and was absolutely livid that he had tried the ring on in the first place, and adamantly said that it was not to be cut off ("Cut off his finger, Mom!" were her exact words.)I found this Windex suggestion on-line and made a trip to the store to buy a bottle. It took a lot of tugging and twisting (my son twisting his finger one way, while I twisted the other)but other than a swollen, abraded finger, he and the ring or none the worse for wear. Thank you very much for this suggestion.

what a relief!! Comments By: lesley

being 7 months pregnant my hands were fine until a hot weather swelled my fingers beyond belief until my beloved wedding and engagement ring were stuck and my fingers was going blue by the hour!!
i logged on and found this tip after reading the other positive reviews i gave it a go otherwise i was on my way to a.e as the pain was unbearable. oh y god it was amazing i followed everything precisely and in 2 tugs they were off, so so so so grateful -thank you xxxx

i can't believe it worked! Comments By: chickory

I had tried everything. Having hand surgery in 2 days. Wrapped finger and iced, waited 10 mins, used thick hand lotion and twisted like a screw. took 2 mins. Amazing, thanks!

GO TO THE JEWELER Comments By: Anon

Go to the jeweler - they'll cut it off for free and they can always repair them. I tried all these methods, windex, string, tape, ice, all just brought me pain - I was in and out of the jewlers in 2 minutes!! RELIEF!!!!!!!

Boy was I dubious - but it sure worked! Comments By: Chet

My wife is halfway through her pregnancy and it sure looked like we were going to have to go to the jewelers to get her rings cut off. But this worked! Follow the directions carefully and when it comes to working the ring off, just persevere and have patience (and use a lot of Windex). Little by little, micron by micron, they came off. Sure, it hurt, and her knuckle is kinda red-purple, but she sure feels better overall. And sure glad we didn't have to cut the rings. Hallelujah!

WOW IT WORKS!!!!!! Comments By: Carlie

I don't usually post comments, but I must tell this story. My engagement and wedding ring got stuck on my finger about six months ago. After 1 week, my husband pulled it off. Oh it hurt, but he kept pulling and off they came. Well my hsband is on a business trip and I rationalized that I probably could just wear one ring, but not both w/o getting stuck!!! WRONG!!!!

My engagement ring was stuck on my finger until I found this advice. I didn't keep the tape on but for 10 minutes , due the fact my finger was turning purple. I had to keep icing and holding abovee my head. It did turn purple, but it was moving. I think the most pain was lettin the ring stay at thepoint it was while I iced it more. But what a relief. I'll sleep better tonight. I am on a MISSION to lose weight NOW!!! Thanks again!!!