Any suggestions on how to find a diamond in a hoover bag?

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

Earlier this week I noticed I'd lost a small diamond from my ring.

So stopped wearing it, in case it meant other ones were more likely to fall out.

Yesterday I was aggressively hoovering and just as realisation struck that a tiny sparkle might be it, it was too late Avd bastarding Henry had gobbled it up.

Today is the day of mining.

It's going to get messy.

Pretty sure it's quite a full bag - I use Henry to hoover the ash out the fireplace every couple of days.

I'm thinking of clingfilming the kitchen table and just delving in - it should be near the top/side entrance point, but who knows?

Any other smart ideas, before I my kitchen resembles Eyjafjallajökull? (Yes, I did Google )

I would shift through using a sieve and a muslin cloth and looking through carefully. Shine a strong table light or touch on it and it should sparkle.

Gently tip out the bag. Take a bright torch (or phone torch) and, before you move any debris look very carefully, from all angles. Look for the glint. Then take a handful at a time and do the same, before delving through, handful by handful. Put each checked handful into a bucket in case you don’t find it at the end. Rinse and repeat. Good luck!

I'd have thought the diamond would be heavier than most of the stuff hoovered up, so I think I'd cut a hole in the bottom, and sift through that stuff first.

Tip it into water

I would empty it out into a shallow tray and look through it by hand before using the smallest sieve I could find
I would then rinse it handful by handful under the tap in the sieve, the water will wash away the dust
Good luck

No - don't rinse under a tap! You could wash it away. A lot of sieves aren't fine enough to not let a tiny stone through.

I would do it in the bath, plug in of course.

Tip the contents out. Put the leg of a pair of tights over the hose. Hoover up again. You should catch the diamond.

Brush a plate with oil, then put the rubbish on it a handful at a time and run some water over it - do it over a bowl so there’s no chance of anything being lost.

The rest of the rubbish will run off with the water but the diamond should stick as diamonds don’t get wet.

This is how diamonds are sorted on the mines, they run all the stone/sand etc on a conveyor which has been greased. Then the sand and stone runs off but because the diamonds don’t absorb any water they stick.

You can then repeat the process using a sieve if no luck there and because the diamond is heaviest it will sink to the bottom.

I grew up on a diamond mine.

Oh God good luck I hate sifting through rubbish if I have accidentally thrown something away hope you find it!

@AlternativePerspective

Brush a plate with oil, then put the rubbish on it a handful at a time and run some water over it - do it over a bowl so there’s no chance of anything being lost.

The rest of the rubbish will run off with the water but the diamond should stick as diamonds don’t get wet.

This is how diamonds are sorted on the mines, they run all the stone/sand etc on a conveyor which has been greased. Then the sand and stone runs off but because the diamonds don’t absorb any water they stick.

You can then repeat the process using a sieve if no luck there and because the diamond is heaviest it will sink to the bottom.

I grew up on a diamond mine.

This goes to prove it’s always worth asking on mumsnet!

Good luck op.

@Orpheline

Tip the contents out. Put the leg of a pair of tights over the hose. Hoover up again. You should catch the diamond.

This have done it for other tiny items

Tip the contents into a bowl and dampen it down. Then you should be able to feel anything hard in the fluff no matter how small. Also use a small torch and search for a glint if diamond.

@Orpheline

Tip the contents out. Put the leg of a pair of tights over the hose. Hoover up again. You should catch the diamond.

This - using a pop sock and put the Hoover no bag contents in a small bucket or similar. No water ... think of the mess

This is what diamond polishers do. Also don’t fret too much, if it’s a tiny stone it won’t be too expensive to replace.

Thanks for all your suggestions, alas to no avail .

I'd broken a glass a couple of ays befire, so was sorting through glass and dust in the bag.

I persevered for about and hour and then worked out the probablilty. A teeny sparkly thing in exactly the same place that a glass had shattered? Twas exceedingly unlikely it was my diamond, so just shrugged and left it.

But Cheers again. Photo of a third of it all

Hopefully attached