Married People Explain How Often They Take Their Wedding Ring Off

When two people get married, there's an assumption that others tend to make: that the couple will wear their wedding rings no matter what, and if they don't, it's a sign of a troubled marriage and a lack of commitment.

But there are lots of reasons not to wear wedding rings full-time, from cleanliness to safety to health concerns.

Curious, Redditor FitProblem6248 asked:

"To those who are married, how often do you take off your ring?"

Wedding Rings Don't Clock In

"I take it off when I'm working, especially without gloves, because De-Gloving is a thing and I would like that to not happen to me."

- Ruather

"When I was a teenager, I loaded the delivery truck for my dad's business. One day, while we were loading up, the driver grabbed the edge of the back gate of the truck to jump off. I learned what degloving was. It was horrible."

"When I got married, I decided I wouldn't wear metal rings."

- Scorp1979

A Fidget Spinner

"I take it off to fidget many times a day. Also, if I’m doing anything with my hands where it might slip off or get snagged."

- PoopMobile9000

"This is me, too. I use my rings as fidget spinners throughout the day several times a day. Otherwise, they are on all the time…. Unless they might get damaged due to lifting something heavy or lost due to some activity like snorkeling."

"If the rings will be off for a prolonged amount of time (e.g.; beach vacation or half marathon), we switch to rubber rings."

- Puzzleheaded_Lie6786

Over-stimulating

"I've been married for 10 years. My ring bothered me all the time, and I kept taking it off and forgetting to put it back on. For our ninth anniversary, we gifted each other silicone bands. Our official rings are in the jewelry box."

"I still take off the silicone ring frequently (I really don't like the feeling of things on my hands,) but I don't feel too worried about losing it."

- FillPsychological284

Conditional Wearing, Unconditional Love

"Every night. I don’t shower or sleep with it on."

- KYlibrarian

"This is me plus anytime I’m handling ground meat, like when making meatballs."

- fullstormlace

Special Occasions

"Every day. I only put it on if I’m going somewhere (like work) and I’m not going to be playing sports or exercising. Around the house or when I’m sleeping, I don’t wear it."

- GrimeyScorpioDuffman

"I treat it like a watch. It's in a dish next to my wallet and keys, and I put it on when I leave."

- SamHinkiesNephew

"Newlywed here, and I wear it like a watch. It sits in the same valet case I keep my watches in. More or less, when I am going to be outside the home and seen socially, and not when doing dirty physical work, but with various random exceptions."

"My wife wears her engagement ring and wedding band 24/7, which is hard for me to fathom, but it works for her."

- AdmirableLab3155

Photo-Worthy

"Only when I’m cooking, sleeping, showering, working out, cleaning, traveling, or doing literally anything that involves my hands. So basically… It’s on for photos."

- RayJay2018

"I bought a metal ring when we first got married, and it was so uncomfortable, so I almost never wore it. My wife was a little upset about. I started wearing one of the rubber ones, and I forgot that it’s there. I never take it off now."

- Salty_Bandicoot3598

Uncomfortable Jewelry

"I don’t wear a ring. I don’t like wearing jewelry. I tried wearing a ring for several months after we got married, but just couldn’t take it anymore. I told my wife that I’d get a ring tattooed."

"My wife told me that wasn’t necessary, she trusts me. We have been married for eight years."

- Optimal-Hyena-1492

"Same, except I am the wife. My husband wears his and finds it comfortable. I don't wear any type of jewelry. I wore a silicone ring for six months, but even it still felt odd. We've been married 17 years and going strong."

- SpecialPrevious8585

A Constant Companion

"Never. I never took off my ring for the 9 years I was married. After my wife passed, I still wore it for a few months. Finally taking it off was really emotional."

- 12345_PIZZA

"I'm really sorry for your loss. I didn't lose mine, but my wife of 12 years recently dropped on me that she wanted a divorce, no real explanation, and no chance to rebuild things."

"The divorce process is starting now, and coincidentally, I lost my ring two weeks ago. I lost a bit of weight this year, and I guess my finger shrank just enough for it to slip off without me noticing."

"Despite everything going on, it was heartbreaking when I realized I had lost it. I pretty much never took it off for the last 12 years."

- Mr_Festus

More Like An Old Friend

"I used to keep it on all the time, but now, 35 years later, I don’t wear it much anymore. Gardening, baking, cleaning… life. He knows I still love him."

- kadawkins

"This. I kept it on all the time for 10 years. Now I just put it on when I'm going out of the house as part of my 'keys, wallet, phone' routine."

- darkdesertedhighway

Wedding And Engagement Ring Rules

"I never take off my wedding ring, but I take off my engagement ring at night because the metal work is really ornate and I don’t want it to catch on anything. Husband’s never taken his ring off."

- vegeterin

A Quick Check-In

"Maybe once every couple months, I'll make sure it's not actually stuck on my finger. Very occasionally, I'll take it off for a particularly messy task, like hand-mixing meatloaf. And I've probably had to take it off at the doctor's office for some reason? But that's it."

- JollyJeanGiant83

An Impractical Accessory

"We've been married 30 years this past October, and our wedding rings are tied together hanging from a wedding picture in our bedroom."

"It’s never been practical for either one of us to wear a ring. Tried to put mine on around our anniversary couldn’t get it past the first knuckle. Would it be normal to need to get a ring resized over time?"

- JunketAccurate

A Necessary Purchase

"I don’t wear my wedding ring. Neither does my husband. We kind of just got them because we thought we should, the wedding tattoos we got were more meaningful to both of us."

- MaggieLuisa

"Oh, same! My wife and I got variations of the same tattoo after we became serious... nothing overtly couple-y, just something we both like and that reminds us of each other."

"I wouldn't be upset to lose my ring somehow. It's just a bit of metal and wasn't expensive. (Well, ok, I WOULD be upset, but I'd get over it.) But if something happened to my tattoo, like a burn or something, I'd be devastated."

- eggybasket

A Good Average

"After 28 years... I don't think I can count them on my fingers anymore. The first few days, I was super paranoid, taking it off to shower and such. Then I just didn't."

"The next time it came off was about fifteen years later for resizing. I've taken it off for cleaning a few times since then, and it fell off once, so I had to put a sizing insert in. Still, I'm pretty sure I've averaged under once a year."

- ChemistryPerfect4534

Whenever 'Lord Of The Rings' Calls

"I take it off whenever I hear Sauron’s voice."

- KingAustin94

"'I SEE YOU… HAVEN’T DONE... THE DISH…'"

- Dargus007

"Cast it into the fiery chasm from whence it caaame. Keep the marriage if you like it!"

- LeinDaddy

While everyone's approach was different, the subReddit could agree that the true magic was in the marriage itself and the love shared between two people. Nothing could take that away or ascertain it, not even a worn ring, a lost ring, or a tattooed ring.