Care of Natural Stones
The degrees of hardness of natural stones are different from each other. Apart from the very hard ones like diamond, most of them are brittle and easily crumbly. Layered and aggregated stones may break apart and stones such as Selenite may melt when in contact with water. Polished surfaces, natural prism tips can be easily scratched, corroded and damaged. For this reason, great care should be taken while maintaining and cleaning the stones, and they should be stored carefully (in its box or in a small pouch) when not in use.
Round or tumbled stones are more durable, they do not have ends to break. During the tumbling process, they rotate between fine sands for hours and become more durable in structure. The ones that are round by themselves (eg natural tumbling due to the waves in the sea) are durable in terms of structure. Your round stones can be stored in a bag, but you should store your pointed stones separately. When you do not use your natural stones, wrapping them in silk or velvet covers will also protect your stones from scratches.
When you buy your stones, you should clean them before using them and at regular intervals while using them. You should not let others touch your stones or if you have bought jewelry from someone else, you should definitely clean it before using it. Natural stones, especially crystals, may have negative energies of the person who used them before, and these negative energies may pass on to you.
There are multiple methods of natural stone cleaning. The most effective are;
- Cleaning with running water
- Clean in sea water or salt water
- Cleaning by burial
- Cleansing with incense
Cleaning with running water is appropriate for stones that are not easily broken down. You can hold it under running water, immerse it in sea water or salt water. You can soak more gentle stones in sea water or salt water. When you apply this method, you can be sure that all the negativities in your stone will flow away. The energy of your stone will be renewed.
After cleaning the stone, leaving it in the sun or moonlight for a few hours will help the stone to recharge with energy and recharge itself. (While doing this, be careful that the color of your stone does not fade in sunlight.) Note: Be careful that the sun’s rays do not break the light and cause a fire.
You can purify your stone from negative energies by burying it in the ground for at least 1 day (24 hours). The soil in the open area is more effective, but if you do not have the opportunity, you can bury it in the soil at the bottom of the pot.
In the cleaning method with incense, you can process your stone and pass it through candlelight. You can also place your stones in the way that the light surrounds them, allowing them to be purified and reset their energies.
Some stones never require cleaning. Citrine, Kyanite, Azeztulite are self-cleaning stones.
Transparent quartz and Carnelian have the ability to clean other stones. This method can be tried especially for fragile and delicate stones. However, after use for this purpose, they must be cleaned by other methods.
At what intervals should I clean my stone?
There is no clear time for this. Depending on your usage, you can clean it once a month or every 3 months.
