Hello lovely! Whether you've just purchased new crystals or jewelry, this article can provide you with the basics to keep them in their best condition. As many of you have probably already experienced, crystals are a powerful and easy way to work with your energy, practice inner healing, and use for spiritual practices. While they are an amazing tool, they require care and knowledge to keep them as pristine as they were when you purchased them. Knowing the basics of care, crystal storage, and crystal sensitivities will be extremely useful in keeping your crystal collection sparkling. 

Cleansing, Setting Intentions, and Charging Crystals

Why and When Do I Energy Cleanse Crystals?

Crystals absorb and release energy constantly. That is why we are so able to connect with their energies and set intentions for our crystals. Just like humans, crystals can also absorb external negative or stagnant energies that no longer serve a purpose. Leaving these energies in your crystals can have a negative effect on their usefulness. No one will know your crystals better than you, the one connected to their energy. What I like to do when I am working with a crystal is just hold it in my hand and focus on its energy. If I get a feeling the energy is not right for my current intention or that the energy isn’t quite as strong as usual, I will do a cleansing. You can cleanse your crystals as often or as seldom as you desire, but just know the effect of not cleansing your crystals is that they will be less effective. There are many different methods for cleansing crystals, and you should use your intuition to use the method you like best, being mindful of crystal specific sensitivities like water or sunlight. 

Methods for Cleansing Crystals:

Water

Moonlight

Smoke/Smudging

Meditation

Other Crystals like Selenite

Smudging Your Crystals

One way to energy cleanse your crystals is by smudging, this is a great way to cleanse multiple crystals at once. You'll want to open doors and windows for this method, to allow energy to move freely. Using the herb of your choice, like white sage or rosemary, light your smudge stick and allow the smoke to billow from it. Waft the smoke around your gemstones allowing it to carry away any negative or blocked energy it might be storing. Continue this until your smudge stick goes out or until you feel that the energy has been cleared.

Cleansing with Moonlight

Place your gemstones either on a windowsill or outside, so they can receive direct moonlight overnight. This ritual is more powerful during a full moon, but can be done anytime the moon is out. This practice can also be used for charging your crystal energy. 

Setting Intentions

Once you receive your new crystals and have cleansed them, you need to program them to tell them how to work for you. This can be done by simply holding the crystal in your palms, focusing all your light energy on your intention, and connecting with the subtle frequency of the crystal. Allow the light energy to surround your crystal with its warmth. Your intuition is key here, continue this meditation with your crystal until you feel like your intentions have set in, and you're familiar with the energy of your new crystal. You may use a more prescribed ritual if you wish, by using a guided meditation online. 

Charging Your Crystals

While cleansing your crystals clears out blocked energy, and setting intentions programs them with what to do, every so often charging them can increase their power and energy. This can be done whenever you feel your crystals energy is lacking or just not a strong as usual. Charging crystals can be done in a few ways as well, and as always your intuition will guide you through this process. The moon can not only be used to cleanse your crystals, but charge them too. The moon is packed with calming feminine energy, which can be channeled to charge your gemstones. This is done just the same as cleansing under moonlight, the only difference is your intention. The sun is a powerful tool for charging gemstones as well. The energy from the sun brings vitality and masculine light energy. Placing your stones in direct sunlight for a few hours can reenergize your gemstones and empower them to work for you. A third method for charging is meditation, you can charge crystals with your own light energy by focusing your intentions on your gemstone while holding it between your palms, similar to cleansing with meditation. 

Don't Feel Overwhelmed

When it comes to crystals in our modern world, everyone seems to have a different set of rules for how to use them and care for them. I say, to hell with the rules, what's inside your heart and mind is all that matters. Your spirit knows exactly how to work with your crystals, when and how to cleanse and charge them, and how to work with them in daily life. Use this as a guide and a place to start, but let your intuition and your own connection to crystals pave the way for you. There can be no right or wrong way to do things when you're listening to your higher self. 

Crystal Sensitivities

Sensitivity To Heat and Water

This part is VERY VERY important to those new to crystals. I have seen way too many people sun bleach their amethyst, loose selenite by trying to water cleanse it, and so on. Crystals may look like sturdy rocks, but some of them are very delicate and should be treated as such. Water, heat, and sunlight are the most common risks for damage.

Water

Essentially, any crystal below a 5 on the Moh hardness scale should not be put in water or it will get damaged. Here is an example that you may use as a guide to which crystals are not water safe.

Source: www.crystalclearintuition.com

The most common crystals to note to keep out of water are:

Lepidolite

Fluorite

Selenite

Angelite

Calcite

Malachite

Amber

Chrysocolla

Lapis Lazuli

Rhodonite

Opal

Turquoise

If you are not sure about putting a new crystal in water, just remember that if its below a 5, it can’t be cleansed in water. You can easily search the crystal’s Moh hardness online.

Heat

A really common and unknown problem with certain crystals is that their bright colors can fade in heat or sunlight. You can always cleanse these crystals with smoke or moonlight as an alternative. Some of the most common heat/light sensitive crystals are:

Amethyst: color will fade to a grey color when left in sunlight for an extended period of time. Amethyst under extreme heat turns an orange color, and is commonly confused for or sold as Citrine.

Chalcedony: Chalcedony is especially sensitive to light, and will fade to a moonstone like color faster than other heat sensitive crystals do. Please be extra careful with this stone, she is gorgeous but delicate!

Turquoise: Real turquoise is very sensitive to light and heat and will fade.

Rose Quartz: Rose quartz will fade and look like a foggy clear quartz

Kunzite: fades in sunlight

Hiddenite: Color fades in sunlight to a white color

Apatite: Will lose color in sunlight

Aquamarine: Will fade to white in sunlight

Calcite: Could fade or get brittle in sunlight

Aventurine: Since it is a member of the quartz family, it will fade in sunlight

Citrine: Will turn clear in sunlight

Fluorite: Gets very hot in the sunlight

Unakite: The color will fade in sunlight

Just like with stones that are sensitive to water, you can easily search if a new crystal is safe to sun cleanse or wear in sunlight for a long period of time.

Crystal Care

Crystal Storage

I have crystals practically everywhere: my car, room, yard, office, purse, body, and so on. I love being surrounded by crystal energy everywhere I go, but it is important to be mindful of where you store them. Crystals with points or those that are softer can get damaged more easily. I highly recommend creating a space in your room, not in direct sunlight, to organize your crystals intuitively into grids, color, shape, or whatever you wish.Many people keep altars intentionally set up with crystals and spiritual tools all together. Feel free to have fun with your altar! Its all about your personality and the kind of energy you want to have while working at your altar. Mine includes crystals of course, books, Buddha statues, a tree of life, sage, candles, and more. There are many guides online to help you get started creating your own sacred space.

Apart from keeping them on your altar, you can put crystals that are not sensitive to light or water in your garden or yard to promote good energy and growth. You can also grid your house or room with crystals to intentionally manifest and set the energy for your home or room. Blog post on this coming soon, but for now there are guides to this in books and I have linked a guide to gridding your home or room below. Jewelry that is not being worn can be stored anywhere dry, cool, and out of direct sunlight. No matter where you choose to store your crystals, just consider the likelihood of them getting damaged before it is too late. Although don't stress, it is common for stones to chip or break, especially softer ones. 

Basic Jewelry Care

Jewelry is bound to be subject to the elements over time which can cause tarnish or discoloration. But no need to worry! There are precautions you can take to keep those pieces like new. First, avoid showering with jewelry in general. While showering with sterling silver can be help it keep its shine, make sure to check if the stones your piece contains are water sensitive (more on water sensitivity below). Gold jewelry and rose gold should be kept away from water and direct sunlight for long periods of time. A soft microfiber cloth can also be helpful for cleaning and polishing every once in a while (Like the one provided in your package).

Work With Your Crystals!

The best way to get the most out of your crystals or jewelry is to work with their energy often. Even if it is just picking up a crystal you haven’t used in a while and holding it for a few seconds. This will keep the crystals connected to your energy field and strengthen the flow of energy within the crystal. Of course the more you can cleanse and charge your crystals the better. But personally, my collection has grown so much it can be really hard to pay attention to every single one on a weekly basis. Even acknowledging the presence of your crystals energy in the room can have a positive effect.

Don’t Be Rough With Them

Probably the most important of all, especially for jewelry, crystals are not made to wear while you workout, play sports, or any highly physical activity. This doesn’t mean you can’t accidentally forget to take your ring off before a game, just a warning to treat your crystals and jewelry with caution and know that they may break or the wire may bend if you are not careful. I always take my jewelry off before I shower and before I workout just to be safe. Even if they aren’t at risk of breaking, the better your treat your crystals and crystal jewelry the longer they will stay the same as when you bought them. As we work with crystals and their energies, I personally can say how disappointing it can be to lose or break a favorite crystal. Hopefully I have given you enough insight to be able to avoid a situation like that. Sending you all my love and gratitude! Please comment, email, or DM me if you have any questions on this topic or refer to the helpful links below.

More On This Topic

Crystals that cannot go in water  https://crystalclearintuition.com/crystals-not-in-water/

Moh Hardness Scale https://www.gemsociety.org/article/hardness-and-wearability/