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How to Cleanse Crystals: Crystals Cleaning, Charging & Caring at Home
Suppose you’re a regular user of healing crystals. In that case, you probably know how well they work in promoting emotional balance, mental clarity, and spiritual well-being by channelling the energy that surrounds you. While the enchanting and intriguing powers of crystals work in your favour, there is a flip side.
Sometimes, crystals get too overwhelmed with the energies they are dealing with, rendering them useless after a while. It’s like any other device you use; you need to do proper “maintenance” to ensure it’s durable and functional. In crystal terms, it’s usually called cleansing.
But what does that really mean? Is it the same as cleaning off dust? And what happens if you forget? In this blog, we’ll discuss how to cleanse crystals, charge them, and keep them energetically healthy without resorting to expensive methods or replacing your existing crystals with new ones.
Cleaning, Cleansing, and Charging: What’s the Difference?
Cleansing of crystals is just as important as learning how to use them. But cleansing is not just keeping them clean; it’s much more than that. Well, let’s admit that cleaning and cleansing sound pretty similar, but they are radically different from each other.
So let’s break it down:
- Cleaning just means physically removing dirt, fingerprints, or dust. It’s like cleaning any object, really and is kind of a no-brainer.
- Cleansing deals with energy rather than physical impurities. Cleansing involves clearing stagnant or unwanted energy that your crystals might have absorbed. No matter which crystal you use, it picks up vibrations from you, your space, and even other people who touch it. You need to adopt different types of cleansing methods to eliminate this unwanted energy.
- Charging is the final step, where it’s like recharging a battery. Once the cleansing of your crystal is done, all of its energy might be cleared off, so you “fill it back up” with positive energy so it can work at its best.A crystal must be cleansed before it can be effectively charged. You cannot charge a crystal that is full of negative energy.
So it’s straightforward; Clean, Cleanse, Charge. When people talk about how to cleanse crystals, they usually mean energetic cleansing. But ideally, you’ll want to do all three.
Why Cleansing Matters
Crystals are energy conductors. If they absorb too much negativity, they can start to feel “off.” That’s when you might notice they’re duller, heavier, or less effective in meditation or healing work.
But the worst part is they may hold onto energy that doesn’t belong to you, something like emotional residue from others or stagnant vibes from stressful environments. Think about drinking from a dusty glass. You need to clean it and fill it with good water again. That’s what cleansing and charging are all about.
How to Cleanse Your Crystals
Again, cleansing means clearing those unwanted energies from your crystal. Most cleansing methods involve using natural elements on your crystals, and most are very easy to execute. Let’s look at them one by one:
Smoke Cleansing
When you light a sage bundle, incense stick, or Palo Santo, and gently waft the smoke over your crystals for 30–60 seconds, the smoke swirls around them. The smoke is believed to carry away any stagnant or negative energy, leaving the crystal refreshed.
Smoke cleansing works best for porous, metallic, or fragile crystals. This is because other methods might cause physical damage to the crystals. For example, Angelite is best cleansed with smoke because it’s too delicate to be treated in water. Malachite is susceptible to moisture, so it benefits from smoke cleansing as well. If you’re sensitive to smoke, incense cones or herbal smudge sprays are good alternatives.
Water Cleansing
Water cleansing comes with an added bonus; it lets you clean the crystal as well. Running your crystal under cool tap water or soaking it in salt water for a few minutes can remove stagnant energy.
The only thing you need to keep in mind is that some crystals cannot hold well in the presence of water. Avoid water for soft or porous crystals like selenite, malachite, lapis lazuli, or calcite, as they can dissolve or get damaged. As a rule of thumb, crystals whose name ends with “ite” generally are not water-safe.
Crystals like quartz, amethyst, and aventurine are water-safe, so you can hold them under running water while setting the intention that they’re being purified. To be fair, this is an area that requires a bit of research. So if you’re unsure, skip the water. There are plenty of dry methods that work just as well.
Moonlight Cleansing
Compared to smoke and water, moonlight is a safer option for your crystal to be cleansed in. You can just leave your crystals under moonlight on your balcony or windowsill overnight and let them absorb the energy of the moon. The lunar energy is strongest on full moon days, and it helps release negativity from your stones.
Stones like moonstone, selenite, and amethyst are connected to the Crown Chakra and lunar energies, so they benefit a great deal from this method.
Sunlight Cleansing
The sun’s bright, uplifting energy is a popular way to cleanse and refresh crystals. Sunlight helps clear away unwanted vibes while boosting the crystal with its natural, energising force. Place your crystal for a couple of hours on your windowsill or somewhere it can absorb the energy.
Sunlight cleansing works best on crystals that resonate with the sun’s energy, such as tiger’s eye, citrine, and clear quartz. Then again, don’t leave them under the sunlight for too long because it can cause fading. You also might want to avoid this method on light-sensitive crystals like amethyst or rose quartz.
Salt Bed or Dry Salt Cleansing
Chemically speaking, salt is a crystal as well. Hence, it possesses some powers on its own. Salt is known for absorbing negative energy. You can place your crystals on a bed of sea salt for a few hours to overnight. Make sure you discard the salt and don’t reuse it for cooking or future cleansing.
Hard, durable crystals like Clear Quartz, Citrine, and Black Tourmaline work well with salt cleansing. Avoid using salt for soft, porous, or metallic stones such as Selenite, Pyrite, Malachite, and Lapis Lazuli, as they can be damaged or corroded by salt.
Sound Cleansing
Sound is basically a collection of waves that has a range of frequencies. Once these waves penetrate a crystal, it can restore the crystal’s energetic balance. The best part is, there is absolutely no physical contact involved, making this method perfect for delicate crystals. If you’ve got a large collection of crystals, sound cleansing is the most effective option because you can cleanse all of them at once using a single sound source.
You can use a singing bowl, a tuning fork, or even gentle chanting as a sound source. Hold your crystal near the sound source for about 30 seconds to a minute and allow the sound to penetrate the stones.
Earth Cleansing
You can use the earth’s grounding properties to release the negative energies in your crystals. Earth cleansing is an easy process as you just need to bury your crystal at a good spot in your garden or backyard; any area with a lot of soil free from chemicals or fertilizers. The pit you dig should ideally be 3 to 6 inches deep and once you place the crystal, just cover it with the soil.
Once you leave the crystal for at least 24 hours, the grounding power of the Earth will do the rest. Be mindful of the weather because snow or rain could make the crystal overly moist and cause damage.
Earth cleansing works best for grounding crystals like hematite and smoky quartz. Make sure your crystal is durable and not susceptible to dirt and moisture.
How to Charge Your Crystals
Cleansing your crystals is like stripping your phone battery out of juice. Now you have to recharge it so that you can use it again. Charging this crystal means refilling them with vibrant, clean energy. You can adopt any cleansing methods for charging as well because all these sources can also provide the energy for charging. But it’s your intention that differentiates the two processes.
Sun, Moon, and Earth Charging
No matter which method you use for cleansing, you can place your crystals under sunlight or moonlight to charge, or bury them in soil. While charging, you must make sure you hold the crystal and ‘feed’ your intentions on to it, such as focus solely on the desired outcome.
Moonlight is gentler, especially for sensitive stones like amethyst or rose quartz. Sunlight works great for stones that need a boost, such as citrine or tiger’s eye.
Crystal Clusters or Geodes
You can place smaller crystals on top of large quartz or amethyst clusters to charge them. These stones naturally radiate cleansing energy and act like energetic charging stations. This is particularly handy when you need to recharge multiple crystals at once.
How To Cleanse And Charge Crystal Bracelets and Jewellery
If you wear crystal jewellery, it picks up a lot more energy because it’s constantly in contact with your skin and surroundings. That’s why knowing how to cleanse a crystal bracelet matters.
Here’s how to do it safely:
- Wipe with a soft, damp cloth to remove sweat or dirt.
- Avoid harsh cleaning solutions at all because it’s not ideal to use chemicals on your crystals. But salt water as well because they can damage the elastic or metal parts.
- Cleanse energetically with smoke, sound, or moonlight once a week.
The best method we recommend is moonlight charging because you have little to no chance of damaging the crystal or other metallic parts in the process.
For example, Amethyst is one of the most popular crystals used in jewellery but also one that can fade in sunlight. To cleanse and charge Amethyst, skip the sun and opt for moonlight, sound, or smoke cleansing instead.
Water cleansing is also good if the crystal used is not susceptible. For example, selenite, angelite, and malachite should never be soaked in water or salt. Keep them dry and cleanse them with gentle methods.
Finally, take a look at the metallic part of your jewellery and understand the type, for example gold or silver. You might want to check guides on how to clean gold and silver ornaments because this is completely different from the crystals mounted on them.
Learning how to cleanse and charge your crystals is all about connecting with your stones in a way that feels meaningful to you. Each method works differently on different crystals.
When it’s done with intention, you can use the same methods for charging. By cleansing, charging, and caring for your crystals regularly, you’re keeping them energetically clear.If you’re looking for a new crystal, make sure you follow this guide to ensure it works best for you. Visit our online store today to explore a ton of new collections of scientifically enhanced crystals.