Got dirty crystals? It's the perfect time to clean, charge, and program them for your healing intent. Learn how cleansing, recharging, and focusing the energy of your stones will leave you in a positive bubble of freshness.
Watch the Crystal Care Video
Watch the video and learn how to maximize your crystal healing practice. Sheila Satin will go over the content of this Crystal Care article and show you how easy it is to maintain the metaphysical cleanliness of your crystals with visual examples.
Why should I clean my crystals?
You should clean your crystals because they pick up negative energies. When you do healing work with your crystal, it acts as an energetic lint roller. You must at some point remove the lint from the roller so it can continue working optimally.
How often should I clean my crystals?
If you are actively using your crystals for healing sessions, you will want to clean them constantly. If you are working on yourself, your friend, or a client, after each session you should be cleaning the energy of your stones.
If you are casually using your crystals for healing, you don't have to clean them as often. You could create a schedule, like once a month, once a week, or once a season. This applies if you are using your gemstones as decoration pieces or wearing them as jewelry. In these instances, you are not actively focusing the crystal's energy on healing work.
How do I clean my crystals?
There are several methods to energetically clean your crystals.
Cleansing Methods for All Crystals
The following are recommended by Satin Crystals because they are safe for all stones:
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Smoke of sage, incense, palo santo, or smudge sticks waved over the stone at a distance of at least 2 feet away. Just like smoke clears out your home or office space energetically, it is great for clearing out your crystals.
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Place the crystal in a singing bowl and allow the musical vibration to break apart negative energy buildup and replace it with positive. This can be done in a metal Tibetan singing bowl or a Quartz crystal bowl. You could also take the crystals to a sound bath with you.
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Activate a tuning forks and wave it over your stone for vibration healing and cleansing. You could also gently place the end of the fork directly on the stone.
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Place your stone on a crystal cluster to rejuvenate your stone. Clusters are crystal points growing out of a common base, always circulating energy.
Cleansing Methods for Some Crystals
The following energy cleansing methods are also popular but are not suitable for all stones. Remember that your crystal is a mineral, so when placed in liquid, salt, or other substances there may be an adverse reaction.
For example:
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Water-soluble crystals should not be placed in water
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Soft stones should not be placed with salt which can scratch them
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Polished stones may lose their glossy exterior in saltwater
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Buried stones may have permanent dirt in their veins
If unsure, please ask us about the compatibility of your stone with a technique before proceeding:
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Water methods. Water is the most popular method for cleaning crystals because of its purifying associations. This cleanses your crystals both physically and metaphysically. You can run your crystals under tap water, soak them in a glass, or place them in a mesh bag in a running stream or ocean waves.
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Returning to the earth. Burying your crystals in the earth is another favorite. It grounds the energy back to Source and allows your stone to take a little nap. You can bury your crystals in a potted plant, in your garden, or in the sand at the beach.
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Embedding in brown rice or sea salt. The organic and earthy nature of brown rice is a favorite method among the holistic community. It is cleaner than burying your stones in the soil. Sea salt is another popular option for its cleansing abilities.
How long do I leave my crystals in brown rice? Can I reuse it?
The length of time you place your crystals in brown rice is a subjective issue. For those who use their crystals for active healing and feel like the stones are full of unwanted energies, using the rice just once for cleansing may be enough.
For those who use their crystals sporadically, they may keep their crystals displayed on the bed of rice for years. Not only does the rice provide a cleansing energy, it is also a natural cushioned bed for your crystals to live on.
Once you feel like your rice is no longer providing the same fresh energy as it did in the beginning, you can either compost it or cook it and eat it.
Is my crystal okay in salt? Can I reuse it?
Crystals that have a hardness of at least 3 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness are okay in salt. Salt has a hardness of 2.5 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness, so it will scratch anything below a 2.5. To be on the safe said, we recommend your stones to be at least a 3.
For example, Selenite is a 2 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness and will definitely be scratched by the salt. Angelite and Calcite hover around a 3, so they may withstand the salt, but to be on the safe side, especially if these are polished stones, we would keep them out of salt.
Like the brown rice, once you feel like the salt is no longer providing you with fresh energy, you can either compost or cook with it.
How do I charge my crystals?
Once your crystal is energetically cleaned, you want to charge it up. Like a battery, the crystals' energies will be depleted over time.
To charge your crystal, choose one or more of the following methods:
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Place it on a crystal cluster. This is a dual-purpose method considering you can both clean and charge your crystals on one gemstone cluster.
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Place it on a charging crystal. This can be a Selenite stone, an Agate slab, a Carnelian bowl. Any previously cleansed, charged and programmed crystal that has enough stable surface space for the crystal you now want to charge.
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Place it under sunlight. The sun provides you with active, yang, healing energies. Leave your crystal under the sun for a full day. Keep in mind that some crystals may fade in the sun, in which case you can place them in indirect sunlight.
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Place it under moonlight. The moon provides you with calming, yin, intuitive energies. Leave your crystal under the moon for a full night.
For enhanced charging energies, place your crystals under both the sunlight and the moonlight, a 24 hour day's cycle. And for maximum energy, charge your crystals under a full moon, supermoon, or eclipse. These astrological events provide you and your stones with a powerful force of healing extravaganza.
How long do I leave my crystals in water?
For water-safe crystals, you can run them under water for a few minutes or leave them soaking for up to a 24 hour cycle. If you are unsure and don't mind experimenting, test them under running water for a few seconds at a time.
If you are sensitive to energies, you will intuitively know when your crystals are cleansed. If you are not yet open to your intuitive abilities, leave them in water for a full cycle of either the moon, the sun, or both.
After a while you will get a sense of how "dirty" your crystals are. If they have absorbed a lot of unwanted energy during an energy healing session, you may leave them in water for a few hours. If it is a routine cleaning and the crystals haven't been doing much but been on display, you may be comfortable with soaking them for a few minutes.
Why do I need to program my crystals?
When you look up your crystal's healing properties, you will discover that there are many different purposes for your stone. To help focus your intent, you want to pick only one property and program it into the crystal.
Watch the crystal programming video
Here is our original video on programming your crystals for healing. Despite the classic grainy view of old-school videos, the content still applies!
How do I program my crystals?
You program your crystals with your thoughts and intents. Intuition is your sixth sense, a knowing that goes beyond the confines of your everyday mind. Thoughts are the highest vibration of energy. Thoughts and intentions are very powerful when programming a crystal.
Before programming your crystal:
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Calm your mind. Make sure you are in a peaceful and positive mental state. It helps to meditate before programming your crystal.
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Deprogram the crystal. Tell the crystal to forget any previous programming and imagine the intents vanishing into the ether.
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Form your intent. What do you want the crystal to do? Help you in healing? Help you attract love? Help you be successful in your job? Help you study? Say it in the present tense. For example, “Thank you for opening my Heart chakra to receive love.” Special requests should be included. Keep it positive!
Once you have formed your intent:
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Place your crystal on your Third Eye chakra, hold it in your hand, or between both palms in meditation.
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Say your intention out loud or quietly in your mind, directing your thoughts to your crystal. You can choose to repeat your intention as many times as it feels right.
How often should I program my crystals?
Programming your crystal only needs to be done once per intention. If you want to focus the stone on a different one of its healing properties, you can deprogram it and then repeat the programming steps for the new intention.
Refreshed for healing action
That's it! Your crystal is now cleaned, charged, and programmed for its healing journey. Just like you feel like a new person when stepping out of the shower, your crystal feels the same after its virtual shower. It is refreshed and ready for holistic duties.
Here are some additional crystal healing resources:
Add to your crystal healing collection:
Shop for Crystals
Need some new crystals to program with intentions? Visit the Satin Crystals Best Sellers or shop right here on the blog:
Contact Satin Crystals
Still have questions about energetically cleaning, charging, or programming your crystals? Write to us and either Sheila or Lisa will get back to you!
