You’ve done your research, read my guide to choosing out the perfect crystal, and finally bought one.

But now what?

The world of crystals is vast and can sometimes be confusing:

• Where do you start when it comes to using crystals?
• What are different crystal shapes used for?
• Are there ways to make crystals more effective?
• How do you cleanse crystals?

While these are ALL valid questions that I plan to write posts on in the future, today I will be focusing on the final one- how to cleanse crystals.

As I wrote about in my spiritual cleansing post, clearing built up spiritual energies is very important and crystals are no exception.

Why do you need to cleanse crystals?

When you first get a new crystal, it is carrying the imprint of countless others’ energy. This is why carrying a crystal around is one of my suggested methods for bonding with a crystal. Everyone who has previously held that stone leaves behind a piece of their energetic footprint. While this is great for acclimating a crystal to your energy, having too many confounding energies can overwhelm the feeling the stone gives off. This is why you should always cleanse new crystals when you get them!

Likewise, energies can build up if you use a crystal for a particularly emotional meditation session, use it for channeling intense feelings, or simply just carry it around with you every day!

Think of your crystals like a car and cleansing is an oil change. While your car technically can keep going past the recommended oil change date, it won’t be performing at it’s optimum capabilities. And if you let it go too long, it will stop performing well altogether.

Crystals are the same. While they’ll work okay when clouded with heavy energies, you’ll be able to get the most benefit from them if you regularly clear out any stale and unwanted energy.

Suggested Post: The Best Crystals for Intuition

How do you cleanse crystals?

There are no inherently right or wrong ways to cleanse your crystals. It’s all up to your personal preference and how your crystals react to the various methods! I’ve listed five methods below that you can use as a starting point for cleansing your crystals.

One thing I like to keep in mind for all of these methods is to focus on your intention. Don’t just wave your crystals through smoke or bury them mindlessly — really consider the fact that you are clearing all unwanted energy from them as you are carrying out the cleansing.

Smoke cleansing

Perhaps the most popular form of cleansing, smoke cleansing is a very easy and effective way to remove unwanted energies from pretty much anything.

You can use sage leaves, palo santo wood, incense, or any other dried cleansing herb of your choosing for this method. Simply light the herb bundle or stick on fire and gently blow the flame out so that it is left smoking. Then pass the crystal through the smoke until you feel that it’s energy is reset.

Please remember to always practice fire safety when using this method! Have something to catch the ashes in (I use an abalone shell), keep long hair and loose clothing away from the flames, and be mindful of any pets or small children whose lungs might be affected by burning herbs. Don’t worry if you don’t want to or are unable to burn anything, even though this is the “stereotypical” method of cleansing, the other ways work just as well!

Moonlight

Using moonlight to cleanse your crystals is probably the easiest method on this list. The moon has calming and healing properties, so using moonlight for cleansing crystals is a no-brainer.

To take advantage of this super easy method of cleansing, simply place your crystals in the moonlight overnight.

That’s it.

The full moon packs an extra punch for charging your crystals, but the moon’s energy will work for cleansing regardless of the lunar cycle.

The only thing I would recommend for this method is to keep your crystals inside. I like to place them in a windowsill overnight, rather than placing them outdoors. This keeps them protected from any animals, weather, or other factors that could damage them.

Intention/energy channeling

Depending on your energy levels and how comfortable you are with your own ability to channel energy, using intention to cleanse your crystals can be a great option.

To use this method, hold your crystal in your projective (dominant) hand and imagine a white light travelling from your energy center, down your arm, and into the crystal. Imagine the white light cleansing and carrying away any negative energies from the stone, leaving it filled with only happy and positive energies. Listen to you intuition while doing this, as you will typically be able to feel when the crystal is cleansed of all unwanted energies.

I often also use affirmations and visualization when using this method. Something along the lines of “I banish all negative energy from this stone” can really help to amplify your intent.

The great thing about this method is that it can be done anywhere, at any time. However, it can sometimes feel difficult to work up enough energy to use this method. It also isn’t a great option if you have a lot of stones to cleanse in one sitting. To make it easier, I recommend grounding and centering prior to attempting this.

Burying

While the idea of burying your crystals outside might sound a bit bizarre at first, hear me out! Crystals are natural formations that come from the Earth, so it makes sense that reuniting them with where they came from would rejuvenate their energies.

To use this method of cleansing, bury the crystals in the ground and leave them there for 2-5 days. The duration of time depends on how long you feel they need to reconnect with the Earth’s energies and become fully cleansed. Be sure to mark the spot where you buried them clearly and dig them up once the time has passed.

I would recommend placing the crystals in a waterproof box to prevent any damage from happening to them. This also makes them easier to find when digging them back up!

Sound

Last, but certainly not least, on the list is sound cleansing. You can use any number of items for sound cleansing — singing bowls, bells, and drumming are all used. Sometimes I even use high-vibration music found on YouTube for this purpose (something like this is a great option).

To use sound to cleanse crystals, place them near the source of the sound and allow the high-vibration sounds to wash over them. The higher-vibration sounds from the singing bowls, bells, etc. will work to clear away any low vibrations clinging to the crystals.

What to avoid when cleansing crystals

Finally (and perhaps most importantly) I want to cover what NOT to do when cleansing crystals. There are several methods I have seen recommended online that could damage your crystals or even cause them to become toxic! These are all easily avoidable and the methods above will work for all stones without the worry of damage or toxicity.

Sunlight

While the sun contains plenty of positive and uplifting energy, you should avoid using it to cleanse your crystals unless you know for sure that they are sun-safe.

Sunlight can actually cause many crystals to fade and lost their color. While this may or may not impact the crystal’s potency, it definitely can take away from their appearance. Some crystals that interact in this way with the sun are:

• Amethyst
• Rose quartz
• Aventurine
• Calcite

Additionally, large pieces of quartz and other clear crystals can actually amplify the sun’s rays and cause fires if left in direct sunlight.

Suggested Post: Selenite Properties + Six Ways to Use Selenite

Salt

While salt has amazing cleansing properties, it can actually damage crystals when placed in direct contact with them. Using salt on crystals can lead to corrosion and the dulling of colors over time.

If you really want to use salt to cleanse your crystals, I would recommend the “double bowl” method. Simply fill a bowl with salt and place a smaller bowl, glass, or other container containing your crystals inside of the bowl of salt. The salt will still draw the negative energy out of the crystals without the risk of damaging them due to salt exposure. Any salt used for this purpose should be disposed of afterwards as it will be imbibed with the negative energy.

Water

Water is perhaps the biggest no-no when it comes to cleansing crystals. While some stones, such as quartz, are safe to use with water, others are not.

Stones ending in -ite, such as selenite and calcite, will dissolve when they come into contact with moisture. Some others, such as malachite, actually become toxic and can make you extremely sick if they mix with water!

In my opinion, it is safest to avoid mixing crystals and water to avoid damaging your stones and risking your health.

I hope you found this guide to cleansing crystals helpful! If you have any other methods of cleansing that you enjoy please share them in the comments below. As always, if you have any questions regarding this post please let me know! I love talking to you guys and helping you along this journey.