Caring for your jewelry:
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Even though it doesn't seem glamorous, the best place to store your jewelry when you are not wearring it, is in an airtight ziplock bag. This will help to keep the metals from oxidizing and tarnishing.
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You can use a soft cloth on the metals and gemstones. Be careful with commercial products which can harm or scratch your stones.
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Wearing gemstones in water is not recommended.
There are many different ways to clean your gemstones energetically:
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An hour in direct sunlight is more than enough to clean most stones. Certain stones will fade if left out in the sunlight, amethyst for example. Keep amethysts out of direct sunlight if you want them to retain their vibrant purple hues.
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Place your stones inside a bowl of uncooked brown rice making sure they are completely covered. Keep them in the rice overnight. The rice will naturally draw out any impurities or negative energies that the stones have absorbed over time. Discard the brown rice after. Do not consume rice that has been used as an energetic cleanser. Instead, you can honor the rice for its service with a ritual by cooking it (this protects animals who might consume it) giving thanks and returning it to the earth for recycling-- scattering it upon the ground, adding it to your composting pile, or burying it.
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Washing in water (not soaking) is another method for cleansing but be careful some stones will dissolve in water (such as Selenite) whereas others love to be washed in fresh water while brushing them with a soft-bristle toothbrush until they are sparkling clean. The best water cleansing is a natural source: lake, river, creek, or pond. Salt water is another good cleanser--again be careful with certain stones.
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There are many other methods to cleanse stones but we prefer smudging them, which means burning certain herbs (lavender, sweetgrass, sage, palo santo, copal, frankincense) and passing the stones through the smoke to purify them. We like to smudge ourselves and our home also. Smudging is most commonly know as a Native American ritual, but it's found in other cultures as well. It is the process of burning a dried plant and fanning the smoke over an object or your body while holding an intention in your mind.
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Finally, and perhaps the most important step, is to program or energize your stones following the cleansing. In a spirit of gratitude and collaboration with the stones and while holding them in your hands, ask the stones to carry one or two specific sacred intentions. Speak the words aloud--certain stones are more aligned with certain tasks. (See our Chakra Pages or our Stone Properties Pages for lists of stones aligned to particular functions). Seal the intention by visualizing a protective energy surrounding the piece.