Caring for your stones without ruining them

You read everywhere that stones must be "cleansed" and "recharged", with precise methods and strict prohibitions. Those gestures belong to real and ancient traditions, and if they matter to you, they are yours.

This article is about something else: material care. How not to ruin an object that cost you something.

What water damages

This is the most important point, and the one most often passed over in silence.

Selenite dissolves. Not instantly, but it dulls, breaks down, and eventually crumbles. It is a gypsum: its hardness is 2 out of 10, it scratches with a fingernail. Never run it under the tap. A dry cloth is enough.

The same caution applies to malachite, pyrite (which rusts), lapis lazuli and angelite.

As a simple rule: if the stone is soft, matte, or made of visible fibers, do not wet it.

What sunlight damages

Amethyst fades. A deep amethyst left for six months on a south-facing windowsill comes out lavender. The change is irreversible.

The same goes for rose quartz, citrine, fluorite and topaz.

This is a delicate point, because a widespread tradition recommends exactly that — exposing stones to the sun. Do it if it matters to you — but for an hour, not a season, and not behind a pane of glass that concentrates the heat.

What impact damages

A hard stone is not a strong stone. Quartz is hard (7 out of 10) but brittle: it splits cleanly if you drop it on tiles.

Spheres are the most exposed, since they roll. A stand, even a simple one, avoids the accident.

Cleaning, in practice

Hard, polished stone — quartz, agate, jasper, obsidian: lukewarm water, soft cloth, dried straight away. No washing-up liquid, no alcohol.

Rough stone: a dry brush, a make-up brush does the job very well. Water works its way into the hollows and does not come back out.

Soft stone — selenite, malachite, calcite: dry cloth, nothing else.

Mounted jewelry: avoid wetting the thread or the cord, which stretches and eventually gives way. Take bracelets off before showering.

Where to keep them

Away from direct sun, separated from one another. Two stones knocking together in a drawer scratch each other — the harder one always wins.

One fabric pouch per piece, or a compartmented tray. Nothing elaborate.

And if it breaks?

A widespread tradition says a broken stone has "done its work". Another, more down-to-earth reading: it fell.

Both are worth the same. Keep the pieces if it matters to you, or don't. It is not a bad omen — it is mineral, and mineral breaks.

A question about a particular piece? Write to me, I will know the answer or I will go and find it.