How to Clean Your Crystals

Crystals are all about the energy they attract and this is why it’s vital to cleanse them every so often as there are both positive and negative energies which the crystal can collect. A particular crystal might be a potent attractor of positive energy but over time the negative energies can build up.

It is especially important to cleanse your crystals when you first receive them and before you start using them to remove all the energies that gathered in the crystals before they came into your possession. It’s vital to only use crystals that are responding to your own energies, rather than some unknown factor you have zero control over. Luckily, cleansing them is a pretty simple process and there are several ways which you can go about it.

Crystals can be cleansed in sunlight
Crystals can be cleansed in sunlight

There is no absolute rule when it comes to this process and you are at liberty to employ one or several of the crystal-cleaning methods until you are comfortable that they are fully cleansed. Trust your own instincts and feelings regarding your crystals and whether or not you have done enough to remove all the negative energies. The more you work with your crystals, the more you will become attuned to when they need cleaning, though a general guideline would be to cleanse them every few weeks.

Crystal Cleaning Methods

Cleansing a Fluorite wand in sea salt and water
Cleansing a Fluorite wand in sea salt and water

The simplest crystal cleansing technique is to place them in out in the sun for several hours at least to allow the cleansing powers of sunlight to remove the negative energies. Alternatively, some people prefer using moonlight, as it’s regularly available every month (a good schedule for cleaning crystals) and so long as the moon isn’t obscured by cloud cover, you can leave your crystals out over night to cleanse them in the refreshing lunar light.

Flowing water is a very popular method, though it should be noted that this generally means a flowing river or stream. You can use tap water but the effect will be reduced. If you live near a babbling brook or other natural source of flowing water, then this would be the method I recommend. If there’s no natural source nearby, then the water from a tap will suffice as a quick fix, but perhaps should be combined with another cleansing ritual such as using sun or moonlight.

Many crystal healers utilise salt to clean crystals, burying them in dry sea salt and leaving overnight. The salt absorbs the negative energies and thus should be discarded the following day, and certainly not ingested. Some crystals such as malachite and fluorite have softer surfaces and so using salt on them is not recommended due to their susceptibility to scratches. You should also avoid using salt water as it can damage crystals due to its corrosive nature.

Crystals Clean Crystals

Selenite cleans other crystals
Selenite cleans other crystals

Cleanse and recharge your crystals by placing them on the special cleansing crystal Selenite, which is a variety of the mineral Gypsum. Another variety is Satin Spar, and both are ideal crystals for cleansing other crystals due to their extremely high vibrations and the fact that these crystals will not need cleansing themselves. Other crystals with a similar effect are Quartz and Amethyst, although their vibrations are not as high as Selenite.

An all-in-one cleansing method which will not only cleanse your crystals of any negative energy but also the space around them, is to use a singing bowl or clean-ringing bell as the clear tones and chimes will immediately disperse the negativity. An even more spiritual version of this method is to use Buddhist Tingsha prayer chimes which can be purchased online.

Once you have plenty of experience practicing crystal healing, then you will also be able to cleanse your crystals with a visualisation technique which involves picturing a clear blue or white light emanating from within your hands and penetrating the crystal. The visualised light will cleanse the crystal of its negative energies and recharge it ready to be used for some quality crystal healing once again.