The number one question clients ask me is, “How do I cleanse the energy of my crystals?”.

There is a lot of talk about it on the internet but not a lot of straightforward advice. Even more troubling, is that some really common techniques can actually damage your crystals.

In fact, I have ruined a multitude of crystals by putting them in plants or allowing the sun to bleach out their color.

This post will help you avoid the frustration and heartache that comes with “trendy” techniques to clear the energy of your crystals.

To make working with crystals fun, I also recommend keeping your crystal clearing simple. Find the technique you love to do and stick with that. Clearing the energy of a collection, even a large collection need only take a few minutes.

Why should you clear your crystals?

Crystals attune to the energy of the people and environment it comes into contact with. Crystals naturally radiate healing energy but over time, they can get knocked out of their original state and pick up negative energy.

So you want to clear or cleanse the crystal using another energetic tool. Please note that I consider the terms: cleansing, clearing, and charging your crystal to be interchangeable. Some people like to “charge” their crystals with an additional step but the techniques tend to be the same and the crystals I work with tell me it’s not necessary.

When in doubt, keep it easy, keep it fun!

When should you clear your crystals?

Creating a monthly habit of cleansing your crystals is a nice cycle to get into. You can integrate it into new moon or full moon activities you are already doing or pick the same date each month to do it.

It is highly recommended to clear crystals whenever you bring new ones home. Just the new ones, you do not need to clear the entire collection when this happens.

If you are an energy practitioner, clear the energy of your crystals after using them for clients. This is good energetic hygiene and helps you cut cords between each session. Note that it is not necessary to cleanse them after personal use unless your intuition tells you otherwise. To be honest, most of my crystals only get cleared once a month regardless of how many times I’ve used them. That said, I do have a separate set for clients and the rest of my crystals are for personal use.

If you create medicine wheels, crystal grids, or use crystals to hold specific intentions, cleanse those once a month (along with your other crystals) and then again once their work is done.

Cleansing Techniques That Can Ruin Your Crystals

It makes me cringe when I see these techniques shared on Instagram with no warnings. In addition to “Top Ways To Cleanse Your Crystals”, these techniques could also be called, “Top Ways To Ruin Your Favorite Crystals”.

Here is some more information on pitfalls to avoid and what you can do instead.

Water

Water is used as a really powerful cleansing agent in many traditions so its no surprise that people love to run crystals underwater. However, water is harmful to many crystals causing irreparable damage and in some cases can completely dissolve your crystals.

One rule of thumb is that crystals that end in “ITE’ should not be put in water although there are many others that do not like water.

One notable exception to the “ITE” rule is Shungite, which is safe to put in water. If you want to put crystals in water, the Quartz family (Clear Quartz, Amethyst, Citrine, Rose Quartz) is safe to put in water as long as it’s not an extreme temperature.

Sunlight

This technique still puzzles me. Crystals are formed in caves, in total darkness for thousands and millions of years. However many people love to put their crystals outside in the sun. If you choose to do this, be mindful that sunlight can cause the natural colors in your crystals to fade and change.

Even in your home, you will want to keep your crystals away from direct sun and find fun shelves, nooks and crannies to display your crystals in instead.

If you do a lot of research, you may find sources that tell you that some crystals are safe to put in the sun but alas, each time I’ve tried to fact check these exceptions, I always find contradictory information. When in doubt, I prefer to err on the side of preserving the beauty of my crystals and avoid sunlight all together.

Plants

This one I learned the hard way, putting your crystals in your plants can ruin them.

Remember the tip about crystals that end in "ITE"? the same holds true here; avoid putting crystals that end in "ITE" in your plants.

Again, the quartz family is safe to place on the soil of your plants… and it looks cute too!

Extreme Temperatures

If you leave your crystals outside, be mindful of the weather. Precipitation (rain, snow, even morning dew) can damage your crystals.

Additionally, extreme heat or cold can cause even the toughest crystals to crack or break. If you are beginning a crystal practice or want to keep it low maintenance, keep them inside.

Safe, Easy Ways to Cleanse Your Crystals

This section is for anyone that likes to keep it simple (yup, that’s me). Why overcomplicate things when there are fast, straightforward solutions out there?

Use any one of these techniques knowing that these are the best ways to clear the energy of your crystals.

Sound Energy

This is a wonderful way to cleanse and charge your crystals. The high vibrational state of crystals responds quickly to beautiful sounds and it’s a safe technique for all crystals.

You can use tools like sound bowls and tuning forks by gently passing the tools over your crystals.

For very musical folks, play any instrument you would like and while you’re at it, sing to your crystals. Even if you’re not the worlds greatest singer, crystals love it!

In a rush? You can simply play instrumental music on YouTube.

The best thing about sound healing is that in five minutes or less, you can cleanse the energy of all the crystals in your home with minimal effort.

Smudging

This is a process where you pass crystals through smoke. Crystals love to be cleansed this way and perk up when dried herbs or incense is burned.

You are dealing with fire and hot embers so practice fire safety when using this method. Fire safe dishes and incense burners are your friends.

To start, light a stick of incense or bundle of herbs and place it a fire safe dish. Wait for the flame to go out and for the incense/herbs to start smoking.

For a deep clean, run each individual crystal through the smoke. This is ideal for new crystal purchases and a small quantity of crystals.

For a large crystal collection, hover your smoking incense or dried herbs over your crystals in a fire safe dish. Slowly and gently walk through your home clearing crystals in this manner.

Moonlight

Charging your crystals during the moon cycles is an excellent way to transmute negative energy and infuse them with the magic of the moon. You don’t need to wait for a new moon or a full moon — do it any time that feels good.

To bathe your crystals in the moonlight, leave them on a windowsill or anywhere in view of the moon overnight.

When you wake up, move your crystals away from the sunlight to avoid fading.

Reiki

If you are attuned to Reiki, you can use it to clear the energy of your crystals. Otherwise, use your intuition to connect to source energy and allow it to flow to your hands. Now you can use your hands to clear the energy of your collection by slowly passing them over each stone.

If you are not energy sensitive and this isn’t working for you, read this article to learn a simple hand activation technique.

Selenite

Most Selenite sold is technically a very similar crystal called Satin Spar. It is often made into bowls, wands, and plates and crystal collectors love to use it to charge their crystals. Both of these crystals have purifying energy that lasts for a very long time and cleanses the energy of other crystals.

Like every other crystal, it also needs to be cleared. Make sure that whatever ritual you chose, that you also take a few extra seconds to cleanse your selenite. It is one of the most fragile stones that you’ll have in your collection so stick to Sound Healing, Smudging, or Reiki to clear it’s energy.

Now go ahead, start cleansing the energy of your crystals with confidence. Play around with different techniques to find your favorite.

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STOP Ruining Your Crystals With This Energy Clearing Guide