How to Cleanse and Charge Your Crystals
It is the question we are asked most often across the counter: “so how do I cleanse it?” Here is what our team tells people in the shop — the methods we actually use, the stones to keep away from water, and why charging is simpler than the internet makes it sound.
Cleansing and charging at a glance
Cleansing: in crystal lore, clearing a stone after it has been handled. Smoke, sound, moonlight and satin spar are gentlest.
Charging: traditionally the other half of the ritual — topping the stone back up again.
Never soak: satin spar and selenite, halite, celestite, calcite, malachite, turquoise, lapis lazuli, pyrite, hematite.
Careful with sunlight: amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, fluorite and celestite all fade with long exposure.
Salt: we would skip it. It scratches softer stones and creeps into every natural crack.
How often: whenever it feels right. There is no rulebook.
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What do cleansing and charging actually mean?
Both words come from crystal tradition rather than mineralogy. In crystal lore, cleansing clears a stone after handling — by the miner, the wholesaler, us, and everyone who has picked it up off the shelf. Charging is traditionally understood as topping it back up afterwards.
There is a practical side too, and it is the part we would never skip. Crystals get dusty. Clusters collect the fine grey film that settles on everything in a shop, and jewellery picks up hand cream. A soft dry brush — an old make-up brush is perfect — does more for how a piece looks than any ritual will.
Did you know? Almost every “selenite” stick and charging plate on the market — including ours — is really satin spar, the silky fibrous form of gypsum. Both are the same mineral, calcium sulphate, and the trade has used the names interchangeably for decades. True selenite is the clear, glassy variety, which is why we label ours “Selenite / Satin Spar”.
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Six ways we cleanse crystals
No one method is the right one. These are the six we use, gentlest first.
Satin spar or selenite: rest your stone on a charging dish or sweep a wand over it. Nothing to light, nothing to get wet, and it suits even delicate pieces.
Smoke: light a sage bundle or a stick of incense, blow out the flame and pass the crystals through the smoke. Near an open window, never left unattended.
Sound: a bell, a tingsha, a singing bowl, or simply clapping your hands over the stones. Traditionally said to clear the room as well as the crystal.
Moonlight: a windowsill overnight, often timed to the full moon. Safe for everything, including stones that fade in sunshine.
Running water: a few seconds under a cool tap, dried straight away — but only for hard, non-porous stones. Read the next section first.
Earth: a few hours in a plant pot. Lovely for hardy tumbled stones, risky for anything soft, porous or on a wire.
One note on water: rinsing a crystal is not the same as making a drink. We never recommend putting crystals into water you intend to drink — plenty of minerals contain copper, lead or fibrous inclusions, and you cannot tell which by looking.
A few of the satin spar charging pieces on our shelves just now — tap any photo to see it on the website.
Selenite / Satin Spar Crescent Moon Charging Trinket Dish 
Selenite / Satin Spar Hexagon Crystal Charging Trinket Dish 
Selenite / Satin Spar Crystal Star Charging Trinket Dish 
Selenite / Satin Spar Leaf Trinket Charging Dish 
Selenite Heart Charging Trinket Dish 
Selenite / Satin Spar Crystal Sphere Carving
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The water and salt rules
This is where most crystals come to grief, so it is the part we are strictest about. Hardness is a good guide: anything below about 5 on the Mohs scale, anything porous, and anything containing iron or copper should stay dry.
Satin spar is the classic casualty. Gypsum sits at about 2 on the Mohs scale — softer than your fingernail — and it genuinely dissolves. A soak turns a beautiful wand cloudy, pitted and eventually crumbly, and there is no undoing it.
Keep completely dry: satin spar and selenite, halite, celestite, angelite, calcite, apophyllite, malachite, azurite, turquoise, lapis lazuli, pyrite, hematite — and anything glued, wired or set.
Water is fine, briefly: clear quartz, rose quartz, amethyst, citrine, carnelian, agate, jasper, aventurine and tiger's eye. The quartz family sits at 7 on the Mohs scale. Rinse, then dry it properly.
Salt, we would skip: dry salt is abrasive, salt water is worse, and both creep into the cracks that make a piece interesting. If you love the tradition, set the crystal beside the salt rather than in it.
We wrote about this in What crystals can I put in water? and Crystal Cleansing 101: Salt Cleansing, and the advice has not changed.
Did you know? Pyrite and hematite do not dissolve like gypsum — they rust. Both are iron minerals, and even a quick rinse left to air-dry can leave orange staining and a dull surface where there was once a mirror shine.
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How to charge your crystals
Charging asks almost nothing of you. In crystal lore, these are the traditional ways.
Moonlight: the classic. A windowsill from dusk until morning, full moon or not. Nothing fades, nothing cracks.
Sunlight, briefly: an hour of early sun is traditional, but do be careful. Amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, fluorite and celestite fade with prolonged sunshine, and a faceted piece on a sunny sill is a real fire risk.
On a cluster or geode: a lovely overnight home for tumbled stones and jewellery. It is what most of our team use, largely because it looks beautiful on a shelf.
On a satin spar plate: the same idea in less space. A dish by the kettle or the front door means it actually happens.
With intention: hold the piece, think about what you would like it to remind you of, and put it where you will see it. Traditionally this is held to be the part that matters most, and it is free.
Clusters and geodes make the easiest charging spot of all — these are on the website today.
Uruguayan Amethyst Crystal Cluster 
Uruguayan Amethyst Crystal Cluster 
Celestite Crystal Cluster 
Citrine Cluster 
Agate Druzy Geode 
Celestite Crystal Geode
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How often should you do it?
Less often than the internet suggests. Our honest answer: when you remember, and when it feels right. A simple routine to borrow — dust once a month, cleanse whenever a stone has had a lot of handling, and charge on the windowsill whenever you think of the moon. That really is enough.
Our older post Crystal Cleansing 101: Cleansing your Crystals with the Full Moon walks through a full-moon routine, and How to cleanse your crystals and Cleansing & Charging your crystals have methods we have not repeated here. Charging citrine in the sun? It is worth knowing whether yours is natural or heat-treated — see How to Tell If Citrine Is Real or Heat-Treated.
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Shop cleansing and charging pieces
All hand-picked by our team and on the website now. Almost every piece is a one-off, so if something has gone, message us — there is usually something similar on the shelf.
Satin spar charging dishes and wands
Selenite / Satin Spar Crystal Charging Bowl / Trinket Dish — £9.99
Selenite / Satin Spar Crescent Moon Charging Trinket Dish — £9.99
Selenite / Satin Spar Hexagon Crystal Charging Trinket Dish — £9.99
Selenite / Satin Spar Crystal Star Charging Trinket Dish — £14.99
Selenite Heart Charging Trinket Dish — £19.99
For smoke cleansing
Nag Champa Incense — £2.99
Sage — £3.99
Raw Fluorite Incense Holder — £24.99
Incense, sage and a carnelian bowl to keep it all together.
Nag Champa Incense 
Violet Amethyst Cluster Crystal Incense Holder 
Raw Fluorite Incense Holder 
Carnelian Crystal Bowl
Clusters and geodes to charge on
Celestite Crystal Cluster — £15.99
Citrine Cluster — £44.99
Uruguayan Amethyst Crystal Cluster — £49.99
Agate Druzy Geode — £49.99
Amethyst Crystal Geode — £129.99
Celestite Crystal Geode — £129.99
Jewellery to rest on your charging plate overnight
Anything on a wire or a glued setting stays out of the water — a satin spar plate is the safe option for jewellery.
Citrine Chunky Bead Bracelet 
Fluorite Faceted Bracelet 
Selenite / Satin Spar Rainbow Coloured Crystal Bead Bracelet 
Green Aventurine Faceted Bead Bracelet 
Abalone 925 Sterling Silver Pendant 
Amethyst 925 Sterling Silver Bracelet
Not sure where to start, or worried you have already soaked something you should not have? Pop in and see us at 61 South Street, St Andrews — do bring the crystal with you — or send us a message and we will happily talk you through it.
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