It’s simple, just follow these 5 easy steps to clean and sterilise your body piercing jewellery.
The first thing you need to do is thoroughly wash your hands, there’s no point in cleaning your jewellery then touching it with dirty hands!
Do I Need An Autoclave Machine?
Well, if you have one that would be ideal! But most of us won’t have this at home as they’re both expensive and also take up lots of space. These are used by professional piercers who are sterilizing many pieces of jewellery every day. Don’t worry, there are other ways!
Using A Saline Solution
You can use a saline solution to clean and sterilise your piercing jewellery. In essence this is simply salt and water. The salt kills the bacteria by removing the water from inside the bacteria. This works well to eradicate most bacteria.
You can make your own saline solution but the easiest way is to buy a pre-mixed saline solution. This often comes in the form of a spray. We have both Neilmed and Piercemed saline sprays that are perfect for cleaning and sterilising your piercing jewellery.
If you’re looking for an all in one solution try the Tattoo Goo – Piercing Aftercare Kit that includes antimicrobial soap, a cleansing spray and cleansing swabs.
How To Use A Saline Cleaning Spray
Spray the entire jewellery’s surface with the solution and leave it for a couple of minutes. Pop it onto a piece of clean kitchen paper if you have that to hand.
If there is any debris, gently rub it off with a cotton wool bud soaked in the saline spray or a soft nylon brush (like a baby toothbrush). Give your jewellery another spray and lay it on a piece of kitchen paper to air dry.
Allow the jewellery to air dry completely before either storing of inserting into a piercing.
Using Antibacterial Soap And Water To Clean Your Jewellery
Antibacterial soap has antimicrobial properties not found in normal soaps and is ideal to clean your body jewellery.
You can either use a bar of antibacterial soap or liquid antibacterial soap, both work just as well.
Sit the jewellery in warm (not boiling) water with antibacterial soap. Leave the jewellery in the water for a couple of minutes. n.b. if the gems in your jewellery are glued, do not soak the product.
If there is any debris, gently rub it off with a cotton wool bud soaked in the soapy antibacterial water or a soft nylon brush (like a baby toothbrush). Then lay it on a piece of kitchen paper to air dry.
Allow the jewellery to air dry completely before either storing of inserting into a piercing.
How NOT To Clean Your Body Piercing Jewellery
There are other methods to clean your body jewellery but these are either more complicated or risk damaging the jewellery. We don’t recommend boiling water or using any chemicals such as alcohol or bleach, even when diluted.
The above cleaning methods are safe for use on most metal jewellery. Do not use on porous jewellery made from natural materials such as wood, bone and natural semi-precious gemstones as this will damage the jewellery.
p.s. if you have solid gold piercing jewellery like our belong 14ct Solid Gold Collection, we have a handy little gold polishing cloth to make your gold jewellery shine!