Best Ways to Cleanse Crystals by smudging

10 Best Ways to Cleanse Crystals and Boost Their Power

Cleanse crystals with salt, water, earth, smudging, sounds or essential oils to remove heavy, accumulated or negative energy. Then boost their power by charging stones with sunlight or moonlight. Finally, program your crystals with specific intentions to meet your personal needs, through Reiki or chanting.

Crystals are experiencing a re-birth as more and more people recognize their ability to support health, healing and personal growth. These natural stones are particularly useful in holistic health care, as more people seek ways to support themselves and their animal friends using natural materials and methods to heal mind, body and spirit.

If you’ve been following Healing Fur Souls, you know that we love to use crystals to help heal our beautiful animals (and their pet parents)!  Whether crystals are worn as pet charms, bracelets, placed around the home, or used in healing practices, it’s important to cleanse them regularly.

crystal charm set

Why Do Crystals Need to be Cleansed?

Crystals hold and magnify vibrational information, so regular cleansing helps to release  “information” stored in the stone that is no longer useful. Cleansing also restores stones to their original state, effectively making them as good as new.

Crystals Hold Vibrational Information

The ability of crystals to hold information is not simply ancient wisdom or new age knowledge. Crystals also have roots in science, and are commonly used in lasers, ultrasounds and LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions to store, amplify and transmute energy. Researchers have demonstrated that crystals can record up to 360 terabytes of digital data and store it for billions of years,  lending modern day scientific evidence to ancient wisdom. So, before you use your crystals, make sure they are clean, free of “old data” and ready to work for you.

Most crystals are formed inside the earth, where intense pressure forms a repeated geometric pattern or crystalline lattice. This type of formation is like an energetic net that receives, amplifies and transmits energies, making these natural stones powerful transformational tools.

How to Cleanse, Charge and Program Crystals

Cleansing crystals restores their natural energy to the original state so that they are ready to be used again. Cleansing is the basic requirement for your crystals, but if you really want to power up your crystals’ natural energies, take the extra steps to charge and program them to meet your personal needs.

Clean crystals are free of unwanted energy and ready to work with you and your intentions.

Prepare for Cleansing

Before cleansing your crystals, we recommend taking a few moments to prepare yourself using these simple steps:

  1. Take a few deep breaths, clear your mind of cluttering thoughts, and enter into a peaceful space. If this is difficult for you, try thinking of something you are grateful for – gratitude ushers the chaotic mind into peace.
  2. Hold the intention of releasing and transmuting (transforming) all energies from your crystal that do not support your highest good (and the good of those around you).
  3. Visualize how your crystal’s unwanted energies will be released during cleansing. It’s important to do this so that unwanted energies don’t simply accumulate in your home, but rather are changed into positive ones. For example, picture heavy energies falling off your crystal into the earth, or visualize white light surrounding old energy and turning it into positive energy for the good of others. We like to picture old energies burning up like ash and falling into the earth.

How to Cleanse Crystals: 10 Top Ways

There are several different ways to cleanse crystals. Our crystal experts at Healing Fur Souls recommend their ten favorite methods with step-by-step instructions. Use your own intuition to choose the method that’s best for you.

1. Water

Water has been used for thousands of years to cleanse crystals. Water neutralizes and carries unwanted negative energy back into the earth.

Hint: Use water for cleansing hard stones like quartz. Avoid using water with soft or porous stones that can be easily damaged such as celestite, selenite, angelite, calcite, turquoise, azurite, kyanite, lepidolite, malachite. Choose a different method for these delicate stones.

How to Cleanse Crystals with Water

There are two ways to use water to cleanse crystals:

  1. Hold crystals in your hands under a source of running water such as a faucet, stream or small waterfall, for a full minute. Nature lovers can venture outdoors and hold crystals during a gentle rainfall. Remember to clear your mind and hold positive intentions.
  2. Fill a bowl of water, preferably from a natural source like an ocean, stream, pond or river. Set crystals in the bowl. Set your intention and allow stones to soak overnight. Remove and dry stones. When discarding the water, set your intention again to transmute unhelpful energy into positive energy.
Cleansing crystals with water

2. Salt

Salt is an excellent element to draw out unwanted energies. This is why salt baths and salt lamps are so healing.

How to Cleanse Crystals with Salt
  1. Fill a bowl with enough natural, unprocessed salt to cover crystals (we like Himalayan or sea salt and recommend using natural wooden, ceramic or glass bowls).
  2. After 24 hours, remove crystals and lightly dust or rinse under water if needed.
  3. Discard used salt into the earth or into a sink (we like pouring salt into sink drains with some vinegar and baking soda to freshen drains!). Remember to set your intention to transmute unhealthy energies into positive ones.

3. Sound

Sounds are intensely purifying and have been used for millennia to drive away negative energy.

Wash your stones in a sound bath of positive frequencies to clear away tired, lower vibrations, using any one of these methods:

  • singing bowl
  • tuning fork
  • bells
  • chimes
  • drums
  • gongs
Best Ways to Cleanse Crystals with a singing bowl
How to Cleanse Crystals with Sound
  1. Place stones on a surface near the sound source, clear your mind and set your intention to cleanse and purify. If using a singing bowl, place stones directly in the bowl.
  2. Sound the instrument, allowing vibrations to surround the crystals.
  3. Allow the vibrations to fade, then repeat sounding the instrument for 2-3 minutes.

4. Grounding or Earthing

Burying crystals in the soil can encourage heavy, negative energies to dissipate into the earth. Crystals that do well in earth energy include carnelian, jasper, Tigers Eye, citrine, agate and calcite.

How to Cleanse Crystals with Earth
  1. Dig a small hole in the ground and place crystals in it. We prefer a spot that will get sunlight and moonlight. Gently place earth on top of crystals so they are surrounded by soil. Mark the spot so you can easily find them, and keep curious pets away.
  2. After 24 hours, remove crystals. Rinse if needed.

5. Smudging

Smudging is the ritual of burning sacred herbs and using their smoke to purify and cleanse. Sage and Palo Santo are popular, but you can also use sweetgrass or cedar.

Hints:

  • Have a fireproof container on hand, such as a ceramic or stone dish or abalone shell.  
  • Smudge outdoors or near an open window so heavy energy can be released from your home.
How to Smudge Crystals Using Sage
Best Ways to Cleanse Crystals by smudging

Sage can be purchased as a bundle, which is easy to use. We love this smudging kit that comes with everything you need.

  1. Light the tip of the sage bundle.
  2. Hold the bundle in your dominant hand, and hold the crystal in your other hand.
  3. Wave the sage over and around the stone so the smoke can surround the stone for at least 30 seconds. Many people use a feather to move the smoke.
  4. Direct smoke toward an open window, as you visualize it turning into positive energy.
How to Smudge Crystals Using Palo Santo

Palo Santo is a deeply sacred wood from South America used throughout centuries to cleanse negative energies and promote health and spiritual healing.

  1. In a safe setting (outdoors or near an open window), light a stick of Palo Santo wood and allow it to burn for up to one minute, then blow out the flame.
  2. Allow the smoke to surround your crystals, until the smoke has stopped and the stick has burnt out.
  3. If you wish, you can add to the cleansing ritual by saying, “I ask that the sacred plant spirit of Palo Santo infuse these crystals with the highest energies”. Palo Santo also has the benefit of charging crystals.

6. Essential Oils

Instead of burning sage plants or palo Santo wood to smudge crystals, you can use their same healing energies in the form of an essential oil spray to cleanse crystals. We love this cleansing method so much that we keep these homemade spritzes everywhere  – in our car, handbag, suitcase and office space to clear out unwanted energies. Spritz after meeting with negative people, staying in hotel rooms, or spritz yourself to release unhelpful emotions.

How to Cleanse Crystals with Essential Oils (Spritz Smudging)
  1. Mix 25-30 drops of pure organic sage or palo Santo essential oil into a glass spray bottle, fill half way with witch hazel and the rest with distilled or filtered water.
  2. Shake gently and spritz over crystals.
  3. Allow to dry. Avoid porous crystals and stones as you would using water. 

You can get all the ingredients here:

7. Place Crystals Near Other Stones

When gathered together, crystals share and communicate healing frequencies and detoxify themselves. Place smaller stones in direct contact with large pieces of selenite, clear quartz or amethyst geodes for an easy way to cleanse. This is also a good method of storing crystals when they aren’t in use (which is why many crystal healers keep all crystals together in the same bag).

How to Cleanse Crystals Using Other Stones
  1. Place your smaller stones near a larger piece of selenite, clear quartz or amethyst.
  2. Make sure stones are touching or very close together on a shared surface e.g. a table or tray made of natural material such as granite, wood or metal.
  3. Leave your “crystal convention” alone overnight to communicate and share their healing properties.

8. Breath Work

This method is used primarily by advanced breath practitioners. Anyone can develop this technique, if they are in a peaceful, calm state of energy. However, unless you have advanced training in breath techniques, we recommend also using one of the above methods.

How to Cleanse Crystals Using Breath
  1. Start with taking a few long, slow, full breaths, hold and exhale.
  2. Envision your breath as a pure loving white light, entering from above your head, through to your nose.
  3. Hold the crystal near your nose and exhale several using short, forceful breaths directly onto the crystal.
  4. Envision each sharp exhalation as powerful white light collecting heavy energies from the stone and transmuting them into loving positive frequencies.

9. Meditation

If you are a frequent meditator, bring your crystals into your beautiful energetic space to wash away negativity and learn from their wisdom.

How to Cleanse Crystals Using Meditation
  1. Hold one crystal at a time in your dominant hand.
  2. Envision a white light entering from the crown of your head, through your hand and into the stone. Picture the light transforming heavy energies into light, positive energies.
  3. Make space to enter into conversation with your cleansed crystal, asking for its specific wisdom. Hint: Try this with your animal friend(s) by focusing on the crystal while sitting together with your pet in meditation.

10. Reiki

Reiki is a technique used by energy medicine practitioners to direct healing energy toward people, animals, objects and situations. Reiki Masters draw upon universal energy (chi or ki) to induce a state of profound relaxation that encourages healing at the deepest levels. Our Reiki Masters at Healing Fur Souls connect energetically with animals to support communication and healing, as well as peaceful transitions. Animals love Reiki and the crystals used in the healing process.  

How to Cleanse Crystals Using Reiki

This method can be used by Reiki practitioners with a minimum Level 1 training.

  1. Prepare for Reiki by clearing the mind and entering into a peaceful, healing state.
  2. Hold crystal in attuned hand.
  3. Using Reiki symbol CKR or DKM to direct energy into the stone.
  4. The Reiki practitioner may continue by infusing specific intentions into the crystal.

How to Charge Crystals

Once you’ve cleansed your stones, charge or “activate” crystals to power up their natural properties. This is commonly done using the natural light of the sun and moon. Although we prefer a 24-hour cycle of moon and sunlight, it’s fine to choose one or the other. Use your intuition.

Light of the Full Moon

Although nature-based crystal practitioners may prefer using moon cycles (e.g.full moon and new moon) in different ways, beginners can keep it simple by charging crystals under a full or near-full moon. Here’s how:

  • Once it’s dark outside, set out crystals in a safe place under the moonlight. If possible, place them directly on the earth. Keep crystals away from curious animals to avoid choking or damage to their teeth.
  • In the morning, brush off any dirt and debris.

Direct Sunlight

  • On a clear morning, Place stones on a safe, natural surface if possible (such as a log, or directly on the earth). Keep crystals away from curious animals to avoid choking or damage to their teeth.
  • At sunset, brush off any dirt and debris.

Hints:

  • Sunlight is perfect for darker stones like carnelian and hematite.
  • Avoid fading by limiting the amount of time these popular stones are in the direct sunlight: aquamarine, amethyst, calcite, citrine.
Best Ways to Cleanse Crystals by smudging

Crystals worn close to the body need to be cleansed more frequently.

How to Program Crystals

Cleansing and charging your crystals is usually sufficient to allow their natural healing frequencies to do their wise work.

However, programming or dedicating your crystals makes it easier to connect personally with the energy of the stone for specific purposes.

For example, a cleansed rose quartz can help the user open their emotional heart and allow more compassion into their life. However, you can also specifically program that same rose quartz to ask that specific relationships be healed. Popular ways of programming stones include intention, chanting and Reiki.

Intention

  • Start with a cleansed, charged stone. The inherent energies or qualities of the crystal should match your intentions e.g. lapis lazuli to protect the wearer and increase intuition.
  • Hold the crystal in your dominant palm to direct the energy of your intentions into the stone.
  • Breathe deeply and clear all clutter from your mind.
  • Envision your intention or dedication.
  • State your intention or dedication out loud. For example, you can say, “I dedicate this crystal to serving the love and protection of my dog.” Or “I intend to use this crystal to protect this space and fill it with love, peace and joy.”

Chant

Chants or mantras hold focus for a specific intention using words and sound. The power of their form can be powerful.

  • Hold your crystal near your throat as you chant your intention or a favorite mantra.

Hint: One of our favourite dedication rituals is to hold a clear quartz crystal to your throat and chant, “Om Gyaanam Dhyaanam Shantam Hari” to attract abundance, joy and beauty.

Reiki

Reiki Masters can program crystals for specific purposes, in person or distantly. Beginner practitioners (Level 1) can direct energy into the stone through their hands.

FAQ

Why should I cleanse Crystals?

Crystals absorb heavy, negative energies and can become ineffective if not cleansed regularly. Some crystals (like master crystals e.g. quartz) magnify energies and, if not cleansed regularly, may continue to hold those energies.

What happens I don’t cleanse crystals?

Crystals that aren’t cleansed regularly can store unwanted vibrations and energies.  This can lead to your crystals being ineffective – like trying to vacuum with a full bag or canister of dirt. At worst, those energies can linger and prevent the user from receiving the full benefits of a crystal’s powers. Crystals may also crack or break.

We have witnessed numerous examples of crystals imploding following lengthy or intense exposures to negative energies or illness. We have also observed crystal bracelets shattering after the wearer is involved in tense or fearful situations. Cracked stones can indicate insufficient cleansing or point toward signs that our animals require energetic balancing with one of our Reiki Masters. Pet owners should regularly cleanse crystals used in our healing pet charms, and always give the animal a choice on whether to wear the charm, and for how long. Pawing at a crystal pet charm or attempting to rub it off may be a sign that it needs to be cleansed, or that its energy is no longer needed.

How often should I cleanse crystals?

Cleanse crystals at least once per month. The more you use a crystal or the closer you keep it to your body, the more often it needs to be cleansed. Healers that work closely with crystals would cleanse them before and after each use. Cleanse stones after periods of stress, change or encounters with negative people or situations.

Always cleanse a new stone as soon as you buy it. Remember that stones have had a long journey and have changed many hands and locations before arriving to you. Cleanse to wash away its energetic footprint. We also recommend charging and programming brand new stones.

What are the best ways to cleanse crystals?

There are several ways to cleanse crystals, including using salt, running water, earth, sound, smudging, placing them near other healing stones or using breath, meditation or Reiki. A 2022 survey of frequent crystal users showed the top three preferred cleansing methods were salt, singing bowls and rain.

Where can I buy crystals?

Many crystals are commonly found in in New Age and specialty shops as well as online. No matter where you make your purchase, always cleanse a new crystal as soon as you bring it home, as they will carry the energetic footprint of their journey.

Be aware when purchasing cut and polished beads (e.g. the type used in some jewelry), as some are made of glass or other synthetic materials. Verify with the seller that they are real crystals.   

How do I choose a crystal?

Each crystal has its own unique vibrational qualities. Choose crystals based on how you feel when holding them in your hand (we suggest using your non-dominant or receiving hand). Use your own intuition to notice any immediate shifts, such as a feeling of calmness or an energetic burst, a sense of love, commitment or clarity of purpose. You can also choose crystals using a pendulum, or pick one based on the known qualities of the crystal.

Some of the most common crystals people start with are: rose quartz, clear quartz and amethyst.

Confused? Consult our Reiki Master at Healing Fur Souls who can recommend the best crystals for you or your pet, based on an assessment of chakra health.

Are there any crystals I can’t cleanse using water?

Don’t use water with crystals that are soft or porous such as celestite, selenite, angelite, calcite, turquoise, azurite, kyanite, lepidolite or malachite. Choose a different method like smudging or a sound bath using singing bowls or bells.

Where should I store crystals?

After cleansing and charging, store crystals near plants or windowsills or keep them together in a special bag or container.

When is the best time to cleanse crystals?

Cleanse crystals anytime, as long as you are in a peaceful state of mind and can focus on positive intentions. Some people enjoy a monthly ritual of cleansing crystals just before a full moon, so that they can use the energy of the moon and sun to charge cleansed crystals.

Can I use crystals to help my pet?

Pets and children are exquisitely sensitive to the healing energies of crystals. We use crystals with animals experiencing anxiety, pain, aging, stressful situations (like rescue dogs) and during transition to death. Popular stones for animals include rose quartz, rhodonite, amethyst, carnelian, clear quartz, black tourmaline and lapis lazuli. Cleanse crystals regularly, respect your animal’s response to crystals and keep smaller crystals away from curious mouths. 

Be kind to all living beings. Respect the earth we share.

More References

Leavy, A. (2018). Crystals for energy healing. New Burlington, The Quarto Group. USA.

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