Here’s exactly how you should clean your earrings (and the reasons you should). But that doesn’t mean you should neglect those piercings: Even if you’ve had your piercings for years, cleaning those jewels regularly is essential. “Earring posts can accumulate retained skin oils that help yeast, fungus, and bacteria overgrow,” explains Ciraldo. You might think a simple shampoo in the shower is enough to wash away that gunk, but even leftover hair products can build up around the earring post and accumulate in and around that tiny earring hole. Yuck. No sweat: We enlisted the help of Melissa Maker, green cleaning expert and founder of Clean My Space, to master the art of earring cleaning. Here, her professional how-to. If you don’t have any rubbing alcohol on hand, Maker suggests another product-free route: Simply boil some hot water in a kettle and hold your jewelry up to the steam. “That steam will help to loosen any dirt,” she explains. Then you can lay your pieces in a microfiber cloth to gently buff them shiny. Keeping your jewels sparkling is yet another reason to clean them regularly, no? When it comes to ornamental or costume earrings, Maker advises using a dry toothbrush to gently loosen any dirt or dust. If they’re really looking drab, you can use a little drop of gentle soap (like this baby soap) and water on your toothbrush to give it a better clean. If you do add water to costume earrings, just be sure to dry those pieces super well. “If costume jewelry remains wet, it’ll discolor,” Maker says. For sterling silver, Maker recommends a clever old-school trick: Place some tin foil on the bottom of a glass bowl, add a tablespoon of salt, and fill with boiling water. Drop your silver in the bowl, and “as long as the silver touches the foil, there’s an interesting reaction that shocks the silver back to its initial color and removes the tarnish,” she notes. (The chemists in us are geeking with glee). Let it sit for a few minutes, she says, before taking it out and polishing it with a microfiber cloth. “It will look brand-new,” Maker adds. “It really works like a charm.”
