FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[trhale99]

hello all,
I am still learning about minerals even though I have been using semi-precious beads to make jewelry for some time now. I found a new one called "selenite" and was told it cannot be cleaned in the same way as other crystals, due to being softer.

I have not been able to verify this information and wondered if anyone knew about how to do it. I hear that many other crystals can be cleaned with the use of mild soap and water. Also the metaphysical side is to use citrine as the master cleansing stone, to release negative energy.



www.https://www.vicsfinejewelry.com/.south sea pearls.html

[Carles Millan]

Hi!

Selenite is a variety of gypsum, a calcium sulphate with two molecules of water. It is partially soluble in water, I believe about 2% at room temperature, so never use it to clean your specimen. Use something else instead.

[mraffordable]

Just a quick note on the metaphysical cleansing of selenite( sorry, gypsum). Citrine also needs to be cleansed, so re-think using it to cleanse the gypsum. What I use is dry sea salt and a blue kyanite blade. Put the selenite in a plastic bag so the sea salt won't actually touch the gypsum. Put that bag in another bag and add a few tablespoons of sea salt. Place that package on a windowsill with the kyanite blade (and possibly a clean quartz point) on top of it and leave it for 24 hours.When in doubt about the time period, extend it to 72 hours. When the cleanse is complete, dispose of the salt on bare earth. The kyanite can be used over and over as it never needs cleansing. Moldavite can be substituted for the kyanite.

As to the actual cleaning, I'll defer to the experts on that. I agree that water is not a good idea. Maybe a soft cloth with a small amount of alcohol?

[GneissWare]

Throwing salt on bare earth is very, very, very environmentally unfriendly, and I would have to guess that Gaia would be very, very unhappy.

Placing the gypsum in a high energy neutron flux would probably clean it too -- at least there would be no doubt as to its energy content.