Piercing Aftercare: How to Clean Your Body Jewelry
Don’t you dare put that dirty jewelry back on your body! Do you realize how quickly a dirty barbell can spread infection? Cleaning body jewelry, whether in a new piercing or a fully healed one, is absolutely necessary to ensure that your body remains as healthy as can be. From saline solutions to boiling water, there's quite a few ways to go about cleaning your jewelry--but there's also the definite musts and mustn'ts.
For some quick pointers on implementing piercing aftercare into your daily life, check out some of our suggestions below:
• Don't put on new jewelry straight from the package; clean it first to make sure it's sterilized.
• Never use alcohol-based chemicals to clean your jewelry.
• You can use antibacterial soap and warm water for any jewelry, except for wooden body jewelry and tongue rings.
• You can put your metal jewelry in boiling water to sterilize it. Avoid doing this if your jewelry is electronic (like a vibrating tongue ring), jeweled, or made of acrylic.
• There are cleaner machines made specifically for cleaning body jewelry.
• You can use a soft-bristled brush to clean your jewelry.
• If you're switching jewelry (like a captive ring) between two different piercings, make sure to clean the jewelry before putting it in the second piercing.
Piercing aftercare is an absolute necessity for any new (or healed) piercing. Keep in mind that, even if your piercing is healed, it can still be prone to infection if it's exposed to unsanitary conditions. So whether this is your first one or you're covered in piercings, taking care of your jewelry should be an important part of your daily routine.
Cleaning Tongue Rings
Unlike ear piercings, belly button piercings, and other piercings, tongue rings can't be cleaned with antibacterial soap. Tongue rings are especially important to take care of, because they're constantly exposed to your saliva and everything else that's in your mouth. Because of this, their much more prone to infections--and think about it, do you really want an infection in your mouth? Yuck!
Luckily, there's plenty you can do to take care of your tongue piercing and reduce the risks of infection. For suggestions on how to keep your tongue piercing from being a painful hot mess, continue reading below:
• Avoid alcohol, even in mouthwash!
• Use an alcohol-free antiseptic mouthwash.
• You shouldn’t chew gum (or anything else, really) when your piercing is initially healing.
• Clean your piercing with sea salt rinses, even after your piercing is healed.
• If you're making your own sea salt rinse, don't use table salt! Sea salt or kosher salt is fine as long as you make sure it's fully dissolved.
• Rinse your mouth after each meal.
• Smoking can irritate a healing piercing, so it's best to avoid smoking anything until after the piercing is healed.
Keep in mind that an infection can still develop even after a piercing is healed, so make sure to keep your mouth clean at all times. You won't have to do as many sea salt rinses after it's healed, but it's still a good idea to drink water after each meal to help rinse out your mouth. And don't forget to brush your teeth!
Cleaning Wood Plugs and Tunnels
Organic body jewelry is a great option for anyone who's sensitive for metals, or for anyone who wants a more natural feel for their body jewelry. It's an organic alternative, so you know exactly what your body jewelry is made of. But while stone plugs are easy to clean, just a little warm water and soap, wooden plugs and tunnels are a bit different.
Wooden plugs or tunnels can be made out of wood like Sono, Saba, or Tamarind. Because wood plugs are porous, you should avoid using saline solution and water. To get the most out of your wood plugs, consider the following suggestions:
• Don't wear porous plugs in a newly stretched ear!
• Don't use anything with alcohol to clean your plugs.
• Don't use water to clean your plugs.
• Don't wear your plugs in the shower, bath, or pool.
• Use jojoba or coconut oil to clean your wood plugs.
• Make sure your own hands are clean before touching your plugs!
• Don't just wipe the jojoba oil onto the plug; rub the oil onto the plug to properly clean it.
Wooden body jewelry definitely makes a statement, but you must take extra steps in caring for them to get the most of your jewelry. If it becomes to dry, it can become discolored and even crack. But if it becomes too wet, then the plugs can expand in size, even if you're wearing them in the shower--Ouch!
Where can I buy piercing aftercare?
You can get everything you need to take care of your piercing right here at Spencer Gifts! Whether you need a saline solution for your belly button piercing or jojoba oil for your wooden plugs, we've got it all. Sanitize and keep your piercings clean with our wide variety of cleaning solutions and products, like the well-known H2Ocean saline spray. Our saline solution for piercings will get the job done every time, whether you need it for nose piercing care, cartilage piercing care, or even for nipple piercing care. From cleaning your wooden gauges using jojoba oil to sterilizing your belly button rings and nipple rings, Spencer’s has you covered for whatever piercing aftercare you may need. Because no matter how many piercings you have, you know that the aftercare is just as important as the piercing itself.
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how to care for your body jewelry and body piercings.
So what are you waiting for?! Your piercing jewelry isn't going to clean itself, so let Spencer's help make your piercing aftercare process so much easier. You can even pick up some new awesome
body jewelry while you're at it--just make sure to clean it before you wear it!