To ask what you use for cleaning pierced earrings/ears now that Claire’s Accessories no longer exists

[CatesandAle]

Claire’s cleaning lotion for pierced ears/earrings has been my go-to for decades whenever I was putting new earrings in. It was affordable, mild, etc. Used to stock up from Amazon whenever I got through a bottle. But apparently Claire’s Accessories has gone bust and I can no longer find the lotion to buy. What should I be using instead to clean new earrings before I put them in? I know some people don’t bother, but that feels unhygienic to me.

Our piercer recommends Nielmed. It’s just a saline spray. We buy it on Amazon if we run out of what the piercer sends home.

Another one here that has never cleaned earrings.

Cotton pad with warm salt water.

You don't deep clean your new sofa?!!!! 😂

Yeah you don't need anything its just skin with a hole in it?

Never been anywhere near a Claires for earrings or ear piercing. Wouldn't have touched them with a bargepole.

I'm heavily pierced (I guess) I've only ever cleaned just done piercings never new jewellery 🤐

I use a drop of wash up liquid in a teacup of water - drop the earrings in, let them soak, use a tissue to clear grime when I take them out of the water, or poke grime out with a pin. I rinse them in tap water.

Another who has never cleaned new ear rings.
About 50 years ago when my ears were freshly pierced, we used a bit of salt with boiling water on it that was left to cool for the first few weeks after they were pierced, but that was on the ears rather than the ear rings.

Thanks for the replies! Saline or rubbing alcohol sounds like a good shout. For clarity, I’m an individual with pierced ears, not somebody who pierces others’ ears, so I’m not talking about what to do with newly pierced ears, I’m talking about putting new earrings in my ears that have been pierced for decades. I can see how, as it’s not a fresh wound, you might think cleaning the earrings was unnecessary. But my experience in wearing earrings with backs (I mostly wear small hoops now, which don’t have the same issue) was that I did sometimes find a bit of crustiness around the ear piercings and earrings when I took them off, so it did seem to me like you can still experience a bit of irritation/discharge even when the holes are ‘healed’. So I like to clean ears and earrings between wears or when putting new earrings in. If you don’t, and don’t have issues, then fine for you :)

TCP

I wipe the bits thst go through the ear with surgical spirit. I also buff the actual decorative bit of silver ones with a silver cloth from time to time, if they're starting to tarnish.

When I first got my earring pierced, I was given a bottle to wipe round the piercing as it healed - its main ingredient was surgical spirit, which is cheap and avaliable from any chemist, though you sometimes have to ask at the counter. Also known as isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol. (A colleague used it to wipe the ends of his speaker cables before plugging them in.)

Ahhh that crustiness is shed skin, skin oils, shampoo/conditioner than hasn't been fully rinsed away. It can collect behind and inside the butterfly because the butterflies acts as a physical barrier. It's a bit grim, but not harmful.

What is the point of putting new earrings in saline solution or waters? If you want to clean them then surely a sterilising solution like tablets used for retainers or 70% alcohol would be better?

It was surgical spirit in my day - pre Claires. You used to buy bottles of it from the pharmacy. I imagine you still can.

Def not tcp, rubbing alcohol, surgical spirit or the like! They're way too harsh and disrupt the body's natural biome.

Use cooled boiled water with a tiny amount of sea salt, NOT table salt. Put in a spray bottle and spray your ears several times a day then leave them alone!

Me too. Never cleaned a new pair or earrings!

Why not table salt ? All salt comes from the sea ..,

Diluted dettol. That was for cleaning after. Never cleaned new earings as hole is sealed.

Sea salt comes from the sea, table salt is mined. Table salt is heavily refined and often coated with silicates that allow it to pour more easily. Sea salt is much purer.