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Original poster

How often do you clean your earrings?

30 replies

user1471523870 · 27/08/2020 11:02

I wear my little diamond studs 24/7, shower and wash my hair every day and tend to forget I have them on as they are very tiny and I have been wearing them for decades.
Every now and then I remember to take them off and give them and my piercing a proper clean, but that might be every other month if I am good. The build up is horrific and they smell too!

How do you stay on top of that? Is there a trick I am missing other than washing the area with soap every day (but without taking them out)?

OP posts:
babyguffingtonstrikesagain · 27/08/2020 11:05

I never wash them but I take them out every night and when I shower.

Mamette · 27/08/2020 11:07

I always clean mine before I go to the hairdresser because I would be embarrassed if there was any dirt on them and the hairdresser saw it.

mrbob · 27/08/2020 11:07

I am not sure you can wash them effectively without taking them out. Can you take them out once a week, give your ears a good scrub in the shower and clean the earrings and stick them back in?

mrbob · 27/08/2020 11:08

(Says she who has possibly never cleaned her earrings but doesn’t wear them much as she is too lazy)

lotusbell · 27/08/2020 11:22

I'm exactly the same as you, OP! Only ever remember to do this occasionally as I tend to wear studs or small hoops every day, very rarely change them. I have a bottle of surgical spirit from the chemist and clean them and my ears with that. I think it's how I was advised to clean the piercing all those years ago.

Thecobwebsarewinning · 27/08/2020 13:17

Like you I wear the same diamond studs year round. I only ever clean them if I’m going out somewhere special and want them to look extra sparkly so that’s once since March 22nd! I swear I could cultivate cress on the gunk that builds up on them.

Bluntness100 · 27/08/2020 13:20

They shouldn’t smell or have a build up , that’s concerning. What is it a build up of?

Youvegotafriendinme · 27/08/2020 13:29

I work in a jewellery shop and We offer a free cleaning service. It’s disgusting the amount of people who bring their earrings and rings in and they’ve never been cleaned. The smell is something else. The worse one is when they remove them from their ears then try and pass them to you Envy not envy

RedIsWhereItsAt · 27/08/2020 13:36

Absolute bare minimum once a week.

They get gross!

(Although I'm secretly relieved it's not just me.)

AriettyHomily · 27/08/2020 13:43

It's a guilty pleasure to pick out the funk from my earrings.ive always wondered what it actually is?!

ScrapThatThen · 27/08/2020 13:45

Most of it is probably shower gel and shampoo build up. Can I ask what other people use to clean theirs?

WitsEnding · 27/08/2020 13:50

I take mine out when I shower so I can wash my ears, and at night so the posts don’t stab me in the head.

I do check them but they don’t get dirty - maybe because my hair isn’t over them?

Original poster
user1471523870 · 27/08/2020 13:54

@Youvegotafriendinme

I work in a jewellery shop and We offer a free cleaning service. It’s disgusting the amount of people who bring their earrings and rings in and they’ve never been cleaned. The smell is something else. The worse one is when they remove them from their ears then try and pass them to you Envy not envy
Oh dear, how disgusting! Not in a million years I would give my unwashed earrings to anyone to clean, that's so gross and frankly rude. I have my rings cleaned regularly by my favorite jewellery shop, but I clean them as best as I can before bringing them in (and you really can't compare it to earrings).
OP posts:
Original poster
user1471523870 · 27/08/2020 13:56

@Bluntness100

They shouldn’t smell or have a build up , that’s concerning. What is it a build up of?
They shouldn't when you wash them regularly he he. But if you don't there is a build up dead skin cells I guess. Possibly also soap, all sort of sprays you use for hair or for your face, dust.

It's not an intense smell you can smell from further away, but if you go closer with your nose you can def detect it.

OP posts:
Thecobwebsarewinning · 27/08/2020 14:10

If I’m organised I use a small sonic jewellery cleaner. If I’m in a rush I use my electric toothbrush and a tiny smear of toothpaste!

Borderstotheleftofme · 27/08/2020 14:19

I have small diamond studs I wear 24/7 including hair washing etc.
I can’t remember the last time I took them out and properly cleaned them Blush
But they’ve never smelt bad or had a massive build up, some build up yes but not excessive.

Lexilooo · 27/08/2020 14:27

I take my earrings out when I do sports, wash my hair, shower or sleep.

My ears are cleaned in the shower.

My earrings stay clean as a result, they are never gunky or smelly. If they were I would be concerned. If they get tarnished I clean them with a jewellery cloth.

Juiceey · 27/08/2020 16:28

@Thecobwebsarewinning

If I’m organised I use a small sonic jewellery cleaner. If I’m in a rush I use my electric toothbrush and a tiny smear of toothpaste!
I just nearly vommed at that image
Staywithmemyblood · 27/08/2020 16:47

I wear small diamond studs 24/7 too. This thread has prompted me to remove them for a wee clean (can't remember the last time - pre lockdown anyway). Very relieved to report there was no gunky buildup or smell 😅

Saltyauntiepoop · 27/08/2020 18:38

You can use alcohol wipes to disinfect them. I never live in earrings, id wear earrings for a couple of hours a week if that. I hate sleeping, brushing my hair and washing it with them in. Cant bear wet ears and earrings.

Thecobwebsarewinning · 28/08/2020 07:24

I take them out before tackling them with the toothbrush @Juiceey. Don’t know if that makes it more or less boaky!

Housewife2010 · 28/08/2020 11:59

I can't remember the last time I took my diamond studs out. My wedding and engagement rings are stuck on my finger so I haven't been able to have them professionally cleaned for years either. I have taken my earrings out of my ears to give to the Boodles staff to clean. They didn't look horrified. They were so expensive that I wouldn't feel comfortable carrying them with me. I'm sure that would be the day I was mugged! They feel their safest in my ears.

XingMing · 28/08/2020 16:58

Stud earrings go in a sonic cleaner with some washing up liquid and boiling water, and the butterflies and mountings are cleaned with a TeePee interdental brush (kept for the purpose, in the sonic gizmo.) I clean them every couple of weeks, so they sparkle. Rings are cleaned at the same time.

DMIL went into respite care at the beginning of lockdown and is still there, so DH brought her engagement ring home. It was filthy, so I did that too. Rings seem to accumulate soap in the mountings.

CallarMorvern · 28/08/2020 17:34

I leave mine in for weeks, though I rub them with shampoo when I wash my hair. Piercings always get stinky, even when they are washed and left without earrings, they get that white waxy gunk in the actual hole (sorry tmi).
I soak my earrings in surgical spirit every so often. But came adrift with some that had a jewel glued on, it came unstuck.

Bunnymumy · 28/08/2020 17:37

Ugh. Howk.
That's me put off ever piercing my ears xD

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