Crystals that Should Avoid Water

While many crystal cleansing rituals involve soaking crystals in water, it is important to know exactly which crystals are not water friendly – for the health of both your crystal collection and you! Some crystals are okay to get wet, as long as it’s not for an extended period of time, while others should not come into contact with water at all, based on their hardness level.

Crystals that should not come into contact with water at all:

Hematite – can rust when in contact with water due to iron oxide.

Kyanite – due to its softness and brittle quality, water can cause it to splinter apart.

Lepidolite – this crystal tends to flake apart in water because of its softness

Pyrite – when in contact with water, this crystal can actually produce sulfuric acid

Selenite – one of the softest crystals, selenite will dissolve in water. The best way to cleanse selenite is with the moon!

Crystals that should avoid prolonged submersion:

Black tourmaline – while black tourmaline is fairly hard compared to other crystals on this list, when submerged for more than a few minutes, the crystal will start to see damage

Calcite – Calcite is okay to be cleansed under running water, but you should avoid salt water, or keeping it submerged for any extended period of time

Labradorite – also a fairly hard crystal, labradorite is okay with a brief rinse, but should avoid salt water

Fluorite – a softer crystal, fluorite should avoid extended periods of submergence, but especially avoid salt water, as it will cause the formation of pores in the crystal.

Fear not – there are a multitude of ways to cleanse your crystal collection, no matter how soft: bathe them in the moonlight on a window ledge; smudge them with incense or dried herbs; use other cleansing crystals citrine or kyanite, and recharge and amplify your crystals’ energies with quartz, selenite, and apophyllite.

Note: this list is not exhaustive, but includes the crystals that we carry at Shoppe Geo.