What to Avoid: Water and rubbing alcohol
🧼 Spring Cleaning: Rubbing alcohol
Although you can’t use rubbing alcohol on your wood jewelry, there are areas where it can be put to good use. So, what should you use alcohol for regarding your spring cleaning? Rubbing alcohol is an awesome disinfectant! Mix one part water and one part rubbing alcohol for an eco-friendly homemade disinfectant. For this spring-cleaning task, use rubbing alcohol to clean the sinks! It seems odd to clean the sinks when water and soap go down the drain regularly, but you would be surprised at what gets caked up down there. Using rubbing alcohol and a dry cloth, you can buff your sinks to shiny perfection. ✨ After that’s done, spray a little extra rubbing alcohol down the sink to kill any bacteria, break down resting gunk, and leave your sink in a shimmering condition.
Source: https://cleanmyspace.com/rubbingalcohol/
The Why Behind Oiling: Protection
🧼 Spring Cleaning: Reduce bacteria in the home
We use oil to reduce bacteria growth on our plugs. In the spirit of spring cleaning, let’s also reduce the bacteria in our homes. Did you know your kitchen is known to have more bacteria than your bathroom? The place where you prepare food and eat it! GROSS! If you want to reduce bacteria in your home, this is the place to start.
Use three tablespoons of bleach in up to a quart of water for the germ fighter you didn’t know you needed! Use an older white towel and this solution to wipe down highly touched areas, such as the fridge handles, light switches, sink knobs, microwave buttons, and kitchen surfaces. Tackling the kitchen will leave you feeling much cleaner through the entirety of your home. No one wants extra company living in their home rent free...especially when it’s germs!
Source: https://www.aarp.org/health/longevity/info-04-2010/where_the_germs_are_lurking_in_your_home.html
The Process
Step 1: Prepare for the jewelry to be oiled
Now that you understand the importance of oiling your wood jewelry, we’re going to explain how you do it properly. Before you begin, make sure to thoroughly wash your hands. Your hands need to be clean to avoid getting unwanted bacteria into the pores of the wood. Once your hands are clean, you are ready to go! First, use a cloth to wipe the piece of jewelry off. This will remove any dust or dead skin accumulated from the jewelry laying around that may be resting on the surface.🧼 Spring Cleaning: Dust your furniture
Removing dust and debris in preparation of your jewelry to be oiled has us in the mood to remove dust and dead skin in our house! Did you know dust is a mix of skin cells, hair, clothing fibers, bacteria, dust mites, bits of dead bugs, soil particles, pollen, and microscopic specks of plastic?! That’s why it is important to keep up on your dusting. Haven’t been? No biggie, but now’s the time.
To match this step of the oiling process, we think you should dust all your furniture. Allergies are already at an all-time high in the spring, so there’s no need to make it worse by breathing in dirt and dust. Don’t have a feather duster? You’re in luck. The best way to remove dust is just using a water-dampened cloth. This allows you to collect the dust and get rid of it, rather than just spreading it into the air with a feather duster. When dust gets back into the air, you end up just breathing it back in, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of dusting, right? Just make sure that the damp cloth doesn’t touch your freshly wiped jewelry. 😉
Source: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a24221/get-rid-of-dust/
Step 2: Massage the oil into your jewelry
Next, you will want to grab a paper towel and the oil you are using. Many types of oil will work to moisturize your jewelry. Arctic Buffalo recommends using jojoba or vitamin E oil. Add a fingernail-sized drop of oil to the paper towel for larger sizes and half that amount for smaller sizes. Gently massage the oiled paper towel into the wood. The piece of jewelry should be completely covered but not saturated. You do not want your piece of jewelry to be soaking in oil, as it will expand after absorption.🧼 Spring Cleaning: Clean your carpet
Step 3: Finding the small areas
When working with jewelry that has carvings or small flares, it may be difficult to get the surface covered entirely. But it is very important to do so that no discoloration occurs on the wood. You want to make sure you are evenly oiling the entire surface, including every small groove or crevice. This is particularly important when working with single or double flared jewelry, because the flare is usually quite small. When working with small grooves, it is helpful to use a Q-tip to make sure you are getting to those hard-to-reach spots. Just dip the Q-tip in oil so that all the fibers are moisturized and use the Q-tip like a paint brush. 🖌
🧼 Spring Cleaning: Vacuum out the couch
Speaking of getting into small crevices, let’s talk about the crevices of your couch. We know all too well that our couch cracks love to swallow up coins, Cheetos and other unwanted Netflix partners. No one wants to run their hands through your 6-month-old crumbs, dirt, sticky change or wrappers while looking for their phone, keys, or your couch’s favorite, the TV remote. 🛋 We all know this couch. Don’t make this your couch! How much more enjoyable would it be to hang out on (or search through) a couch that you knew was clean underneath? We’re going to guess it’s pretty satisfying. So, for this spring-cleaning task, we’re vacuuming our couch cushions and every nook and cranny underneath.
Step 4: Let your plugs dry
Once you have the entire surface of the wood evenly covered, place it back on the paper towel to sit overnight. 🌙 Keep in mind that the wood should feel tacky immediately after you get done oiling. Your plugs will dry as the oil is fully absorbed. Avoid wearing the jewelry until the next morning or at least 8 hours, so that the oil can soak in properly. The next morning, you will want to brush off any paper towel fibers potentially resting on the plug, and you are good to go!
🧼 Spring Cleaning: Fresh air and fragrance
When it comes to oiling your wood jewelry, there are many factors that come into play such as the climate you live in, how often you wear them, and the type of wood used. For a general rule of thumb, you should be oiling your jewelry at least once a month. For best results with wood products, make sure you are not wearing your wood jewelry for multiple days and nights in a row. With such a porous material, you need to allow the wood and your ears to breathe. Also note that wood should only be worn in healed ears. Behind every stretched ear is a routine to keep the ear healthy and looking awesome. Make sure you have a regimen for yours!
Start the spring season with a clean home, clean jewelry and clean ears. Decluttering your life might be just the thing you need to spark a mental reset! Start the new season off right in 2021 with these cleaning tips and tricks. Happy spring buffs! Warmer weather is ahead! 🌞