It is a common misconception that jewelry can be sterilized by boiling or using alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. The only way to completely sterilize, or remove all viable microorganisms from, your jewelry is with an autoclave, a machine that does the job with high-pressure steam. It is possible, however, to use a cold sterilant to greatly reduce the number of viable microorganisms. Piercing your ears with non-sterile jewelry can spread bloodborne pathogens like hepatitis and HIV, so have your initial piercings performed by a piercer using autoclaved needles and jewelry.
Step 1
Purchase a bottle of cold-soak sterilant solution from a tattoo and piercing supply store or website. Acceptable cold-soak sterilants are MadaCide, Cidex, Clidox, Cetylcide or Alcide.
Step 2
Open the lid of the bottle of sterilant and pour enough into an unused, disposable plastic cup to cover the jewelry.
Step 3
Drop the jewelry into the sterilant.
Step 4
Consult the bottle to find out how long your jewelry should soak. If you are unsure, check the active ingredients in the solution. The Center for Disease Control gives the following guidelines: for a sterilant made of 2-percent glutaraldehyde, 10 hours; for a sterilant made of 8-percent formaldehyde and 70-percent alcohol, 18 hours; and for a sterilant made of 6-percent stabilized hydrogen peroxide, 6 hours.
Step 5
Pour the sterilant into the sink after the jewelry has finished soaking. Dump the jewelry out of the cup and onto a sterile field.
Tips and Warnings
- The best way to clean and sterilize jewelry is to take it to a tattoo or piercing shop and pay them to autoclave it. Most will do this for a small fee. Whenever possible, have your piercings performed by a piercer certified by the Association of Professional Piercers, who have rigid standards for sterilization, cleanliness and skill. Remember that touching sterile jewelry with anything but sterile gloves or having it come into contact with anything but a sterile field, renders it non-sterile. This is true even if you wash your hands with antibacterial soap or alcohol.
- Piercing guns, which contain plastic pieces that cannot be autoclaved, should never be used to pierce any part of the body. Not only does shooting a stud through the ear with a gun cause unnecessary tissue trauma, the guns can transmit deadly bloodborne pathogens. Never pierce yourself using jewelry that has been in another person's body, even if that person's piercing was healed. Do not use cold-soak sterilants on jewelry made of any material other than metal. Not only will it be ineffective, it can damage the jewelry. A hydrogen peroxide sterilant solution and hydrogen peroxide from the drug store are not the same thing.
Things You'll Need
- Metal jewelry
- Cidex
- Clidox
- Cetylcide
- Alcide
- Madacide
- Unused disposable plastic cup
