Eastern Story Care Guide
How to Care for Your Piece
A few consistent habits can help preserve the material, cord work, finish, and quiet character of a piece you wear or keep close.
This guide covers jade, clear quartz, mixed natural stones, red cord, elastic bracelets, and metal accents. Always follow the individual product page first when it gives more specific instructions.
Five Rules That Prevent Most Damage
Keep It Dry
Remove your piece before showering, swimming, exercising, cleaning, or entering a sauna. A stone may tolerate brief contact with water while its cord, elastic, plating, glue, or surface treatment may not.
Apply Products First
Put on jewelry only after lotion, sunscreen, perfume, hairspray, and cosmetics have dried. Oils, alcohol, acids, and pigments may affect porous stones, cords, elastic, and metal finishes.
Avoid Impact and Pulling
Do not drop a stone piece onto tile or concrete, pull sharply on a knot, or stretch an elastic bracelet farther than needed. Hardness does not make a material impossible to chip, scratch, or break.
Wipe After Wear
Use a clean, soft, dry cloth after wearing, especially in warm weather. This removes skin oils, dust, and light moisture before they remain on the surface or enter the cord work.
Store Separately
Keep each piece in a soft pouch, lined box, or separate compartment. Do not leave it loose with keys, harder jewelry, sharp objects, or heavy items.
Care at a Glance
| Material or Component | Usually Safe | Avoid | Important Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jade | Soft dry cloth; slightly damp cloth when needed; dry immediately | Hard impact, abrasive cleaners, prolonged soaking, sudden heat | Jadeite and nephrite are tough, but edges and carvings can still chip or scratch |
| Clear Quartz | Soft dry cloth; brief gentle cleaning with clean water when the product construction allows | Impact, sudden temperature change, abrasive powders, soaking mixed-material pieces | Quartz is relatively hard, but points, thin edges, and drilled beads can chip |
| Mixed Natural Stones | Soft dry cloth and conservative spot cleaning | One cleaning method for every stone, strong chemicals, heat, prolonged water exposure | Hardness, porosity, dyes, coatings, and treatments may differ between stones |
| Red Cord and Knots | Keep dry; blot gently if damp; air-dry flat | Soaking, rubbing, bleach, alcohol, pulling, heat drying | Color may soften or fade gradually through friction and wear |
| Elastic | Roll over the hand gently; inspect regularly | Overstretching, soaking, heat, perfume, sleeping in the bracelet | Loss of recovery, whitening, cracking, or visible fraying indicates replacement may be needed |
| Metal Accents | Wipe dry after wear; store away from humidity | Perfume, chlorine, salt water, household polish, abrasive cloths | Plated and base-metal parts may naturally darken or lose brightness over time |
When a piece combines stone, cord, elastic, glue, plating, or several materials, care for the most sensitive component. Do not assume the entire piece is waterproof because one stone can tolerate water.
Care by Material
Jade: Tough, but Not Indestructible
Jade commonly refers to jadeite or nephrite. According to the Gemological Institute of America, jadeite is approximately 6.5-7 on the Mohs hardness scale and nephrite approximately 6-6.5. Jade is especially valued for toughness, which is resistance to breaking, but toughness does not prevent every scratch, chip, or damaged edge.
For an Eastern Story jade piece, use a soft dry cloth for routine care. If the jade surface needs more cleaning, use a cloth lightly dampened with clean lukewarm water and dry the complete piece immediately. Avoid soaking corded or assembled pieces. Do not use bleach, alcohol, vinegar, toothpaste, abrasive powder, or rough brushes.
GIA notes that untreated jade can usually tolerate warm soapy water and mechanical cleaning. However, a finished consumer piece may also contain wax, dye, polymer treatment, glue, cord, elastic, or plated metal. Because those details are not always visible, this guide recommends the gentler method unless a product page confirms otherwise.
Clear Quartz: Hard Surface, Vulnerable Edges
Quartz is 7 on the Mohs hardness scale, so it resists many everyday scratches. It can still chip when dropped, struck at an edge, or stressed around a drilled hole. Sudden temperature changes may also damage some stones or assembled pieces.
Remove fingerprints and skin oils with a clean microfiber or other soft lint-free cloth. For a loose, untreated quartz object, mild soap and lukewarm water may be suitable. For a bracelet, pendant, glued setting, or mixed-material piece, use minimal moisture and dry immediately. Avoid steam and ultrasonic cleaning unless the exact stone treatment and construction are known to be suitable.
Mixed Natural Stones: Use the Most Conservative Method
A multistone bracelet may combine materials with different hardness, porosity, surface treatments, and sensitivity. Some beads may be dyed, coated, stabilized, or naturally softer than others. A method that is safe for quartz may be unsuitable for another stone beside it.
Unless the product page identifies every material and gives specific cleaning directions, use a dry soft cloth and brief spot cleaning only. Keep mixed stones away from acids, chlorine, salt water, strong heat, abrasive cleaners, and prolonged sunlight. Read the Material Guide for more background on natural variation.
Red Cord, Knots, and Elastic
Cord and elastic often show wear earlier than stone. Put elastic bracelets on by gently rolling them over the hand instead of pulling one section sharply. Do not repeatedly twist knots or use the cord as the point from which you pull the piece.
If worn frequently, inspect the cord, knots, drill holes, and elastic about once a month. This is a practical check, not a promised lifespan. Look for fraying, flattening, stretched gaps, loose knots, whitening, cracking, or elastic that no longer returns to its original shape.
Metal Accents and Symbolic Charms
Metal components may be solid metal, alloy, plated, or finished in another way. Moisture, salt, perfume, skin chemistry, and air exposure can change brightness or color. Wipe metal parts after wear and store them dry. Do not use silver dip, metal polish, or an abrasive polishing cloth unless the product page identifies the metal and specifically recommends it.
If Something Happens
It Got Wet
Remove it, blot rather than rub, and allow it to air-dry completely at room temperature. Keep it away from hair dryers, radiators, and direct sun. Do not store it while damp.
It Was Exposed to Sweat
Wipe stone and metal surfaces with a soft cloth. Gently blot the cord or elastic, then leave the piece in a ventilated place until fully dry.
Perfume or Lotion Touched It
Wipe the affected surface promptly with a clean cloth. If residue remains, use a barely damp cloth only where appropriate, then dry immediately. Do not try to neutralize it with another chemical.
A Knot or Cord Feels Loose
Stop wearing the piece until it is checked. Continuing to wear it may enlarge the gap or cause bead loss. Do not add household glue or cut the cord unless you intend to have it professionally restrung.
A Stone Was Dropped
Check it in bright, indirect light. Look around edges, carvings, drill holes, and settings for a new chip, crack, or looseness. Stop wearing it if a sharp edge or structural change is visible.
A Simple Cleaning Routine
- Wash and dry your hands so no lotion or cleaner transfers to the piece.
- Inspect the cord, elastic, knots, drill holes, metal parts, and stone edges before cleaning.
- Remove loose dust with a clean soft cloth. Do not scrub.
- If needed, use a second cloth barely dampened with clean lukewarm water on a suitable stone surface.
- Avoid soaking the full piece. Keep moisture away from knots, elastic, glue, and plated metal where possible.
- Dry immediately with a separate soft cloth, then allow the piece to air-dry fully before storage.
Do not use bleach, alcohol, vinegar, toothpaste, baking soda, household cleaner, abrasive powder, rough brushes, steam, or an ultrasonic cleaner as a general method. Mechanical cleaning should only be considered when the exact material, treatment, setting, and construction are known to be compatible.
Storage and Travel
- Store only when completely dry.
- Use a soft pouch, lined box, or individual compartment.
- Keep harder stones and metal edges from rubbing against softer or polished surfaces.
- Lay cord pieces loosely rather than folding or crushing them under other objects.
- Keep away from humid bathrooms, windowsills, heaters, and prolonged direct sunlight.
- For travel, secure the piece in a small rigid box or padded compartment instead of a loose bag.
Natural Change or a Product Problem?
Usually Normal
- Natural differences in color, grain, translucency, inclusions, or surface pattern
- Slight handmade differences in knot position or bead arrangement
- Red cord gradually becoming softer, darker, or slightly faded through use
- Minor darkening or reduced brightness on some metal finishes
- Light surface marks that develop gradually through ordinary wear
Stop Wearing and Contact Us
- A new crack, sharp chip, or loose carving
- Elastic that is cracked, visibly frayed, whitening, or no longer recovering
- A knot that has opened or a cord that is close to breaking
- A charm, bead, clasp, or setting that has become loose
- An item that arrived damaged, defective, or different from the order
- A sudden color or surface change that cannot be explained by ordinary wear
When contacting us, include your order number, product link or product name, a short description, and clear photographs in bright natural light. Close-up and full-item photographs are both useful.
Care with Attention, Not Anxiety
A meaningful object does not need to remain untouched to retain its value. Wear it with intention, notice how its materials change, and give it simple care when needed. Natural variation and gentle signs of use can become part of the story it carries with you.
Reference note: Material facts and cleaning considerations were checked against the Gemological Institute of America’s official Jade Care and Cleaning Guide, Rose Quartz Care and Cleaning Guide, and Tips on Caring for Jewelry. Product construction and treatments vary, so Eastern Story recommends the most conservative suitable method when details are uncertain.