How to care for organic wood jewelry

This is part of a series of blogs on how to best care for organic jewelry. Wood is a popular material, especially for ear gauges. It can be carved into tunnels, plugs, tapers, and hanging styles.

The best thing to do when you first receive wood gauges is to oil them with jojoba oil. Jojoba is a natural oil that will help to preserve and maintain the rich color of the wood. Oiling prevents cracking and can be frequently applied. If there is any detail carving, oil will enhance the image.

Wood is a fragile material, and even the larger sizes may break or crack if dropped. In addition, wood should not be exposed to water, at least for extensive periods of time. We don't recommend showering or swimming with your wood jewelry.

Our experience has been that wood is not as prone to warping as horn. It is lighter weight than both horn and bone and is comfortable to wear.

Check out wood ear gauges at Avaia Artistic Jewelry by clicking here!

How to care for organic horn jewelry

Water Buffalo horn is a popular item in ear gauges and other body jewelry. Proper care of organics is essential. We are going to tell you a few tricks to help keep your horn jewelry looking new.

First, horn should be oiled with pure jojoba oil. This will enhance the colour and any depth to carving. It will make the jewelry shine and hide imperfections. Rub a small amount of oil into the jewelry, then wipe clean in a polishing fashion. Horn can also be buffed with a jewelry cloth. If there is silver inlay, this is an excellent means of shining up the silver without damaging the horn.

Second, over time the horn, being an organic, may absorb water vapor from the air and in the process warp. We have developed a method to restore your jewelry. What you need to do is wrap the item in a moist small towel or washcloth. Make sure the item will lay flat, so the towel should be square folded. Place the item in the towel on a flat, solid surface and set a relatively heavy item on top of it. A gallon jug of a liquid, such a bleach on top of the towel and leave it for 24 hours. After this time, check that the item has straightened. You aren't done yet. Now you need to place the jewelry in a heavy book, shut the book and pile more on top. Basically you are using a make shift press, much like flowers are pressed. Leave the item for a week or so. The shape should be restored!