Crystal Cleansing Precautions

You are so excited, you just got this nifty new stone to bring home & use. Be it for ritual work, healing work, or just because it's that cool and you had to have it.

An important consideration to take into account is the care of your new friend. This includes proper cleansing. As a layperson you may not be familiar with a stone's properties. Especially if you go with "gut instinct" when buying it. Protecting your crystals based on their physical properties is important. You can only cleanse certain stones in certain ways. To best prolong the life of your crystals, remember these guidelines when cleansing:

Friable (jointed) stones cannot be cleaned in water or salt water, if you assure that you get all of the salt out of cracks/facets/joints in the stone you may use dry sea or rock salt (better safe than sorry!)
The following stones should not be cleared with sunlight as it will cause them to fade or be adversely affected: Opal, Rose Quartz, Tourmaline, Turquoise, Heat-treated Citrine, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Aventurine, Celestite, Fluorite, Kunzite, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, any stone with jointed edge/crystal shape (they can magnify the sun's ray and could start a fire!!!)
The following stones should not be cleared with water/salt water: Selenite, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Turquoise, Calcite, Carnelian, Labradorite, Opal.
Stones with terminated ends should not be cleared in a singing bowl (the vibrations can cause them to chip).
Malachite, Sulphur, Galena, & Vanadinite leach toxins and should not be put in water or salt water!