Washing your hands thoroughly will prevent you from getting the earrings even dirtier before you start cleaning them.
If your ear piercing has already healed, use mild cleaners or alcohol wipes to cleanse the earrings. A healed piercing doesn’t have fresh tissue exposed inside the wound and is less likely to be irritated by gentle cleaning agents. [2] X Expert Source Stephanie AndersPiercing Specialist Expert Interview. 4 December 2019.
Make sure to wash between your fingers and up to your wrists.
You can also heat the water in a mug in the microwave. Start by heating it for 1 minute and 30 seconds, then check and continue heating it as necessary. Cleaning with hot water won’t get your earrings quite as clean as a solution would, but it’s a good method for when you’re low on cleaning supplies.
The hot water will kill germs and loosen dirt from the surface of your earrings. Hot water is safe for all earrings. If you’re cleaning costume-style plastic earrings, you can wait a minute or so for it to cool before placing the earrings in.
It’s important to clean silver earrings properly, since they can lose their shine and look dull and old when they get dirty. You can clean a few pairs of silver earrings at a time with this method.
Avoid using harsh chemicals to clean pearl earrings, since they’re typically more sensitive to damage. Wipe your pearls with a soft cloth after every wear to keep them looking clean.
You can also try wrapping the toothpick in a tissue or cloth to create a softer tip, but it may not be as effective in getting into tighter spaces.
