Your clay earrings are prized possessions. They’re wearable works of art, their weight is burdenless, they bring out your inner confidence - they’re quite impossible to not love. You want them to last a long while, so you need to know: can clay earrings get wet?
Water is a fact of daily life. You drink it, you wash with it, it comes down from the sky - it’s quite impossible to ignore.
Sometimes, an immovable object and unstoppable force meet. If you have enough polymer clay earrings for enough years, the odds are you will get caught in the rain while wearing them, something will spill on them, you’ll jump in the pool before remembering to take them out, or anything else in between.
Will this ruin your clay earrings for good? Are they waterproof? Can this remarkable jewelry be salvaged from water exposure? We have the answers.
Something telling me if I put on clay earrings while my hair is wet it wont end well
— ar (@sugart1tz) February 24, 2021
Can Clay Earrings Get Wet?
Yes, but it would be best to avoid it as much as possible.
Polymer clay earrings are not entirely waterproof. If exposed to too much water for too long, the material will become soft and has a higher potential to break or deteriorate, especially around the edges. Also, the metal fixtures keeping the pieces of your earrings held together will become tarnished over time if exposed to water for too long. This means swimming, showering, or otherwise submerging clay earrings in water is generally ill-advised.
Taking clay earrings into a chlorinated pool or hot tub is especially troublesome. The chlorine has the potential to discolor the earrings and add insult to injury. Always double check your ears before getting into a pool or hot tub if you’re a wearer of clay jewelry.
Too Late, I Already Did It. What Now?
First, use this as a learning opportunity to be better for next time. We can only move forward.
Second, this isn’t necessarily a death kneel for your beloved clay earrings. Water doesn’t automatically destroy them on impact. In fact, during the making process of clay earrings, they’re given a quick swish in a soapy water to remove any dust particles after they’ve been sanded. They’re immediately dried with a cloth and laid out to finish drying before the next phase of the creation process.
The point is, it’s not inherently doomsday if clay earrings get wet. But you should carefully dry them as best as you can, as quickly as you can, then let them relax on a cloth before you put them away or wear them again.
This is particularly true if you were caught in a sudden rain or your earrings were somehow splashed by something. This is much less dangerous than if you dive into a chlorine-packed pool and swim some laps. So long as you’re vigilant and take the proper care to dry your earrings after the accident, you should be okay.
Be Especially Careful with Resin
You need to be especially careful with clay earrings that include resin. If resin is exposed to even a drop of water, it can completely dull the shine. That’s counterproductive to the cause, so do your best to protect your resin-coated clay earrings from getting wet even more than you would a pair that doesn’t feature the added accessory.
If My Clay Earrings Get Totally Water Damaged, What Should I Do?
I’m so sorry for your loss. You should probably check out the Red Leaves Studio catalog for a new pair.
There are always new additions to my selection, and I have designs for all sorts of personalities and styles. Animal, seasonal, classic and simple - the world is your oyster at Red Leaves Studio. Celebrate your style and immediately overcome those water-logged blues with a replacement pair of clay earrings from Red Leaves Studio!
Edited by Justin Meyer.