One care philosophy covers most of the organic materials in this catalog (bone, yak horn, wood beads, seeds, nuts) because they share a biology: once-living material that likes hands, fears drowning, and ages honestly.
The Philosophy: Your Hands Are the Kit
Organic beads don't want polish from a bottle. They want the oils your skin makes. Regular wear is maintenance: the warmth and oils keep bone from going chalky, keep woods glowing, and deepen every patina. A piece worn daily looks better at year five than day one. A piece kept in a drawer looks exactly like a piece kept in a drawer.
The Short Rules
- No soaking. Water swells seeds, dulls bone, and lifts finishes. Damp cloth, dry after, done.
- No bottled oils unless we say so. Hand oils good. Kitchen oils rancid. Mystery "jewelry oils" unnecessary. (Exceptions: iron wants a trace of mineral oil, see Tibetan Iron Beads.)
- Fear dryness more than darkness. Very dry climates can check (hairline-crack) wood and bone. Wearing them is the cure, and a sealed pouch between wears holds what your hands gave.
- Beware the drop. Bone and seed survive daily life beautifully and lose to tile floors specifically. Put pieces on over carpet, not the sink.
- Heat is the quiet enemy: radiators, car dashboards, saunas. Organics near heat dry, warp, or split.
Restringing and Repair
- Elastic and cord age. A strand that starts feeling loose is telling you it's time. Restring before it parts, not after.
- Knotted strands protect beads from grinding against each other. We knot our finer pieces for this reason.
- A check or crack in wood is character unless it's growing. A crack in bone that widens wants a look from us. Send a photo before attempting anything adhesive.
Related: Caring for Your Piece · Yak Bone & Horn · Seed & Nut Beads · Storing Jewelry