As agates come in so many colors, there is an agate for everyone, in every situation, and for every chakra. If you want to make sure your stone continues to work for you as intended, it is important to remove the negative energy that the stone has absorbed regularly. There are several ways to do this, but a popular one is by using water.
All agate can go in (salt)water, as it is about a 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness. Beware that there are risks involved when soaking agate in water, such as formation of rust, losing shine and even breakage. Other safe ways to cleanse your agate are using selenite, sound, or by smoke cleansing.
Continue reading if you want to know more about why agate is fine in water, as well as the risks and alternative methods of cleansing. At the bottom of this page you’ll find a quick overview of the traits, such as element, chakra, zodiac, and benefits, of this stone.
If you’re also curious about charging your agate with postive energy, you might be interested in this article that I wrote: “Can Agate Be In The Sun?”
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Can Agate Go In Water? (Explained)
The fact that agate scores a 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness means it has a high enough score to prevent surface damage. For those unfamiliar, the Mohs scale provides every mineral with a number from 1-10. The higher the number, the more it can handle. For reference, talc is a 1, whereas diamonds are a 10.
As a general rule, a mineral needs to be at the very least a 5 to be able to withstand water. With agates being a 7, it is unlikely that contact with water will immediately cause damage.
However, beware that soaking crystals is often a completely different story. This is caused by the fact that every stone, no matter how polished it looks, has tiny cracks on the surface. These aren’t inherently problematic, but water will easily go into those cracks and expand them. If you soak your stone, the cracks will get larger much quicker and are very likely to eventually break it. This is especially true for raw agates or geodes, that have more cracks. The best way to prevent them from breaking is to either only rinse your stones, or to stay away from water altogether.
Although some would argue that a broken stone is an unusable one, I believe differently. I have unfortunately broken plenty of crystals and still use all of them. It is best to decide for yourself if you want to continue to use the stone. Pick it up and check in with it, if it doesn’t feel good it might be better to buy a new one.
- Also Read: What Chakra Is Moss Agate?
Another thing to keep in mind is that any stone that is left in water for extended periods of time will eventually turn dull. If you’re using the stone to make crystal elixirs, this is something that is guaranteed to happen. Luckily, it won’t affect its vibrations and you’ll be able to use it just the same. It just won’t be as pretty.
Besides, polished stones often have a finish over them to make them more shiny. When you soak your stone the water eats away at this layer first. This is a good thing, as it protects your stone for a little while longer. The bad news however, is that it will also leave your stone more dull.
So if you care about the looks of your crystal it might be better to avoid water altogether. This includes agate in jewelry – don’t swim or shower with it if you want it to look perfect!
The last thing to keep in mind is the fact that agate gets it’s beautiful color from the different minerals in it. For some of them, especially those with a reddish/orange color, this is caused by iron ore. You likely know what happens if you leave iron to soak in water – it starts to rust. Depending on the amount of iron ore in your agate this process will go quicker or slower. Unfortunately, you’ll only know when it is already to late. This is why I personally always recommend using different methods to cleanse your stones.
- Also Read: Can Agate Go In Salt?
Can Agate Go In Tap Water?
Technically, all water will energetically cleanse your stone. However, I personally choose to only use (tap)water that is clean enough to drink. After all, there is no point cleansing a stone with dirty water and if it’s not good enough for you, it is not good enough for your agate. In this case, you might be better off filtering the water before using it. After all, dirty water isn’t going to clean anything.
This should speak for itself, but if you’re making an elixir with your agate it is even more important that the water you’re using is drinkable.
Can Agate Go In Salt Water?
Agate can go in salt water, but beware that there are even more risks involved than with normal water. As previously explained, normal water is likely to cause the miniscule cracks in your stone to expand when left to soak. The problem with salt water is that the grains will be left behind when the water evaporates. These grains will only speed up the process and cause your stone to become more likely to break. Again, note that raw agate and geodes have more cracks and are therefore more likely to be damaged.
Lastly, beware that if your agate is part of a piece of jewelry, silver will be tarnished in salt water. So if you don’t want the chain to turn black, avoid salt water.
If you want to know more about salt and agate, and how to use it safely, I‘d recommend reading this post that I wrote: “Can Agate Go In Salt?”
How To Make An Agate Water Elixir?
An elixir is really just another way of working with your agate. Whereas some like to keep their stone in their pocket all day, other like to add a few drops of infused water in their water bottle to sip on throughout the day. If you haven’t found your way of working with crystals yet, or you would like to try something else, elixirs might be good to try!
Agate elixirs are extremely calming and grounding. If this sounds like what you need, here is how you make it:
- Start with a crystal that is (energetically) cleansed and recharged. A crystal depleted of positive energy is not going to infuse your water with anything, or worse leave negative vibrations in your water. There are some suggestions on how to cleanse your stone in the next chapters.
- Fill a bowl or bottle with drinkable water. Tap water works just fine as long as you’re happy to ingest it. If not, use bottled or filtered water please!
- Place your agate in the water and set an intention if you’d like. This is mandatory, but it might be nice to decide what you want to get out of the elixir before you use it.
- Leave the bowl or bottle in the sun or moon, depending on what type of energy you are looking for. The sunlight is more uplifting, whereas moonlight is grounding.
- When you feel the water is ready, take the stone out. Some people keep the stone in for only a few minutes, whereas others leave it in moonlight overnight. This is completely up to you. I do want to caution you about leaving water in sunlight for a long time. Bacteria love water, especially when it is nice and warm. To protect yourself, never leave it in for hours.
- If you aren’t going to use all the water within a week or so, fill your bottle with about 1/3 alcohol (like vodka or brandy). This way, you stop bacteria from growing. If you are going to use it within that time, you should be fine just leaving it in the fridge.
- Drop a few drops of the elixir into your water bottle to drink throughout the day.
How To Cleanse Agate Using Water
As you might have already guessed, I am personally not a big fan of using water to cleanse crystals. There are simply to many risks involved and it is likely you’ll end up damaging your stone. However, if you feel like water is the right option for you, I’ll outline two ways to use it below.
Running Water
If you are going to cleanse your stone with water, this is probably the safest method. It minimizes the risks, simply because it make contact with water for the least amount of time. It is also really simple, as all you have to do is leave it in some running water for a little bit. If you have a creek near your house, this is ideal. If not, under a running faucet for a few minutes will also do the trick.
Whenever you feel it is ready, dry it with a soft cloth and make sure to recharge it. You have washed away the low vibrations, now it is time to fill it with high ones!
Salt Water
This is a more risky method, but might be nice to use every once in a while if your stone feels especially heavy. Again, I wouldn’t do this weekly as it is likely to break your stone.
Collect a bowl of fresh sea water (if you can!) or put a tablespoon of salt into a bowl of water. Make sure all the salt has dissolved and place your agate in it. Leave it for a few hours, depending on how energetically heavy it feels.
When ready, take your stone out of the bowl and run it under tap water to get rid of any leftover salt. This will minimize the damage. Afterwards, dry it with a soft cloth and make sure to charge it!
How To Cleanse Agate Without Water
If you want to protect your stone from all damage, it is probably better to avoid water. Luckily, there are plenty of other ways to cleanse your agate. Below I will outline some.
If you’re also looking for ways to charge your agate, I recommend reading this article that I wrote: “Can Agate Be In The Sun?”
Smoke Cleansing
This is probably the safest method of cleansing your agate. Smoke is generally used to cleanse a person’s energy field, rooms or objects (like crystals!). It effectively removes negative energy and leaves you with a nice clean space or crystal.
Just like with any other type of cleansing and recharging setting an intention is essential. Ensure your energy is light by thinking positively and making sure your desires are clear.
Simply light your chosen herbs, blow out the flame, and say your intention out loud. Afterwards, waft the smoke over the agate that you want to cleanse. You can also lift the crystal over the smoke if it is easy to pick up.
NOTE: Beware that using the term ‘smudging’ and the practice of burning white sage/palo santo is commonly used in the spiritual community. This is a specific type of smoke cleansing used by Native Americans, and which was illegal up until about 40 years ago. We recommend using a form of smoke cleansing that is appropriate for you and your culture.
Sound
Using sound is great if you want to cleanse and recharge at the same time. Perfect if you don’t want to spend hours cleansing and charging your crystals.
For this method, you can use either singing bowls, a tuning fork or a simple YouTube video. To use it, set your intention and let the sound fill the room. Check in with your stone by picking it up. If you feel the energy is light, it’s ready!
I’ll link my favorite video to cleanse my crystals below.
Selenite
Selenite is an incredible crystal as it has the power of transmutation. It absorbs negative energy and transmutes it into positive energy. As a result, it is a perfect stone to cleanse and recharge your agate.
I love this method because it is incredibly simple. All you have to do is leave your agate on some selenite. Selenite plates are ideal, but if you’re just using a stone make sure it’s bigger than the agate that you’re wanting to charge. Leave it for about 24 hours and your stone is ready to be used again.
Be aware that selenite is a very soft stone, so if you’re using raw agate or a geode this may leave indents or scratches on your selenite.
Agate Overview
Chakra: All (depending on the type of agate)
Element: Earth
Zodiac: Gemini | Virgo
Benefits: Grounding | Rebalancing | Cleansing
There’s an agate for every situation: depending on the type, they have different uses and powers. However, there are also overarching uses for agates. Overall, they have a soothing, low vibration making it is perfect for grounding. Apart from this, agates help you rebalance. As a result, the stone is perfect if you feel a bit woozy and need a bit of help unblocking chakras.
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