[Jewelry making - Article 00458] - Re: [Orchid] Ultrasonic vs. Ionic Cleaning

[Beth Rosengard]

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>     ... but I do know that the druse crystals tend to be very fragile. 

    From what I've been able to learn online, ionic cleaners are "safe
    for soft and fragile gems like Emerald and Opal, as well as Diamond
    and all other gemstones" (including pearls).  So if druse crystals
    are especially vulnerable to ionic cleaning, it would have to be
    because the ionic action somehow loosens the attachment of the
    crystals to the substrate.  But since ionic cleaning does not involve
    vibration (or destructive chemical solutions), that seems unlikely to
    me. 

    The type of druse involved could also be relevant.  The most common
    is composed of quartz crystals on an agate substrate -- not fragile
    at all (if you discount impact damage; dropping it on a hard floor
    would probably not be efficacious :-).  The softer or more brittle
    druses, like uvarovite or cobalto calcite or azurite, might be a
    different story.  Beth 


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