If you have body piercings you know straight away that keeping them clean and bacteria free can be a real pain in the ass. Soap residue from under-rinsing, tightness that makes it hard to rotate the jewelry properly, etc.
The easiest and most effective way that I’ve found for cleaning body jewelry is to either a – clean them while in the shower or bath or b – right after taking a shower or bath.
Cleaning the jewelry during bath time is probably the easiest and pain free way to clean your jewelry as the heat and steam loosens the jewelry, making it easier to rotate within your skin and water is within easy reach.
Never clean your body jewelry with scented or dyed soaps. Always use a non-scented, dye-free, antibacterial soap like Dial.
Take a small mirror into the shower (or tub) with you so you can see what you’re doing along with a q-tip, of course you can always use your fingertips so long as you wash them first.
Put a small dab of soap (about the size of a pea) on the end of your q-tip or fingertip and rub it over the part of your body jewelry that you can see until you get a nice foam action. Then slowly rotate the jewelry until the ball (or wherever the stopping point is) touches the piercing hole, then slowly rotate it back the other way. Do this a few times to ensure you’ve gotten the soap on all parts of the jewelry as well as the inside of the hole.
When you’ve finished rotating lean your face into the spray of your shower (don’t let the water hit it directly because the force can irritate your piercing, cup your hand over it if you have to!) or lean back in the tub until your piercing is submerged and repeat the rotating action until you’re sure all soap has been removed.
If you decide to clean your jewelry after bath time the procedure is pretty much the same but you’ll need a cup to pour a steady stream of water over your piercing as you rotate it back and forth during the rinsing process.
Always make sure to wash your hands prior to cleaning your jewelry. There’s no point cleaning it if you’re using dirty hands!
That’s all there is to it. Pretty simple no?
But what about piercings located within or partially within the mouth you say? Well, there’s a simple answer for that one… during your cleaning routine as you’re brushing your teeth grab a cap ful of listerine and swish it around in your mouth for a good 30 seconds.
If the listerine is too strong and burns your mouth don’t dilute it as you’ll lose the potency of the bacteria killers within the liquid. Instead swish a cap ful or two of clean water in your mouth directly after using it. Cool water works best as really cold water, warm or hot water intensifies the burning feeling so keep that in mind 
If you don’t have listerine you can put a little salt (1/4 of a teaspoon) in some warm water (8 ounces) and use it instead though it won’t kill off near as much bacteria as listerine will. Spring the four or five bucks and get the good stuff. It’s worth it I promise!
Sidenotes:
It’s generally best to rinse your mouth out with listerine or salt water every time you smoke, drink, eat or put any foreign objects (your fingers count people!) in your mouth, though over cleaning isn’t good either as it can cause irritation. If your tongue turns white or yellow you know you’re over cleaning and that you should slow down a little on your body jewelry cleaning procedures.
If swelling or tenderness occurs on or around any of your body piercings take two ibuprofen (helps to lower the swelling and of course the pain of tenderness) and consult your local physician as you could be getting an infection. Do not remove your body jewelry during infection as the jewelry itself acts as a drain. Removing it can cause the infection to be trapped within the skin with no way out!
You can also put a little salt (1/4 teaspoon) in a little warm water (8 ounces) and use a small piece of clean/fresh tissue (paper towel, or toilet paper) to soak it with. Dip the tissue in the water and press it firmly to your piercing for best results. If the piercing is located within the mouth take a gulp and hold it within your mouth instead, don’t swallow it! The time frame should be around five to ten minutes depending on how severe the swelling/tenderness is.
Rotate your jewelry or move it back and forth within it’s hole to keep it nice and loose at least once a day. This also prevents any crusties from developing and makes it easier to clean the piercing.
Check the balls or other stopping points of your body jewelry for tightness at least once per day as they can become lose. No one likes to lose their jewelry or swallow it!
Remove dangly jewelry when sleeping, swimming, exercising or wearing clothing that can catch on your jewelry. Unless you want it ripped out that is…
Always sanitize new body jewelry before putting it in. I can’t stress how important this is. Bacteria lives everywhere, it’s in the air we breathe, it’s on our hands, our cloths, etc. Even brand new body jewelry can be infected simply by removing it from the display case at the store.
For solid metal/titanium/steel jewelry I like to boil it on the stove for a good two minutes. The heat alone kills a lot of bacteria but to kill even more I also like to rub my jewelry down with antibacterial soap. It’s also a good idea to rub the bar (or part that passes through your skin) down with a little rubbing alcohol with a q-tip.
For plastic, rubber or acrylic parts you want to stick with antibacterial soap as boiling can melt or disfigure them and alcohol can cause them to break, shatter or loosen the adhesive used to hold it onto the ball. This also goes for gemstones.
Clean your hands! Before you sanitize new jewelry, before you put new jewelry into your body, before you clean your jewelry, before you touch your jewelry.. just clean your damned hands okay?
