Handling and Care

Tribu's earrings are intended to be worn in piercings that have already been stretched to the appropriate size and properly healed. It is very important to keep piercings in a hygienic state at all times and clean them on a daily basis.

We recommend that anyone wishing to stretch their piercings consult a good quality, licensed piercer for advice and assistance.

 

Insertion

Before inserting your new jewellery, make sure your hands and piercing are properly cleaned. Insertion of the jewellery should only be carried out after properly washing the area and the jewellery with a non-chemical soap and allowing it to air dry. To aid insertion of the jewellery, a little olive, jojoba or vitamin 'E' oil should be applied both to the jewellery and the piercing. The piercing and the jewellery should be allowed to air dry. In a small number of cases, hard woods such as rosewood and sandalwood may cause allergic reactions. Should any reaction occur we recommend you cease wearing them immediately. Natural materials and jewellery can sometimes be sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, especially if they are composed of two or more materials. They should not be worn in steam baths or saunas. Some of the materials will naturally change colour over time, but that is part of the magic of dealing with natural materials!

 

How to Clean and Care for Natural Materials

Brass

Brass is a metal alloy made from a combination of zinc and copper. Originally a sparkling goldish colour, brass has a tendency to tarnish with age. Tarnishing is caused by oxidation from exposure to air.  In order to keep brass looking good, its necessary to clean off tarnish and polish your brass objects as needed. Brass can be cleaned with a simple soap (washing up liquid) solution. However, Tribu’s favourite is simply a cotton cloth and some fresh lemon juice – this will restore its beautiful goldish tint. Wipe off the juice remainders with a wet cloth.

 

Gold

To clean gold, simply place your gold items into a bowl of mild soap and water and let it soak for about 15 minutes. If the item has stones in it though, you might only want to soak for five minutes to prevent stones from being ‘soaked’ out of their setting. Then gently scrub the piece with a soft toothbrush, taking care to also get into the crevices, engravings and details of the peace.
Soap residue can cause gold to look dull and dirty, so you want to make sure you rinse it completely clean. Dry the jewellery by gently buffing it with a soft cloth. This prevents water spots from forming on the surface of the gold and removes any stubborn leftover soap residue.

Horn

Clean with mild soap and water. Dry immediately and well. If horn has other inlaid material, do the same. If inlay is Silver, polish with silver cloth. Once every few months, rub a bitt of jojoba oil into item to maintain it in a good condition. Never soak, as material will swell and dry out.

 

Mammoth Ivory Fossil 

Keep your ivory jewellery away from moist places like bathrooms. Dust your ivory jewellery with a soft, fine-tipped paintbrush. If particularly soiled, dampen a soft, lint-free cloth with warm water and gently wipe your ivory jewellery.
You can use flannel or a cloth that you would clean your eyeglasses with. Do not use soap or any other household products. Please note that Ivory will turn yellowish overtime.


Leather

Leather should not be treated with water at all. If soiled, use a mild soap and a wet cloth to wipe off the dirt. Dry immediately. Depending on the item, you can oil the leather with leather preservative such as mink oil.


Mother of Pearl

To clean a mother of pearl piece, dip a soft cloth into some olive oil, gently rub the oil into the piece and finish by polishing it with a piece of silk. Make sure the piece is completely dry before returning it into storage. Do not use soap or water, it is not good to get mother of pearl too wet and the contents of soap are likely to be too harsh for mother of pearl and will degrade it.

 

Opal

Because opal is not a stone but rather a combination of minerals, it is not nearly as hard and durable as a diamond or sapphire. It's recommended that you clean Opal in a special way so you don't scratch it. Prepare a lukewarm water and unscented soap solution, and scrub the stone gently with a soft toothbrush. When you finish scrubbing, rinse the stone with running water for a few seconds. Pat the opal with a tissue, microfiber jewellery cloth or small piece of silk. This will help the opal dry quickly and give it a shiny appearance.

 

Onyx

Onyx is a material that needs to be cared for, liquid can easily be soaked into the onyx therefore try and keep it dry and clean. Light marks on an onyx item can be wiped up with a soft cloth that has some rubbing alcohol on it. Avoid using large amounts of liquid and chemicals as this might change the colour of the Onyx.


Petrified Wood and Ammonite

Petrified Wood and Ammonite have essentially the same quality as rock. Hot water and a cloth should do the trick here. For fingerprint stains a simple silver cloth can also help to bring back the shiny polish.

 

Silver

Sterling Silver: Use a professional silver polishing cloth. Silver polishing cloths are available at major supermarkets, at hardware stores and at jewellery stories. Often, these clothes are impregnated with cleaner and have anti tarnish properties and are excellent for bringing silver to a perfect shine. Tribu does not recommend silver dips or liquid cleaners as our jewellery incorporates natural shells, mother of pearl and other natural materials, which can be easily damaged by these harsh chemicals. Alternatively, you can also polish the silver using brown vinegar and a soft cloth.

Tribal Silver: Use a silver polishing cloth. Please note, the dark oxidised features is part of the tribal silver look, so do not attempt to make them shine like sterling silver.

 

Stones

Most stones are resistant to liquid and can be cleaned with a simple water and soap solution and then dried off well with a cloth.

 

Wood

To clean wooden pieces (including wooden plugs) all you need is a soft damp cloth and some olive oil. Take the soft cloth like a chamois cloth and make it damp. Then wipe off the wooden jewellery until the dirt and dust is off the wood.
After you clean the wooden jewellery you need to put oil on the wooden jewellery or it could crack from being too dried out. Take some olive oil and put it on a small piece of soft cloth then rub than the wood with the cloth soaked in the olive oil. Once the olive oil is in the wood you should shine the item with a soft dry cloth. Please note that wood will darken in colour over time, especially after oil treatments. Never soak, as material will swell and dry out.

 

Bamboo

Do not get Bamboo jewellery wet as this may result in damage to your piece. You can polish with tea tree oil or jojoba oil.