How to clean jade, and what to do when it looks dull, yellow or cloudy

The safe way to clean jade is lukewarm water, a drop of mild dish soap and a soft cloth or brush, then dried thoroughly. Everyday dirt rarely harms jade, but the wrong cleaning can: every year three to five of our customers write to us after putting a jade piece in a small ultrasonic cleaner, the kind sold for glasses and jewelry, and finding a visible crack afterward. Every piece of our real jade jewelry is polished and checked in our Kunming workshop before it ships, and the steps below keep that finish safe.

How do you clean jade?

Clean jade with room-temperature or lukewarm water, a drop of mild dish soap and a soft cloth or brush, then dry it completely; GIA calls warm, soapy water always a safe choice for jade.

1. Look the piece over before it gets wet. A stone that moves in its setting, a glue line, a cord or a crack your fingernail catches all change how much water the piece should see.
2. Fill a small bowl with room-temperature or lukewarm water, never hot, and add one drop of mild dish soap.
3. Wipe the jade with a soft cloth dipped in the soapy water. Use a soft toothbrush on carved areas and around metal settings.
4. Rinse quickly under clean running water with the sink drain closed, or dip it in a second bowl of clean water. Don't leave the piece soaking, and keep cords and glued settings out of the stream.
5. Pat it dry with a soft cloth, then let it air-dry fully before you put it away.

Soap is only there to lift skin oil, lotion and sunscreen. If a jade stone has nothing on it but dust, plain water and a soft chamois do the whole job.

How often should you clean jade?

Jade worn every day needs a soap-and-water wash about once a month, or sooner if it starts to look dull. Between washes, wipe it with a soft cloth when you take it off; hand cream, perfume and sunscreen build up a film faster than ordinary dirt does. A piece you wear only now and then needs a wipe before it goes back in its box and a full wash only when a visible film builds up.

Jadeite and nephrite clean the same way

Jadeite and nephrite are cleaned exactly the same way, with mild soap, water and a soft brush, and a careful wash won't hurt either one. What matters more for cleaning jadeite than the mineral is whether the stone has been treated, which is why the list of things to avoid below is longer than the list of things to use.

Carved jade

Carved jade collects soap, skin oil and lint in its grooves, and a soft toothbrush with a little soapy water is the right tool to reach them. Work along the lines of the carving rather than across them, rinse, and blot the piece upside down so water drains out of deep cuts and drill holes. Never use a toothpick, pin or any metal point: the thin edges of a carving and the rim of a drill hole are where jade chips most easily, and where hidden lines tend to sit.

How do you clean jade jewelry?

Jade jewelry is cleaned the same way as a loose stone; what changes from piece to piece is everything around the jade, meaning cords, glue and metal.

A solid bangle takes the full soap-and-water routine. A beaded jade bracelet on stretch cord doesn't: wipe each bead with a damp, soapy cloth, wipe again with a cloth dampened in clean water, and lay the strand flat to dry so the cord never sits in water. Our guide on how to clean a jade bracelet covers showering, swimming and sleeping in one as well.

A one-piece jade ring washes like a bangle. A metal-set ring needs a lighter hand around the setting: brush gently, check that the stone doesn't move, and dry the underside of the setting, where water collects. The steps for cleaning a jade ring and its setting cover one-piece and set jade rings alike.

A jade pendant on a chain can be washed whole if nothing on it is glued; a pendant on a cord should have only the stone wiped, with the knots kept dry. For a jade necklace with beads, a cord or a bail, our notes on cleaning jade necklaces, cords and chains go into each part.

Jade earrings pick up more makeup, hairspray and perfume than any other piece, so put them on after all three. Glued jade stud earrings should never soak, while bezel and prong settings can be brushed gently and dried; how to clean jade earrings covers posts and backs too.

For jade set in silver or gold, wipe the metal with a soft, dry cloth. Save a silver polishing cloth for solid sterling silver and keep it off gold-plated parts, since the polish in the cloth can wear plating thin. Keep any jade piece out of silver dip: it is acidic, and GIA notes that warm acids can affect jade.

What should you never use to clean jade?

Never clean jade with anything abrasive, acidic, solvent-based or vibrating; warm, soapy water is the only cleaner jade needs.

Ultrasonic cleaners divide care guides more than anything else. GIA says ultrasonic and steam cleaning are safe for jade that has had no treatment, but the American Gem Trade Association advises avoiding ultrasonic cleaners even for jadeite whose only enhancement is a colorless wax coating, which describes most finished jadeite, ours included. Our own experience sides with AGTA, and the table below follows that cautious line for home cleaning, allowing for wax, possible treatment, hidden lines and the cords, glue and metal around the stone. Fine-textured jadeite with no lines in it usually comes out of an ultrasonic cleaner unharmed. The pieces that crack are the ones that carried a hidden flaw: bangles with a fine internal line that the vibration pushed open into a crack on the inner band, and thin Ping An Kou discs or small carvings that cracked at the edge of the drill hole or deep in a carved line. Nobody can see from the outside which kind they own, so we don't put finished jade in an ultrasonic cleaner at all.

How do you clean discolored or dull jade?

Wash discolored or dull jade first: a film of lotion, sweat or soap comes off with soap and water, but color inside the stone won't wash out. Most of the photos customers send us of jade that has turned yellow, white or dull show jade that hasn't changed at all; what changed is the surface. Whether jade changes color with its wearer is a separate belief, and our colors guide covers whether jade changes color as you wear it. After a wash, match what you still see to this table:

How to make jade shine again

Jade shines again after a wash if the dullness was film; if it was the wax wearing off, part of the shine you remember came from the wax. Every piece we sell leaves our workshop with a thin polishing wax, a standard final step for jade, and in our experience daily wear takes most of it off within six months to a year, depending on how the piece is worn. Once it goes, the stone's own surface shows: a little less glassy, and on coarse-grained jadeite sometimes a slightly dry, yellowish look. Customers often write to us thinking the jade has been damaged, and usually it is just the jade without its coat. A dull patch that soap and water don't change is still worth showing to a jeweler, since fine scratches dull a surface too.

Losing the wax is no reason to re-wax or re-polish jade you wear every day. Re-polishing is for scratches, which our guide to polishing scratches out of a jade bangle covers, and over time skin oil gives the surface a soft sheen of its own. Don't wax or oil jade yourself with candle wax, hand cream or baby oil, since the shine lasts until the next wash and the film holds dust. A fresh coat makes sense in two cases: before a piece goes into long-term storage, and when a coarse-grained piece looks gray and dry once its wax is gone. In either case, have a jeweler apply one thin coat.

Why is my jade turning yellow?

Jade usually looks yellow or brown because of something on its surface, but some coarse-grained jadeite does change slowly with years of wear. In our experience, the loosest-textured pieces, mostly bean-type jadeite (dou zhong, a trade term for visibly coarse-grained jadeite) and the coarser end of glutinous jadeite (nuo zhong), can drift yellower and darker, with less luster, after years of contact with sweat and skin-care products. We see it most in inexpensive commercial jade, not in fine-textured material. Washing keeps the surface clean, but it won't undo that change.

Jade's own color is stable to light, so if the color itself has faded or shifted, the question is whether it was ever natural; our guide on how Type A jade differs from treated jade explains what each label means. Treated jade does change: AGTA warns that dyed jadeite may discolor in time and should be kept away from strong light, and a 1992 paper in Gems & Gemology cited trade reports of bleached, polymer-filled jadeite turning darker and grayer, though the authors noted that most treated pieces had shown no change.

Why does my jade look white or cloudy?

Jade that looks white or cloudy is usually coated in soap scum or dried hand cream, which a wash and a full dry clear. A softer, hazier surface that stays after washing is usually the stone's own finish showing once the wax has worn off. White flecks deep inside the stone, which the trade calls cotton (mian), are natural inclusions and part of the jade.

A whole piece turning chalky white, foggy and far less translucent is a warning sign. In our experience it can be a sign of aging Type B jadeite, where the polymer used to fill acid-bleached stone breaks down over time, but cloudiness has other causes too. Cleaning won't change it either way, and having jade tested by a lab is the only way to know. A Chinese lab report on jadeite names a natural stone 翡翠, jadeite, and a filled one 翡翠（处理）, treated jadeite.

Everyday jade care: water, storage and knocks

Day to day, jade needs three things: to come off before soapy, chlorinated or hot water, to be stored on its own, and to be kept away from hard floors.

Can jade get wet?

Jade can get wet: the stone itself is fine in water, and what water harms sits around it, namely soap film, glue, cords and knots, and metal in chlorinated or salt water. Water doesn't dry jade out or weaken it, despite what a number of care pages claim. Take jade jewelry off before you shower, swim in a pool or the ocean, or sit in a hot tub or sauna: shower soap dries into a dull film on the stone, chlorine and salt work on silver and cords, heat is hard on glue, and a wet floor is an easy place to drop a bangle.

How should you store jade?

Store each jade piece on its own, fully dry, in a soft pouch or lined box, away from harder gems. Jade sits at 6 to 7 on the Mohs scale, so quartz dust and harder stones such as sapphire and diamond scratch it, and jade in turn scratches softer pieces like pearls and opals if they share a compartment.

• Wash and dry a piece before it goes away for a season, so skin oil doesn't sit on it for months.
• Keep bangles apart; two bangles stacked in one box knock and scratch each other.
• Keep jade out of the bathroom, where steam, hairspray and perfume settle on it.
• Keep dyed jade out of strong light, which AGTA warns can fade it.

Every BMjade piece ships in a lined gift box that works for long-term storage.

Is jade brittle?

Natural jade isn't brittle: GIA describes both jadeite and nephrite as exceptionally tough, because their crystals or fibers interlock, but tough is not the same as unbreakable. A bangle dropped on a tile or stone floor can still crack or break, and a knock against a hard edge can chip a thin carving. Type B jadeite can be weaker: acid bleaching leaves voids between the grains that polymer is then used to fill, and the 1992 Gems & Gemology paper noted that bleached jadeite can be brittle.

Jade cleaning questions

Does jade tarnish?

Jade doesn't tarnish; the silver it's set in does. Tarnish is a reaction on the metal, so clean the silver with a dry polishing cloth and leave the jade to soap and water. A dull look on the stone itself is film or worn wax, not tarnish.

Can you use jewelry cleaner on jade?

Most commercial jewelry cleaners aren't made for jade, and many contain acids, ammonia or solvents that strip the wax finish and harm treated stones, cords and glue. Check the label; unless it's a mild soap solution, use a drop of dish soap in lukewarm water instead. A plain microfiber cloth is fine on jade, while a silver polishing cloth carries polish meant for metal and belongs on the silver only.

How do you care for treated jade?

Treat any jade without a lab report confirming Type A jadeite or natural nephrite as possibly treated: clean it with lukewarm water and mild soap only, and keep it away from heat, chemicals and ultrasonic cleaners. Keep dyed pieces out of strong sunlight as well. The International Gem Society adds that acid-treated jadeite can develop cracks.

Can you clean jade crystals and tumbled stones the same way?

Jade crystals, palm stones and tumbled stones are cleaned the same way as jewelry: lukewarm water, a drop of mild soap, a soft brush and a full dry. Many stones sold as "jade" in crystal shops are a different material altogether, such as dyed quartzite, serpentine or aventurine, and several of those are dyed, so the gentle method is the safe choice whatever the stone turns out to be.

What's the difference between cleaning and cleansing jade?

Cleaning jade removes dirt and skin oil with soap and water. Cleansing jade is a spiritual practice: in crystal traditions, people use moonlight, smoke or sound to clear a stone's energy, a belief this guide doesn't weigh in on, and our guide to cleansing and activating new jade covers the practice itself. If you follow it, skip the salt-water soaks and long hours in strong sun some cleansing guides suggest, which are hard on cords, metal and dyed stones.

Can you polish jade at home?

Finished jade jewelry shouldn't be polished at home: a jade polish comes from a fixed run of abrasives on powered wheels, from coarse grit to polishing powders, and one slip takes off stone that can't be put back. If you cut your own rough and have lapidary equipment, you can polish a jade stone yourself by following the same sequence a workshop uses.

How to polish a jade stone: our workshop's steps

Jade polishing moves from coarse diamond grit to fine diamond powder in fixed stages. The steps below are our workshop's full sequence from rough stone to finished piece, and we never skip one, because scratches left by a skipped stage only show once the surface is polished.

1. Shape the stone with a 60 to 120 grit diamond wheel, taking off the skin and roughing out the form.
2. Smooth it with 240 to 400 grit diamond sticks until the coarse scratches are gone and the shape is even.
3. Fine-grind with 800 to 1,500 grit until the surface is smooth and free of pits, with an even matte finish.
4. Pre-polish with 2,000 to 3,000 grit to a uniform satin finish.
5. Polish with chromium oxide green powder to bring up the first luster.
6. Finish with diamond micron powder, usually 3.5 micron and then 1.5 micron, for a glassy luster.

The finer the jade's texture, the finer the powder we finish it with, and the softer and deeper the luster it holds. A finished piece with a scratch never goes back to the start: a jeweler begins at whichever stage matches the depth of the scratch. After polishing, our pieces are dipped in a thin coat of hot wax and buffed, which gives them the finish that wears off with daily wear.

How do you clean old or raw jade?

Old jade should be brushed dry and shown to someone who knows old jade before it gets wet, while raw jade can be scrubbed with plain water and a stiff brush; neither should go near acid.

Old and antique jade

Antique jade should be cleaned with a dry, soft brush only until an appraiser or conservator has seen it. Centuries in the ground change a jade's surface, and museums record those changes as part of the object: the Harvard Art Museums describe one Eastern Zhou jade disk as having a surface "almost entirely calcified and discolored." That surface is part of a piece's history and value, so scrubbing can remove what makes it worth keeping. Keep acids, acetone and alkaline cleaners away from it entirely.

Raw jade

Raw jade is cleaned with plain water and a stiff brush, never soaked in acid, because acid bleaching is the first step in making Type B jadeite. At Hpakant, most rough comes out wrapped in a thick crust of mine mud, and traders hose it off with a high-pressure water gun before anything else, because every sign a buyer reads is on the skin underneath. In our Kunming workshop, the first job for any rough is a full wash with high-pressure water and a hard brush in every crevice, then a complete dry before anyone studies the stone or marks a cutting line.

At home, a hose or tap and a stiff nylon brush do the same job; our guide on how to identify jade rough covers what to look for once it's clean. Let the stone dry completely before you judge it, because wet rough looks greener and more translucent than it is.

When should you stop cleaning jade and see a jeweler?

Stop cleaning jade and take it to a jeweler when the problem is structural rather than dirt: something loose, cracked, chipped or worn through. A local jeweler who works with stone can handle most of these.

• A stone that moves in its setting, or a glue line you can see
• A line your fingernail catches, or a line that wasn't there before
• A chip on an edge or at a drill hole
• A frayed cord or a knot that has loosened
• A scratch you want polished out
• A color change that soap and water didn't touch, which calls for a lab report rather than a jeweler
• A break, which our guide on what to do if your jade breaks covers, including which repairs are worth making

I'm Hong, founder of BMjade, and our About us page explains how we source and certify each piece. I've bought jadeite rough at Hpakant since 2016 and finished it in our own Kunming workshop. Most of this guide comes from the photos customers send us when a cleaning has gone wrong, and from the pieces that never needed more than soap and water.

Sources

• GIA. "Jade Care and Cleaning Guide." Accessed October 2026.
• American Gem Trade Association. "Gemstone Information Manual." 16th ed., April 2021.
• International Gem Society. "Jadeite Value, Price, and Jewelry Information." Accessed October 2026.
• Fritsch, Emmanuel, Shun-Tien Ten Wu, Thomas Moses, Shane F. McClure and Mike Moon. "Identification of Bleached and Polymer-Impregnated Jadeite." Gems & Gemology, Fall 1992.
• Harvard Art Museums. "Disk with Pattern of Plastic Curls." Catalogue entry by Max Loehr. Accessed October 2026.