Piercing Info

Piercing Info

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Types of Body Jewellery

There’s a huge range of different body jewellery types available, sometimes making it confusing as to what type of jewellery is suitable for a particular piercing.  This information explains the differing types and whereabouts’ on the body they can be worn

Body Jewellery Information

Body jewellery comes in many different materials and metals.  The majority of piercing jewellery will be surgical stainless steel but there are many others such as titanium, gold plated, acrylic and PTFE bio-flex. Here you’ll find out all the differing materials and the pros and cons of each.

Body Jewellery Hygiene

Here you’ll find all the important information about body jewellery hygiene.  Definitely worth a read as knowing this sort of information will help minimise the chance of any unwanted side effects from piercings.

Below you will find an explanation of how to clean the differing types of body jewellery materials.

Surgical Steel / Titanium

Surgical Steel and Titanium Body Jewellery are the most easy to clean materials as they are tough and durable metals.  You can use a simple anti-bacterial soap with warm water to remove any dirt or germs.

One thing to note with Surgical Steel is that it contains a very small amount of Nickel which can occasionally cause some skin irritation, but in most instances it should be fine.  If you do experience this, we recommend you switch to Titanium based jewellery.

Plated Metals (Gold Plated, Silver Plated & Copper Plated)

Extra care should be taken when treating plated metals as you want to avoid removing any of the thin outer plating.  Just use a simple anti-bacterial soap with warm water and rinse off.  Do not leave the jewellery in water or any other liquid for extended periods of time as this is likely to increase the chance of the plating coming off.

Wood / Organic Based Jewellery

As with many wood based products a bit more care must be taken when cleaning, as if done incorrectly it can lead to a number of unwanted side effects e.g. the wood warping.  To clean just use a damp cloth to wipe off any dirt – do not leave in any sort of liquid as it may warp after it’s dried out.

To regain any shine to the outer surface use a light wax.

PTFE Body Jewellery

PFTE body jewellery is fantastic for new or healing piercings, and for anyone who is suffering from irritated piercings.  A great benefit of PTFE is its flexibility, so it will work especially well for pregnancy retainers as it will adapt as the body changes.

It’s also worth noting that most PTFE body jewellery is suitable for autoclaving (sterilising using steam) – but you should always confirm this before doing so.