Singing the Praises of my Sonic Cleanser

For Christmas this year, I got myself a little sonic cleaner. It was really cheap on eBay, and I figured, since I wear so much jewelry, much of it costume, eventually, it would pay for itself.

Fast forward to February, when I bought a bunch of lots of gemstone, pearl, coral, and glass beads from two different sellers who each had them listed at steal worthy prices. Another seller had a few pounds of vintage jewelry, also for a steal, so I picked those up, too.

Well, when they arrived, I found out why they had all been listed so cheaply: they STANK!! Obviously, either the eBay seller or the person they had bought the beads from was a heavy smoker, and the beads reeked. I was understandably upset about this, as I am not a smoker, and actually have an over-sensitive sense of smell. The last thing I wanted in my stash was a bunch of smelly beads. And they hadn't all even arrived yet!!

I went online to try to find some remedies for cleansing the reek off of my beads. Some people suggested letting them air, So I put the bin outside in the sun. Others suggested washing them with dishawashing soap. That just gave me clean, smelly beads. Some suggested bagging them up with a dryer sheet. That just added to the stench. then I had someone suggest I bury them in clean cat litter, and the litter would soak up the smell, as it does cat urine. this sounded feasible, and I resolved that the next time I bought more cat litter, I would pick up some extra for this experiment.

As Fate would have it, before I got to the store to buy more cat litter, the last few lots of beads arrived. And one lot stank.....of cat litter. That lot actually smelled worse than the smoke, if you can believe it. And I have 2 cats, so I am somewhat desensitized to the stink of litter.

I was at my wits end. I was really concerned that I was about to have to throw out all of my super discount beads and admit to my husband that he had been right about the beads being a deal "too good to be true".

Then I remembered my sonic cleanser.

At that point, I figured, what the heck. I pulled it out of its box, muddled through the "not quite English" instructions (and giggled at the translations), and set it up.

The first load was the stinkiest beads. the instructions said that you might have to run the cleanser more than once to get your items fully cleansed, so I ran it five times. The water was dark brown by the time the last run was completed.

I pulled the basket out with my beads in it, buried my nose in the wet beads and inhaled deeply.

And......

Nothing.

The beads didn't smell!

At that point, I didn't really trust my nose, so I stormed upstairs to my husband, shoved the beads under his nose, and instructed him to smell.

He didn't smell anything either.

The stupid little $12 sonic cleaner had worked!

It has been over a month now. I have the cleaner set up next to the work sink in the kitchen. It takes 2-3 runs per load to get the beads to stop stinking. I run between 5 and 6 loads a day while helping the kids with their homework. I tried running the loads while I was working, and I kept forgetting them, so I have to limit my loads.

I am about 75% of the way through the beads. I purposely test myself when I come in from being outside to make sure they really don't smell. I ask friends to smell them (the true test of a friend is someone who actually smells the beads you ask them to without more than a strange look).

I LOVE my sonic cleaner. It has proved to be invaluable! I recommend to anyone that they get one. I use it on my jewelry sometimes, too. :)