Aging Sandalwood
Any guesses as to what those brown beads are to the left of the gorgeous (can’t you just smell them) sandalwood beads?
Read on to find out the true identity of those brown, crusty beads…the truth may shock you…
…can you handle the truth?!
When you receive our sandalwood beads, you will notice the lovely sandalwood fragrance that makes sandalwood so desirable and the light yellowish honey brown color. As you wear your beads, you may become dismayed to see they darken with age and lose their lovely scent. This is typical, and in no way reflects the authenticity of the original sandalwood beads you received – it is just natural, untreated wood reacting to its environment!
Sandalwood beads are hand carved from Santalum album, a medium-sized hemiparasitic tree, (and part of the same botanical family as European mistletoe *kiss*kiss*) that grows in India. The beads you receive from our shop are untreated in any way, and as such, they are bound to the pitfalls of any natural wood.
I am rough, really, really rough on my sandalwood beads that I wear. And to top that off, I live in a very harsh environment redolent with high levels of air pollutants, high temperatures, and humidity. To add insult to injury (to my beads) I wear copious amounts of sunblock, never leave the house without makeup on, and sweat with the best of them the minute I leave my air-conditioned sanctuary. After a few months of wear, my sandalwood beads look and smell nothing like the original, pristine wooden orbs they once were. Just take a look at the ugly truth of aging sandalwood below: you can recognize the lovely, honey colored beads on the right, but what are those hideous beads to the left? My sandalwood beads…caked with sunblock, makeup, and sweat!! Yep! and Yikes!!
Aging Sandalwood
FACT: Aging happens with sandalwood beads and there is nothing you can do about it.
The more you wear, love and fondle your beads, the more they are going to look and smell nothing like the original babies right out of the bag. In fact, if you insist upon beautiful, scented sandalwood beads for the rest of their lives, keep them locked up in a plastic bag and never, ever let them out!
Even if you are very gentle with your beads, and don’t go outside with them, and don’t wear gobby skin products – still, if they are next to your skin, they are absorbing your natural scents and oils.
Think about it.
So what can you do to minimize the effects of aging on your precious beads?
I don’t recommend keeping them locked up. Just be realistic about the effects of aging on them, and enjoy the lovely patina that comes with wear.
And here’s some cleaning and caring steps to keep them looking and smelling their best:
- Periodically wash in soap and water using a sponge to scrub off dirt and grime.
- After washing and drying with a clean, soft cotton cloth, oil the beads using mustard seed oil.
- Add a few drops of sandalwood oil to the mustard oil to bring out the fragrance.
Bottom line:
If you wear your sandalwood beads, they will eventually change in color and scent. It is natural, and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. Just let them age gracefully and enjoy the changing beauty!!
Now, back to shopping for Sandalwood Beads.
Thank you a lot for this great article. This was very enlightening and helped me make a decision to buy sandalwood beads. I wish there were more articles like this describing the aging process of products. It really shows appreciation for the material. Can’t wait to see the patina on my beads!
Namaste Mark,
Thanks for stopping by. We appreciate your kind words of support. Enjoy your beautiful beads! xoxo
Thank you Gayle, for this article. Just like real natural Turquoise. How wonderful: the sandalwood changing. Love it.
Thanks Annetta, glad you enjoyed the post. Everything is always changing, even our own bodies! The best is just to embrace the change and know that nothing is permanent! Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!
Hello Gayle, nice article, really helpful, I’m also getting same results on my beads, and do the sandalwood beads losse its smell in water?
Thanks Pratik, glad you enjoyed. I’m sure water is not good for just about any type of wood. Certainly sandalwood would loose its scent after some time in water.
I only just got the link to this interesting blog. I would like to share some thoughts on ageing wood, particularly from an Asian perspective.
In many Asian cultures, such as China and Japan, wood is particularly reverered especially when it is aged and patinated. Old wood, exposed to years of handling and contact with human skin, absorbs oils, friction, ultraviolet radiation from light, and other environmental conditions, and begins to take on a lovely sheen and patina that is very much prized. It darkens, and transforms into something quite valuable: a sign of age, pedigree even, that might suggest a long and fascinating history and provenance.
Wood that is centuries old also becomes very hard, like steel even, and coupled with its dark patina and lovely sheen, is like a treasured family heirloom.
It might lose some of the aromas of young, raw wood, but it gains so much more in character, soulfulness, and history.
So, yes, touch and fondle your beads as much as possible. Wear them often and let others feel and admire them.
You can clean them with wood conditioner and sandalwood oil, as suggested, to prevent over drying and cracking. But even if they do crack a little, don’t worry. With time, the wood will harden and take on that beautiful sheen and patina, and, perhaps more importantly, become a treasured part of your life and memories…
Hi Chih, Thank you so much for your wonderful perspective on aging wood! It is all so true and really worth remembering and repeating in this day and age when youth and perfection are so worshipped! Many thanks for your insight and wisdom. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, really great article :-). Still, it doesnt scare me away and now I am even more eager to get the beads from you soon and make a bracelet for myself as well and test them. They might be a bit better off with me, I live in a quite clean part of Europe with fairly dry climate and medium temperatures, never wear make up and sun blocks :-). Will report later how it goes :-). And yes, wonderful to be aware of this, before I start selling bracelets with sandalwood beads to my customers.
Hi Jozefina, thanks for reading and commenting. I’d loved to hear how the sandalwood beads fared for you! Please share your results with us!! We can add it to our pool of knowledge about wear and care of Sandalwood beads!
Wonderful article, Gayle! And, yes, I am shocked at the transformation of your own beads! And, I see there is a lot to learn about sandalwood beads. They are very popular in high end bracelets now…But I need to impart some of this information to my customers.
I love these beads though and now I’m prepared for the future! Thanks!
Hi Catherine, thanks for reading and responding. Yes, sandalwood does go through some dramatic changes as you wear it, for sure! But, armed with this information, you’ll be able to let your customers know so they will also be ready for the changes. I still love sandalwood, and have come to also love the older, darker beads that reflect a whole lot of love and wear!!
All the best to you!