To stop earrings smelling, take them out weekly and wash both the earring and the lobe. That's the whole fix, and it works because the smell comes from skin cells and oils building up in an enclosed channel where ordinary washing can't reach. Nothing you do while the earrings stay in will clear it. Our Polished Surgical Steel collection gives the build-up less to cling to.
Why nothing works while they're in
A piercing channel is lined with skin, and skin sheds cells and produces oil continuously. With an earring blocking both ends there's almost no airflow, so that material accumulates rather than washing away. Skin bacteria break it down, and some of what they produce smells strongly.
Showering doesn't reach it. Water runs over the outside of the lobe and the channel stays sealed.
So the first step isn't a product. It's removal.
The routine that stops earrings smelling
Once a week, take them out.
Wash the earring. Warm water and a little mild soap. Rub the post gently between finger and thumb. Rinse and dry it thoroughly.
Wash the lobe. Front and back, gently, with the same warm water and mild soap. Dry it properly, including behind the ear.
Leave them out for an hour or two if the day allows. Airflow through the channel does more than any product will.
Put them back in clean and dry. Damp is what starts the cycle again.
That's it. Weekly beats an intensive clean every few months, because the supply is continuous and the goal is management rather than elimination.
What not to do
Don't twist or rotate the earring in the hole. It gets suggested constantly. It abrades the lining of the channel and pushes material further in, and irritated skin sheds more.
Don't use alcohol or antiseptic routinely. Occasionally is fine. Regularly, it dries the skin inside the channel, and dry skin sheds faster, which increases the exact material causing the problem.
Don't scrub the lobe. Same reasoning.
Don't use an abrasive polish on plated earrings. It removes plating faster than wear does, and a worn plating exposes a rougher base metal that holds more debris.
Don't leave the same pair in for months and expect a cleaning routine to compensate.
Habits that reduce it
Jewelry on last, off first. Shampoo, conditioner, dry shampoo, hairspray and sunscreen all run down onto the ear. Earrings go in after everything else and come out before anything else comes off.
Dry the ears properly after swimming and bathing. Moisture sitting in the channel is a large part of the problem.
Tie long hair back in hot weather, which keeps the area cooler and drier.
Rotate between two pairs if she wears earrings continuously, so each pair gets cleaned regularly.
Take them out at night occasionally. A settled piercing won't close overnight, and it gives the channel a long stretch of airflow.
Where the earring itself makes a difference
Two design factors change how much accumulates.
The back. A flat back sits flush and creates a small cavity behind the disc, which holds moisture and debris against the lobe. A butterfly back leaves the back of the lobe more open.
The surface. Debris clings to texture. A smooth, corrosion-resistant surface gives it less to hold onto than one that has tarnished or worn.
That second one is why a plated earring often gets worse over time. While the coating holds, the surface is smooth. Once it wears through, usually at the post first, the base metal underneath is exposed and frequently begins to corrode, roughening exactly the surface that sits inside the channel.
Check the post. If the front still looks gold but the post has gone a darker steel color, that's what has happened.
A word about the emotional side of this
Worth addressing, because it is the part that brings most people to search for it in the first place.
Children get self-conscious about this quickly, particularly around the age when they start noticing what other people might notice. A girl who has been told, or who suspects, that her ears smell will sometimes stop wearing earrings altogether rather than mention it to anyone.
The useful thing to tell her is the truth. It happens to almost everyone with pierced ears. It has nothing to do with being clean, because no amount of washing reaches inside a channel that is sealed at both ends. Adults get it too and simply do not discuss it.
Framing it as maintenance rather than as a problem tends to land better. Earrings come out once a week and get washed, the same way a retainer or a water bottle does. Nothing has gone wrong and nobody is doing anything badly.
There is a practical benefit to that framing as well. A child who is not embarrassed will tell you when something changes, and a change is the thing actually worth knowing about. Smell that suddenly gets much stronger, or arrives alongside soreness, is information you want early rather than late.
When it isn't build-up
Smell on its own, from a settled piercing, with no pain, is ordinary and this routine handles it.
Smell alongside heat, spreading redness, swelling, colored or persistent discharge, or pain that's getting worse is a different situation, and that's a question for your pediatrician rather than an article.
Simplest test: ordinary build-up doesn't hurt.
What we do
purepixxi uses two materials, and on one range only one.
S316L Surgical Steel, the same grade used in medical instruments and implants, chosen because it resists corrosion and holds a smooth surface. On the Polished Surgical Steel range that's the entire earring, one material throughout, so there's no coating to wear through and expose something rougher.
24K Pure Gold, which is pure 24 karat gold finished onto a solid S316L Surgical Steel core with Aunix™ 24K, our engineered gold finish. At 24 karat there's no alloy in the gold, so nothing in the finish tarnishes.
The setting, the post and the butterfly back all carry that same core. The post is the component inside the channel where this happens, and it's the part most commonly bought in from a different supplier and left out of any testing. Ours was tested: eight pairs, setting, post and butterfly, with nickel release not detected under EN 1811.
We use butterfly backs rather than flat backs, and this is one of several reasons. A butterfly leaves the back of the lobe open rather than sealing a cavity against it.
Tested to ASTM F2923 and CPSIA. Report BTO 341803/1. More in our safety FAQ.
The easiest pair to keep clean is the one with the fewest places for anything to gather, which is why we make the 4mm Ball Stud Earrings in Surgical Steel.
Questions parents ask next
How long until the smell goes after cleaning? Immediately, and it starts building again straight away because the supply is continuous. Weekly cleaning keeps it below the level anyone notices.
Can I use a cleaning solution instead of soap? Mild soap and water is enough for a settled piercing. Purpose-made piercing solutions are designed for healing rather than maintenance, and stronger antiseptics dry the skin.
Does she need to take them out every night? No, unless she wants to. Weekly removal for cleaning is the part that matters.
Will a different metal stop it completely? Nothing stops it completely, because it comes from skin rather than metal. A smooth non-corroding surface reduces it.
She refuses to take them out. What now? Rotating between two pairs is the compromise, since swapping gives you a cleaning opportunity each time without the ears ever being empty.
Related reading
- Why do earrings smell?
- Why does my earring hole smell?
- Why do earrings smell like cheese?
- Why her ears react to earrings, and what to do about it
About the author. Matt Westmore is the founder of purepixxi. He came to children's jewelry from manufacturing and sourcing rather than marketing, which means he has walked the factory floors and knows what is actually inside a product rather than what a label says about it. purepixxi uses two materials only, names them exactly, and has them independently tested.
