Appreciation after cleaning
Today, when cleaning up the table, I found a few old photos. Comparing them with the mala (prayer beads) in my hand now, the changes are really significant. I took a new set of photos and talked about how I've been breaking them in (patina process).
This mala was acquired several years ago. At that time, it was just an ordinary yellow-skin Rudraksha (large) with okay grain / texture and good density, nothing particularly outstanding. Unexpectedly, after breaking them in for so long, the current color and patina are much better than I expected.
Appreciation of Rudraksha mala (prayer beads) just after cleaning
When I first got them, the color of the seeds was light and the surface was dry and lacked any luster. At that time, I didn't know anything and just started breaking them in. After a week, I found that the color didn't change much and instead became dull. I was quite worried at that time.
It took me a long time to figure out that I started breaking them in without cleaning the surface properly. I used a hard brush to dry-brush them for more than half a month, 20 minutes every day, until the alkaline bloom was brushed off and the seeds began to feel smooth.
After the initial cleaning, it entered the normal breaking-in period. In the first three months, mainly brush and supplement with a little breaking-in, 20 minutes of brushing and 10 minutes of breaking-in every day. After about three months, they developed a glossy sheen, and then I could reverse the process and do more breaking-in and less brushing. After half a year, the color became significantly darker and the luster became more and more mellow.
The current appearance
The color of this Rudraksha is dark red, translucent, with a thick patina and a strong jade-like texture. Under the sun, each seed emits a gentle luster. The dragon-ridge (ridge line) is translucent, and the color in the grooves is slightly darker, with a very strong three-dimensional effect of the grain / texture. It feels heavy in the hand and has a great touch.
A few days ago, I wore it to a tea gathering and a friend snatched it away and looked at it for a long time, saying that the color is really even. In fact, when I first started breaking them in, the color was very uneven and no one thought highly of it.
Looking back at the breaking-in process of these two years, there really isn't any special secret. It's just patience. Break them in and brush them every day, without being impatient or causing unnecessary trouble. When encountering problems, look up information and find ways to solve them, without giving up. Over time, the mala will naturally give you a reward.
Speaking of this
After being in this business for a long time, the most common sentence I hear is 'When will they turn red?'. In fact, there is no shortcut. Once you've brushed enough and broken them in enough, the color will naturally come. Being too eager to break in the mala (prayer beads) can easily make the seeds look uneven.
That's all for today's set of photos. I will continue to play with this mala in my hand and update the changes after some time. Friends with the same mala, leave a comment in the comment section and let's talk about which stage you're at now.
