I had one experience where I had collected a yogurt container full of fresh rudraksha seeds, which still had some fruit particles on them. I poured water into the yogurt container to soak/clean them and put it on a shelf (in a very hot area) and by mistake forgot about them as they got pushed behind other things. A month or two later I found it and was ready to open a putride yogurt container but to my surprise there was a fresh tangy smell to the water...fresh light smell,wow, that was a real teaching.

Be careful about average rudraksha beads on the market, as they are generally picked in north india or nepal by very poor villagers and often cleaned/shined with shoe polish type of stuff (as price varies on color for spiritual mala use). If you want to use rudraksha medicinally either buy medicinal rudrakshas from an ayurvedic pharmacy or have someone in Kauai pick some up off the ground in the forest there and mail to you. You want to make sure you have a fresh clean one for internal use or soaking in water/milk. For getting the nice dark color naturally in the mala you can soak them in mustard oil for a few months. I have really dark ones that have been soaked in mustard oil for one year.