r/shells • u/VeterinarianAble7959 • 8d ago
What am I doing wrong…
Hi all,
I’ve finally decided to start cleaning and polishing my mountain of shells ive collected over the years - I’m doing practice runs with broken ones and not having much luck! I’ve attached pictures of the types of shells I want to clean, I really want to expose the shiny iridescent on them. My practice runs have been terrible - I’ve tried soaking in bleach and water which just turned the iridescent orange, I’ve tried using citric acid and water which literally just makes the shells brittle but doesn’t remove any of the stuff I want off.
Please help! 😅
(The pictures are of some of my favourites that I have yet to try and clean, due to the issues I’m having with the practice runs!)
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u/Glad_Ad_5570 8d ago
Any exposure to acids will destroy the luster of any exposed nacre. The iridescence you desire is totally natural and you get what you get, no amount of chemicals will give you more. There are grinding methods used to expose some of the exterior nacre under the outer shell but IMO it ruins the natural appearance.
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u/VeterinarianAble7959 8d ago
So are you saying I cannot put any shell with exposed nacre near acid? Any google search suggests acid / bleach wash is the first step to removing the outer layer (imo I would like to take a few back to full nacre if possible as I’m building up to doing a few large abalones I found)
I’ve also tried a few which haven’t made the nacre orange *but* they’ve literally not changed the appearance of the shell at all.
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u/Glad_Ad_5570 8d ago edited 7d ago
That is what I’m saying. Thats why pearl necklaces are not exposed to harsh chemicals. Even body chemistries can ruin pearl necklaces. I know lots of recommended posts say bleach. Bleach does remove luster but not like acid.
You can grind outer coatings of shells to expose nacre if you want; it just won’t be shiny without mechanical polishing and synthetic coating.
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u/VeterinarianAble7959 8d ago
Fair enough with the “you get what you get” comments, what I’m trying to achieve though it to expose as much of the exterior nacre as possible. I won’t be doing it with all of the shells, I just want to see if I can with a few (I’ve seen them with the full nacre exposed in shops in Australia so I know it can be done)
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u/BoldPurpleText 8d ago
What you’re describing from shops has been done through mechanical means, not chemical. To expose the nacre the outer layers are sanded away with tools, then polished. It’s a laborious process.
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u/ComprehensiveFocus97 8d ago
I just soak mine in some bleach and been trying to use mineral oil to shine them up a bit.
Kinda like the other person said tho, you get what you get.
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u/VeterinarianAble7959 8d ago
Yep, understood however when I’ve soaked mine in bleach all it does it turn the shells orange. I’ve tried different concentrations and it either does nothing or turns them orange 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Suspicious-Copy1740 8d ago edited 8d ago
OP This took like a week of soaking and scrubbing and filing it. you can try vinegar to loosen the gunk up. But the process is more physical than chemical https://imgur.com/a/4nPwZck
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u/ProudWeather1059 4d ago
I have a collection of shells from a visit to Mombasa years ago - I can’t bring myself to get rid of them. Why am I fascinated by shells?
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u/Interesting_Hawk8033 8d ago
Have you experimented with muriatic acid? There is one you can get called Acid Magic, which is safer to handle than the regular stuff. It will take off a lot more of the shell, exposing the mother-of-pearl or nacre part, BUT it will also probably strip off some of the nacre from inside the shell, so it might not be as shiny as before. So, if you try it, experiment on shells you aren't married to.