The Shell Nuts - Episode12 - Shell Cleaning, Restoration, and Protection

Hi everyone! In this long overdue video we attempt to add to the great content already available on the internet for cleaning, restoring, and protecting your seashells. We also take 2 of our most beautiful shells we found in our previous episode #11 and put some of the these techniques to good use. We are certainly not the authority on this matter and we urge all of you to check other internet resources as well before you work on your shells, but hopefully there are some bits and pieces of information in this video that will help you. This is an extremely long reference video(I definitely blabbed too much and this could've been shorter...sorry!) so if there is a certain segment you want to jump to, here's the starting point of each:
General Rules of Thumb - 01:40
Cleaning Technique #1: Bleaching - 08:33
Cleaning Technique #2: Acid Dipping (and proper chemical disposal) - 22:19
Cleaning Technique #3: Physical Cleaning - 37:09
Restorating Technique #1: Mineral Oil - 42:22
Restorating Technique #2: Clear Coat - 47:38
Restorating Technique #3: Sanding / Filing - 1:06:26
Restoration Project: Horse and Milk! - 1:09:31
Thanks for watching!

[@debrak9098]

The most complete video on cleaning and caring for your shells that I've seen. Great job. Lovely shells.

[@theshellnuts]

Thank you so much! Really appreciated! Hopefully it contributes a little bit more to our great shelling community.

[@dianesalvato3078]

Nice job on the horse conch and milk conch. They are gorgeous! I did fast forward the beginning since I already use the acid. Great video for beginners.

[@theshellnuts]

Thanks Diane! Yeah, it's a remarkably long video. I'm sure a lot of viewers will skip to that final segment, but hopefully there will be some other information in the video that folks will reference and find useful at some point. As always, thanks so much for your kind words and for tuning in! Really appreciated!

[@cindyhalford8758]

Enjoyed your demo, very informative, easy to understand only one complaint. You are so long winded, took forever to get thru this and please don’t take this the wrong way Thank you dear

[@dianepowell5804]

My husband sprayed a gloss coat on some of my bigger shells.Really look beautiful.Thank you for the restoration demo!

[@kathybearden4470]

Great techniques to learn about and actually watch you preform. Very helpful for us amatures. Plus I love hearing your voice, young neighbor from our past!! Your shelling is a treat for this west coast dweller who rarely gets to see seashells.

[@theshellnuts]

Thank you Kathy! Hopefully we'll see you again soon! And you are not an amateur!. I know that for a fact! :)

[@connorg5637]

This was by far the best shell cleaning video I've seen on KZbin! I recently found a twelve inch long "Knobless Wonder" Florida Horse Conch in South Carolina. It was covered with periostracum, and I wanted it to come off. With your instructions, I was able to learn how to do it! Thank you!

[@theshellnuts]

Thank you so much for your kind words and for checking out our video. It's really appreciated! I'm happy our video helped you. Congrats on the great conch find!

[@katrinalodge6055]

I use coconut oil to bring out the colour to it works really well I just put some on an old cloth and rub it in

[@deniseyoung5385]

Such a thorough explanation of all the ways to clean and preserve your shell finds!

[@theshellnuts]

Thank you! We appreciate you stopping by and watching and for your kind words. :)

[@dianerichmond7105]

Nice to know what I can do if I want to preserve the periostracum. You have some beautiful shells in your collection, for sure! Thanks for the video; it's always helpful to see what others are doing, and what I can change or add to my cleaning routine.

[@theshellnuts]

Thanks as always for tuning in Diane and for your sharing your thoughts. Really appreciated!

[@abbyW]

I watched the whole thing, I’ve learned some great tips, thanks!

[@theshellnuts]

Wow! We should send you completion certificate because that video is crazy long! Thank you so much for watching. Really appreciated!

[@Julianne955]

Very informative! Thank you for a great how-to video!

[@theshellnuts]

Thanks for checking out our video and for your kind words. Really appreciated!

[@bobelliottrocks8048]

Great video! I am going to work on my collection ASAP. Thank you so much!

[@lisaunderwood6777]

Excellent video, learned alot, thanks.

[@SandCoffeeRocks]

Wow guys, an absolutely amazing and comprehensive video right here! There were so many useful tips, and so much practical advice that a lot of other tutorials just don't get into. I must admit, it did take a little while to get through the whole thing (was listening which driving home from the beach or hanging out the washing) but it was so worth it to see how you transform these shells. I think what most surprised me was how gentle you are with the shells. For the bleaching, personally, I will use 50% bleach and dump the shells in there for at least 4 hours, maybe overnight. The shells I find here don't seem to lose their colour, as long as they are in decent condition to begin with. I don't put my shiny shells in there (like my best cowries) but any that do have a bit of shiny one them don't get stripped of it too much, surprisingly. In contrast though, I can't or won't use muriatic acid on the shells I find here; with the exception of a few species, they are always too small and thin to not ruin the shell. Also, I did use it once (it was hydrochloric acid from the pool/tool store, which has muriatic acid as the main component) which basically worked the same way... I'm not sure we have a product that just listed as just "muriatic acid" here in Australia? I absolutely LOVED the transformation of your Milk ad Horse Conches are the end. Wow, I was surprised that you kept the periostracum on the Milk conch, but it certainly looks great with it intact; so much colour! The Horse Conch was really amazing to see with so much colour underneath all of that organic growth and periostracum. The pink-orange inside of it was the best too. Did you think it would turn out so good when you pulled it up out of the water? Such an amazing video, thank you Chris and Kandie for all of the great information. I can't wait to see what you guys do next!

[@theshellnuts]

Thanks a bunch Maddie! Yeah, sorry it was so long! We'll be mailing you a completion certificate also. LOL. We hope you're doing well down under! Keep up the great work on your videos!

[@kimgrenon1125]

Great video.

[@brendagroff8478]

There is now a non caustic acid that is safe for your hands.

[@shine7717]

You can't get Meuriatic acid in uk , suggestions please ?

[@MattBarrasso]

I thoroughly enjoyed the detail included in this video and plan on using some of the methods showcased, but I was hoping you could answer a couple of questions first - Someone else in the comments mentioned Safe HCL (so did you as a post-production edit at 22:30). In your experience what are the reasons you use Muriatic Acid over Safe HCL? - When it comes to choosing between mineral oil and the Rust-oleum Lacquer, is the only deciding factor shells that would be handled by individuals? Or does it come down to shell size and ease of application? - Are there any scenarios where you would use both Bleach and Muriatic Acid? Or is it generally Bleach for gunk and Muriatic Acid for calcification? - You only recommend using the Rust-oleum Triple Thick Glaze for shells that are naturally very glossy? (i.e. it's not something you would throw on any shell to make it look cool) - Finally, I have a bunch of knobbed whelks (I live in NJ) that I was hoping to clean with some of these techniques, are you aware of any specific techniques that are best for those shells? Thanks again for the very detailed video!

[@theshellnuts]

Thank you so much for your interest in our video. Really appreciated. You have asked some great questions! As I mentioned in the description, we are by no means the authority on this stuff, but I'll do my best to answer your questions based on our personal experience. 1) Safe HCL - We haven't personally used this yet, so I can't tell if you if it's any more effective or easier to use than muriatic acid. We may try it ourselves soon and we'll create a video if we do. Supposedly it's a lot safer and won't irritate your skin which is a huge bonus. I will say that muriatic acid is cheaper and easier to find in your local store, and it does exactly what we need it to do, and when we neutralize it with baking soda when we're finished, it becomes harmless and easy to dispose of. If anyone reading these comments has used both and wants to share their experience, we'll be happy to have your comments here. I know there are some videos about it from other great shellers here on KZbin, so please check those out also. 2) Yes, there have been times when a shell had both green/algae/gunk growing on it and then was slightly calcified also. So we did bleach first to remove the outer layer of 'gunk', and then that exposed the calcification so we an acid dip afterwards. Also, on one of our large horse conchs, we soaked it in a bleach+water bath for 24-48 hours, and then afterwards we had to spot treat it with acid in a few spots to remove some things that wouldn't come off with bleach. So on rare occasions we'll use both, but we always start with bleach first. 3) Yes, the Triple Thick Glaze goes on very thick, so I would only recommend it for shells that normally have a naturally thick gloss coat, but this is very subjective and each person might have a different opinion. Some people might like the thicker coat on some of their shells, some may not. You could get a thick coat with the lacquer also if you applied many coats, but the Glaze goes on easier and more uniform and requires less coats. If you're unsure, practice with some shells or shell fragments that are in bad condition first to see what best suits your preference. We practiced clear coats on many different old shells and fragments before we determined exactly what we wanted to do with our nicer shells. 4) We've yet to discover a whole knob whelk and have not yet had the opportunity to clean one. My best advice would be to find several that are in bad shape that you wouldn't really care about keeping and practice different cleaning/restoration techniques on those first, and then when you find what works best, you can use that on your nicer shells. It also took us some trial and error on some shells before we figured out what worked best for each shell. Thanks again and good luck with your shelling!

[@MattBarrasso]

@@theshellnuts Thank you for the very detailed response! There’s one more question I have that wasn’t originally answered that I actually wanted to re-word. How do you decide between using mineral oil and the Rust-oleum Lacquer? Since mineral oil gets on people’s hands and doesn’t last that long it seems like the lacquer is the better of the two options.

[@theshellnuts]

@@MattBarrasso So sorry I missed that question! It's another great question and something we ask ourselves often also. We usually only use lacquer on our big shells to seal in the periostracum and to give the shells a bit more depth of color and have that 'wet' look. I tried lacquer on some smaller shells like Florida Fighting Conchs and Moon Snails and it just didn't seem very natural looking(too shiny), so to me, the lacquer seems like a better fit for larger shells and I try to keep the coat light so it's more natural looking. And you're right, mineral oil gets on people hands if you apply it too thick, and I wouldn't want to oil up a big shell that I might let people handle. Also, the lacquer is going to last much longer, so if you're going to put shells in a picture frame and/or something permanent where they will never be touched, maybe lacquer is a better bet. Mineral oil is great for smaller shells there you want to add a depth of color and it's so simple to apply, and you can wipe of the excess to the point where it's not very oily to the touch. When we're unsure, we try mineral oil first. If we're happy with the results, great, we're done. If not, we'll wash the shell in soap and hot water to get the mineral oil off and then try lacquer. Again, sometimes it's just a matter of trial and error. We wish you good luck on your shell restorations and preservation!

[@katrinalodge6055]

I use white vinegar instead of muriatic acid takes a little longer maybe up to half n hour.. but works really well also makes Barnicles cone of easily too

[@theshellnuts]

Thank you for stopping by and for the suggestion. We'll give white vinegar a try and see how it goes. :)

[@maryannkom299]

You should the safe hydrochloric acid. Sharmon, from SWF Beachlife has a video on it.

[@theshellnuts]

Thanks for watching! Much appreciated. :) It's a good tip and we've tried it in the past, but the acid we saved became smelly and less potent. So now we just try to use as little as possible and then neutralize it so that we can safely discard what little we use.

[@cherylmaslyn1125]

Dont you rinse the shells in water after bleaching?

[@theshellnuts]

Yes, of course. We do mention rinsing the shell in water for the large Horse Conch project towards the end of the video. I guess we forgot to mention that during the bleaching section. Thanks for mentioning it. :)

[@sharlenehreinson5316]

SAWEET SHELLS

[@theshellnuts]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@dianemaurer5244]

Thanks for all the great information! Spectacular shells!!🐚🩵

[@theshellnuts]

Thank you for tuning it and for your kind feedback. We really appreciate it!