Muriatic acid for cleaning sea shells

A. Hi Betty!

I think that someone meant to say muriatic and not muric.

For more info on this acid, have a gander in the archives at # 12044 (asking about hydrochloric acid formula). There's a lot of extraneous info on those responses which isn't relevant but some useful info, too.... And if you are a dawg lover, you'd like it.

Or go and have a look at 13393 ... where there is a far better answer than mine ... but, you did ask about an acid, didn't you!

Expert advice on chemicals from a sea shell collector! Cheers!

A. Many years ago my parents owned what was then called a "produce station" where we bought various items from local farmers and the re-sold them to a wholesaler. In the process we bought cream from dairy farmers. To test for butterfat content muriatic acid was used. Believe me you don't want to use it to clean sea shells. It is super corrosive and dangerous to your health.

After many years of scuba diving and much help from experienced shell collectors a much better alternative is COMMON HOUSEHOLD BLEACH [adv: bleach/sodium hypochlorite in bulk on eBay or Amazon] . Take a large metal or porcelain container and mix up a diluted batch of household bleach and plain water. Submerge your shells in this solution for approximately a week. At the end of this time you should be able to take a wooden toothpick and easily remove the calcium deposits; they will be like putty in texture! Large, obviously older deposits, may have to be resoaked in this solution. To collect shells without holes (made to remove the contents of the shell) place the intact shell on the ground (meat side down) mound dirt up around the edges and leave it there for a month or two; summer time is best. Ants will eat the meat out of the inside during this period; then place it in your bleach solution for a week or so to remove any of the residue and the odor. Wallah....you have a trophy.
(Remember: In most places in the world it is illegal to collect these shells. You have to experiment with the bleach solution to get the correct dilution.)

A. If you're looking for muriatic acid go to a pool supply store they carry it there. Lupe

A. Hi Jen. Not all plastics are acid resistant. Nylon, for example, isn't.

Glass is acid resistant, as are several types of plastic, including polyethylene, polypropylene, and PVC (vinyl). Maybe you can find recycling codes that will help you embossed into the containers. Look for numbers 2 through 5, and they'll probably be okay. Good luck.

Regards,

A. I have cleaned thousands of seashells through the years. I would certainly NOT recommend muriatic acid. This is much too harsh and DANGEROUS unless you know what you are doing. It will severely etch the shells.

Common household bleach works fine and is much safer. I usually use a blend of 50% bleach and 50% water.

After bleaching to remove incrustations, etc. and drying, you can put a light coating of mineral oil, baby oil, vaseline, etc on the shell to bring out the color if it is an old beach shell. I usually dilute the oil with some paint thinner -- maybe 50/50.

A. Hi Carol. Dilute it as much as practical by adding some water, but not beyond about the 2/3's mark on your pot. (You're supposed to "add acid to water", not "add water to acid", due to the danger of overheating, but on a small amount of exhausted acid it will probably be okay -- just be sure you're wearing goggles [on eBay or Amazon] in case).

The reason you want the pot only 2/3 full is that it will foam madly when you add the baking soda [on eBay or Amazon] . Add just a tiny bit and stir. Add a little more and stir. As you keep adding baking soda, you'll see that the reaction is slowing down as the acid gets weaker. You'll reach a point where the foaming stops and you have a small excess of baking soda which you'll see settle when you stop stirring. It's neutralized and okay to flush. Businesses are restricted on this waste treatment stuff, but a careful individual hobbyist probably won't get in trouble as long as they're careful not to hurt themself :-)

Regards,