How to clean conch shells

A. It depends on what you are trying to clean off. If it was a live shell, you may not need to do much, a nylon bristle brush would be fine. If it is an old dead shell that has a lot of encrustations, stainless steel or brass is fine - it doesn't really matter. The best way is to soak for a couple of hours in a dilute bleach [adv: bleach/sodium hypochlorite in bulk on eBay or Amazon] solution to soften up things that are on the outside and then use the brush to clean off what didn't come off.

Thank you so much! Did the bleach thing and the boiling. Need wire brush for stubborn spots. Thanks again!

Thanks for the site! I followed the instructions and the conch looks great!

A. How to clean shells:

If the animal is still in the shell, you need to put the shell in some water and SLOWLY bring it to near boiling to "cook" the animal. (Good eating, usually!) Some shells are not compatible with boiling, as it may craze the nacre. Pull the animal out slowly after it is fully cooked and make sure that you get all of the liver out (the last little curly-cue part that is in the shell- dark colored).
Another method the get the animal all out is to place the shell on an ant hill. The ants will clean it out in a couple days, usually.

Once you get the animal out:

 

Cleaning seashells can be easy or hard depending on the condition of the shells. The best and simplest system for MOST shells (some are too fragile for this) is to soak them in diluted (1:1) bleach for 10 minutes to a few hours (depending on the degree of encrustation, etc.) then cleaning any detracious material from the surface with a pick, if necessary. Repeated bleaching could be necessary. The pariostricum (the "skin" that covers the shell) will come off in the bleach.

After the shell is clean, brush on some diluted mineral oil or baby oil.(some people use other oils). You can dilute it 1:1 with some lighter fluid or paint thinner (FLAMMABLE!). This will bring out the color and shine of the shell.

For a more professional method, use ultrasonic cleaning machine.

A. I live in Bequia, St. Vincent for 30 years; used to dive conch for food. Other than ants to clean them, we used to take fish hook, set into foot of conch and hang from tree over grass. After the conch died, weight of shell would remove the flesh.

A. I found the best way to clean Conch shells, once the animal is removed, is to soak the shell in a diluted solution of C-L-R [on eBay or Amazon] and water to loosen the pariostricum (the skin covering the shell). While still wet, the skin will peel off like peeling an onion. Use a stiff brush and a pick to remove the hard spots. Let dry for a couple of days, then rub with mineral or baby oil to shine. CLR will not bleach out the shell and it will retain the beautiful color.

Tiffany:
Not sure which kind of shell you bought, but we have cleaned many shells with left over animal inside. If the shell is large enough, go outside and blast a hose into it to dislodge the animal parts that are deep inside.

If you cannot do this, put the shell into a bleach solution with the protoconch (the closed point of the shell) pointed down so that the bleach gets all the way down into the shell. Leave it that way for a few days. You will probably see some bubbles coming up out of the shell for as long as there is animal left in there to react with.

I would be happy to talk to you about it.
Regards,
Lee

A. The green color is not "normal", but it may be normal for this shell. Some shells DO have a green coloration. If DILUTE bleach does not remove it, it is probably in the shell itself. Or, it may be some calcium carbonate that has absorbed some color from the algae that was on the shell.
If it is under the nachor (the shiny coating on the shell) it is part of the shell itself. If not, the bleach will slowly remove it.