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

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

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

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.

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.

This was by far the best shell cleaning video I've seen on YouTube! 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!

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

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

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

Excellent video, learned alot, thanks.

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.

Great video.

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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