How to Clean and Polish Seashells

Boil seashells to remove animal tissue. The process of boiling or boiling raw shells causes the animal tissues to loosen and be easier to remove. You will need a pot and tweezers or something like a dental tool to remove the animal tissue. Here’s how to boil raw shells:

• Put the shells in a large pot and pour cold water over the shells about 5 cm. It is important that you use room temperature water and put the shells in the pot before heating, as a sudden increase in temperature can crack the shells.
• Boil water. Let the water boil for about 5 minutes. If you boil a lot of shells, you need to boil them a little longer. Larger shells also need to be boiled longer.
• Use tongs to remove the shell and place it gently on a soft surface, such as a hot towel.
• Use tweezers or another tool to carefully remove the animal tissue from the inside of the shell and discard. ^[1]

Bury live seashells. This method can take the most time, but many people choose this method to avoid damaging the shells. Boiling and freezing, as well as removing animal tissue by hand, can crack shells. This method of burying live shells in a safe place helps to protect the shells from damage and is a natural way to remove animal tissue. Ants, worms and other insects will eat the shells and clean the shells. Clean the shells by burying them in the ground as follows:

• Dig a hole in the ground. Remember that the hole should be large enough to bury all the shells with plenty of space between the shells. The hole should be about 45-60 cm deep to prevent animals from digging up shells or people walking on top of them breaking the shells.
• Place the shells in the hole evenly spaced.
• Fill the shells with soil.
• Wait a few months for the insects, larvae, worms and bacteria to remove the tissue inside the shell. The longer you bury, the better the results. ^[2]
• Dig up the shells and check if the animal tissue is gone.

Frozen raw shells. Freezing will kill any remaining animal tissue inside the shell and make it easier to remove. Here’s how to freeze raw shells:

• Place the seashells in a zippered plastic bag. You may need to use multiple bags if you want to handle a lot of shells.
• Fill the bag with water until the entire shell is covered.
• Place the clamshell bag in the freezer.
• Freeze for a few days.
• Remove the clamshell bag from the freezer and wait for it to defrost completely.
• Take out the shell and take out the animal tissue inside.

Soak the shells in water for about a week. The water will dissolve the soil on the shells, and your shells will be clean and bright after a week. ^[3]

• Change the water every day. Shells will be even cleaner if soaked in clean water.
• You can also boil dead seashells after a week of soaking to ensure that all dirt or animal tissue is removed from the shell.

Clean seashells with bleach. Bleach will definitely remove all dirt, impurities and animal tissue inside the shell. However, some collectors warn that bleach can ruin the color of the shells and that the bleach smell will stay on the shells forever. Here’s how to clean seashells with bleach:

• Pour equal parts water and bleach into the pot so that all the shells are covered.
• Soak the shells in the solution. You should see a skin-like scab coming off a seashell. This is the outer stratum corneum, or organic shell, or “skin” of a seashell.
• Once this shell has peeled off, remove the shell from the solution. You can use a toothbrush to scrub the dirt off the shells.
• Wash the shells thoroughly and let them dry completely.
• Apply baby oil or mineral oil to the shell to restore shine.

Use toothpaste to clean seashells. Toothpaste is a milder alternative to bleach for cleaning seashells. How to clean seashells with toothpaste as follows:

• Spread a thin layer of toothpaste on one side of the shell.
• Leave the toothpaste on the shell for at least 5 hours to infuse. You can leave it overnight for the toothpaste to take effect.
• When the toothpaste becomes sticky and/or hardens depending on the thickness of the shell, use an old toothbrush and a cup of warm water to scrub the shells off. Be sure to scrub even small cracks and crevices that are hard to see.
• Be sure to rinse off the toothpaste thoroughly, even if you have to rinse the shells under running water after scrubbing. This will help clean out the particles and other ingredients in the toothpaste, removing anything rough and sharp, leaving a very smooth surface with very few blemishes.

Remove barnacles on shells. If there is a barnacle on the shell, use a dental tool, soft toothbrush or wire brush to remove it.

• This works best if the shells have been previously cleaned by soaking them in water or bleach.

Apply mineral oil to each shell to create shine. Wait at least a day for the shells to dry, then apply oil to the shells.

• Mineral oil not only restores the luster of seashells, but also preserves the shells.
• Similarly, you can spray WD-40 oil on seashells. Remember to wear gloves when using this material.