Cleaning abalone shell, help needed

[duckbill]

I just got my first abalone and have read many of the on-line tips on cleaning the shell.

I have everything ready to go, but one thing I haven't seen in all the tutorials is how to remove the ugly, dull green film or stain covering a good percentage of the pearlescent nacre on the inside. Upon drying, some small patches have chipped free, but mosty of it is still tightly bonded to the nacre.



So far I've tried acetone, lemon juice, and a scotchbrite scrub. No results with any of those other than scratching it and the nacre with the scotchbrite.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Duckbill,

Are you the person who posts in the vintage section?

I began publishing articles on how to clean Abalone shells about 50 years ago..
might want to check the following

LA Co Underwater news 1964 "Abalone Shell cleaning"

NorCal COD also republished the article about a year later

Diving West (book) First West Coast Dive Guide 1972 "Keepen Kreepers"

SCUBA Safe & Simple (book) 1975 How to prepare somegood looking Specimens -"Keepen Kreepers"

Discover Diving (Defunct SD based magazine)March/April 1991 "Abalone Shell Cleaning"

The article was published and republished many times with and with out my permission, i suspect that pirated copies are floating around in other perodicals and books.

sdm

 

[duckbill]

Well, hello, Dr. Miller.

Thankyou. Yes, in fact I have the copy from the Discover Diving article you sent me some years ago right here beside me. You are the only one I have seen who mentions using parafin to seal the nacre during the muriatic dip. That method makes the most sense to me and is the one I have chosen to use for that process, but I thought I would try to get this darned green stuff off first. I'm anxious to see how my first ab trophy turns out, so I'm hoping there's an easy solution. Otherwise, maybe a gloss clear coat will turn that green pretty in the end, but I'd rather see all the pearlescence that lies thereunder.

 

[Sam Miller III]

DuckBill,

I recognize that you also live in California...I live 1/2 way between LA & San Francisco on a hill in Pismo Beach. If you ever pass through P/B let me know in advance and I would be honored to share my collection of polished abalone shells.

I have been polishing Abalone Shells for many many years and as noted have been published and quoted in a number of periodical and books. Most, no probably all techniques are based on my original articles, and I suspect many have taken short cuts or in other ways modified my instructions.

I must confess I donot have an answer for your problem...Just experiment but be careful with that acid

My dear wife just suggested that you might want to experiment with "CRX" which is a strong household chemical used to remove bathroom build up..but be careful!

Well Hombre, good luck and keep in touch -- if you arever in the neighborhood drop in,

SDM

 

[g1138]

Is it possible that your species of Abalone isn't supposed to have pearly white nacre?

 

[duckbill]

Is it possible that your species of Abalone isn't supposed to have pearly white nacre?

Nah. It's a common red ab.

Dr. Miller, I was going to head down town to pick up some of that cleaner when I thought about how well vinegar removes deposits from my regulators. I tried some and it looks promising. I'll get after it tomorrow and see how it turns out.

Thanks for the invitation. I'd love to meet you one of these days.

BTW, here's a plug for a YouTube video of us diving scuba in the morning before I went out ab diving that afternoon (might want to mute the audio though- JMO). Beautiful coastline, the Sonoma is! (I'm wearing the oval mask and 'simonbeans' basket harness, 'fishnbeer' is wearing the tri-view mask, and 'ZKY' is using one of those new fangled single hose regs for a change)
‪Stillwater Cove Aug 2011‬‏ - YouTube

 

[Sam Miller III]

We seem to share the same barber...

Liked the top side..not much vintage underwater.



SDM

 

[duckbill]

We seem to share the same barber...

SDM

LOL! Could be. Is Mr. Heredity your barber too?

Here's a follow up on the project.
It turned out that the vinegar did the trick on removing the green film. By the time I got that film off and had brushed and dried the shell, the outside was nearly clean except for a few areas. So, I decided to spot treat those areas with the acid and a steel brush rather than coating the nacre and doing the full acid dip. I knew it was risky but I was very careful not to let any acid drip through the holes to the inside of the shell. I think it turned out pretty well.

Dr. Miller, I have an abalone shell I bought a couple years ago that shows the nacre on the outside as well as the inside. Would a prolonged acid dip remove all the red shell material, or does it require physical removal (grinding, sanding, polishing) to attain that look?