Hi, try an ultrasound jewelry cleaner, with the valves submerged in some neutral liquid soap. At the N Shell Museum we received a good collection of small wentletraps that had each been stuck to a board with green plasticine, now dry. Ultrasound helped.

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> On Feb 20, 2020, at 5:37 PM, Joseph Brunner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> I’ve received a box of bivalves collected in the 1980’s and held closed at the time with rubber bands. Does anyone have a method of getting rid of the rubber bands while preserving the shell? I’ve tried bleach, Acid Magic, and just plain soaking.
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