There is a simple, clean method that does not involve chemicals. Soak the shell in hot water for an hour, then blast a Water-pik into the aperture while holding it under water in a sink. That should dislodge the softened residues. If needs be, attach a bit of plastic pipe to the end of the Water-pik head and push it further into the shell.
PC.
________________________________________
From: Conchologists List [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Vicky Wall [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2014 10:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Malodorous acquisitions
I have not tried this myself (will be my summer project) but friends of mine have had great luck with soaking shells in 100% pine oil. They remove the opercs and then let the shells soak up to several weeks. The pine oil dissolves the leftover tissue and the shells smell great. I have my gallon of pine oil ready to try this. Not Pine-Sol, but 100% oil. I got my gallon at a cleaning supply store in Wilmington, NC. It was expensive (about $40) but from what others have said, it's worth the money.
Vicky Wall
Mayodan, NC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed and Susan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2014 8:40:35 PM
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Malodorous acquisitions
This isn’t much of a suggestion, but I would let them soak in as concentrated an alcohol as you can find, for much longer than that (weeks anyway, changing the alcohol regularly) and afterwards give the shells plenty of time to dry out completely. Don't put them back into a ziplock bag!
(Usually when shells stink like that it is because part of the digestive gland broke off when the body was being extracted. That glad is oily and stinks a very great deal when it rots.)
You have to hope that this trapped and partially rotted piece of tissue will eventually dry out completely, and then hardly stink at all. But that takes time! And I mean years.
Some people say to put a few drops of this or that up onto the spire, but in think in most cases that probably just masks the smell.
However, maybe someone else will have a better suggestion?
Susan J. Hewitt
NYC
On Apr 25, 2014, at 7:01 AM, Martin Walker <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I have acquired seashells (esp. cones, but not exclusively) from overseas dealers that, a year after acquisition, smell
> terrible when released from their ziplock bags. The shells look fine, operculum on cotton wool, and perfectly
> clean-looking. I have been resoaking in methylated spirits for a couple of days, but this doesn't always fix the smell.
> I am careful to rotate the shells into the meths to allow it to penetrate up the to the higher whorls.
> Has anyone any other suggestions?
> Thanks in advance,
> Martin
>
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