The shop is closed and it's dreary and rainy. I've been cleaning shells
today. Found a long-spined star shell in the bottom of my dive bag. I
couldn't pry the operculum out, so I popped it in the microwave. What a stink
bomb! Immediatly all the kids came running downstairs. "Who farted?" "What
died!?!"  I am not Miss Popularity around here now, so made it up to everyone
by baking raisin bread, a much better smell.

I pulled one of those funky helmets out of the bleach and sat out on the
porch scraping off the encrustations. Carol came out and watched. I told her
"You must think I'm a nut job or a dental hygienest wanna-be." No, she
allowed as how it looked kinda fun and could she try it. So I handed it over,
feeling very like Tom Sawyer. After a while she gave it back and said "Thank
you, that was very satisfying."

Getting the big encrustations off the back of the shell was fun and not hard.
But the front is another matter. It has filmy patches and I'm anxious about
damaging the shiny surface. Or is there a shiny surface anymore? Is this
stuff simply the deteriorated shell?

Now I'm wishing I had taken that pristine live specimen I'd found snorkling
the last day off of Pigeon Key. It was gorgeous; bright colors, clean shell
and nary a chip, not even on the siphonal canal or notch or what you call it.

Any suggestions on cleaning this film off the glossy part of the shell?