Dear Leslie, Bleach should always be used by itself, not mixed with any other soap, detergent etc. Standard bleaching products like Chlorox has got around % 5 active ingredient in it and it can be used directly with most of the shells as indicated in previous mails. However, it still works ok with many of the shells in much lesser consantrations, so liquid bleach can be diluted for economical reasons when used in bulk. Active chlorine directly reacts with organic material like algae and therefore gets neutrialized. It is a good practice to add a little more chlorine after the first reaction of bleaching to keep the solution active. Best regards, Cuneyt Birol CEO, Birka Chemicals Corp. (A detergent and bleach manufacturing company based in Ankara,Turkey) _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs To leave this list, click on the following web link: http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1 Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and click leave the list. ----------------------------------------------------------------------