James,
If you want to be extra cautious - since household chemicals may have some
impurities - just try a little bit in the container you plan to use before
trying it on your shell so you can see what happens. Also keep in mind that
baking powder and baking soda are different; baking powder has acid in it.
http://users.rcn.com/sue.interport/food/bakgsoda.html

I'ld be curious to know how it works out.
cheers
Alex

On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 12:05:11 -0600, Andy Rindsberg
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>James,
>
>The mixture not to try is ammonia and chlorine bleach, which produces toxic
>chlorine gas. As a general rule, it's not a good idea to breathe any
>colorful vapors while cleaning shells.
>
>A websearch for "baking soda and bleach" (in quotes) yielded this household
>tidbit from a floor-cleaning website at
>http://cleaning.lifetips.com/cat/851/floor-cleaning-stain-
removal/index.html
>
>"To remove stains from marble, make a paste of baking soda and bleach and
>cover the stain with the paste. Cover the paste with a damp cloth, leave
>overnight, then wet down and scrape off residue. Rinse thoroughly. Or, you
>could try a commercial marble cleaner."
>
>I think it probably goes without saying that wearing plastic or latex
gloves
>would be a good idea too. Also, it's best to try out any new technique on a
>shell you don't care about. But you knew this already! I'm just including
it
>for the novices out there among the lurkers.
>
>There were plenty of other websites listed but I leave that as an exercise
>for the student. Does anyone out there have actual experience with using
>this on shells -- or, for that matter, on floors?
>
>Cheers,
>Andy
>
>Andrew K. Rindsberg
>Geological Survey of Alabama
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>James M. Cheshire
>Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 9:29 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: baking soda and bleach
>
>
>Hello listers,
>I've been thinking about this for a while (about two hours) and finally
>decided to ask. Is it okay to mix baking soda with bleach? The reason I'm
>asking is because I've got a cowrie that has a lot of dried, decayed flesh
>in it, and I want to clean it out. Since decaying flesh is acidic and can
>dull shells (I once had a gem Cypraea zebra that was ruined by this) I need
>to mix something alkaline (and preferably non-reactive) into the bleach to
>neutralize the acid. Help please? ;)
>
>Thanks, as always,
>Jetlagged James
>
>--
>Furuike ya
>Kawazu tobikomu
>Mizu no oto  -- Bashou
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>[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.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>--
>No virus found in this outgoing message.
>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
>Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.5.1 - Release Date: 2/27/2005
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>[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.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------