As an Amazon Associate, Rewards Style influencer and Jane Influencer, we earn from qualifying purchases and any sales made through such links will reward us a small commission — at no extra cost for you. Look at all of these gorgeous blue seashells! Being an east coast girl, I had never seen blue mussel shells on the beach before. Needless to say…some of these came home with me. I always find it surprising how quickly shells start to have a foul odor.
Before I know it, a couple of hours have gone by and my hands are full of collected seashells. Like in this photo below — my hands were already full and I had only been on the beach for about 10 minutes. Never, ever do I collect live shells. The ones housing crabs, mussels, conch or other living creatures are left in their natural habitat.
I only collect non-living seashells from the beach. But non-living shells house enough things that make it necessary to clean seashells after your beach trip. The periostracum is the flaky, leathery covering that coats most seashells. Every nook, cranny and ridge of the shell can hold bacteria, algae and more. After collecting shells it is most important to clean them straightaway before they begin to smell. Also, it can ruin the color. Personally, I have never had this issue and I have been using this seashell cleaning method for decades.
Use the sandpaper to remove depositis and gunk, but also give the whole shell a good roughing up. Mineral Oil will restore the color and shine, plus will help preserve the shell.
Note: mineral oil is not usually found in the grocery store, but is easy to find in the pharmacy. If you are as obsessive-compulsive and germaphobic as my family is, then you are a happy Long Beach Islander with clean, eco-freindly shells that look great and will last a lifetime. Best of all, you just found a great project for the kids. Accidentally brought home occupied shells and felt horrible. Your post popped up under mine as suggested reading…. Great info- thanks for posting!
I keep my shells in a bottle and would like to add a liquid — was thinking a water and bicarb solution — would this work or make them rot? I have already cleaned all. Or thinned with acrylic painting medium. Get creative. Thanks for the great info! I collected a bunch of shells on LBI this weekend and noticed the were dull after soaking. I googled for help and found your blog. Your photos are gorgeous. Thank you very much for sharing! My moon snail shells seem to have a thick coating of white mineral over the shell.
Do you know of a way to remove that so the pretty shell beneath shows? Thank you so much! Nice read — thanks for sharing. Thanks for this info. Dont think twice about using sandpaper..
If you follow the directions already listed on this page, the dead animal smell will be removed. Shells smell awful as in fishy and bleachy. Anyone have a solution for this? Really want to keep them but they are outside right now. I am in the process of trying your technique out Step 1 actually. I totally agree with you, patience often receives the best reward — I was about to use the bleach but after further research I came across your advice and I want to do it right the first time around.
That is there home and they have the right to live there. Taking them out and killing them is like a home intruder shooting someone. I picked up some live conch in Florida last week and, evicted every one of them! I am now in the process of cleaning their homes, and they will be a reminder of the long walks on the beach, and tasty meal. Born and raised!!!
Now on to her Doctorial….. We like to go out for dinner too!!!!! Try the Coconut Grouper….. Take care!!! Notwithstanding this process of sales or any other living organism living in ocean should not be disturbed the ecological system by human beings there in the long run give us modern mo balanced ecosystem. Will this make them hermit crab safe? I need to make sure that the shells are safe for my little babies, and all the pet stores that are around me only sell painted shells, and the craft stores sell their shells for a very high price.
DO not use vinegar, I collected some beautiful Tiger Cowrie shells and after soaking them overnight in white vinegar, it literally dissolved the glossy outer coating. Ruined them….. I collected miniature shells on the trash line on Sanibel Island. You can collect as many as you want and have room in your suitcase to take them home. Too many and too small to sand and apply mineral oil so I sprayed them with acrylic clear coat.
It restores the shine and beauty of the shell. They will look lovely in the ship shaped wine bottle we had with our Thanksgiving dinner. I have just come across this site and the information on cleaning shells is brilliant. A BIG thanks.
How do i get the smell out from a shell that I got at a Restaurant? The shell is already cooked. Just leave out in the air for a while or still soak them? Thank you. Leave them in fresh water for a week, and do some googling on the health hazards of sanding shells!
We accidentally ended up with a live hermit crab-in-conch shell after checking extensively even held it up to light to look for shadows. He kinda survived 3 days out of water and a flight back to the states.
Any suggestions on what to do with the little guy? I think freezing might be the nicest way to kill it? If anyone is wondering, Mr Hermit died peacefully from hypothermia, and a garden hose was enough water pressure to knock him out of the shell once thawed.
I found some moon snail shells and have not cleaned them yet, is there any possibility a hermit crab could be living inside one? Thank you for these tips! I had some really scummy scallop shells and this worked beautifully. Everyone is clean and vibrant now without smelling like beach!
I wish I could pay a picture. Is using sandpaper essential? I have many small shells and it seems so tedious….. I have a TON of shells I have collected over several vacations. Some are several months old, other a few years. I always soaked them in water for a few days then dried them when I found them before storing them in plastic bags.
Now they stink. What do you reccomend for shells and a few starfish that I found dried out in terms of getting rid of the stench before I go on to restore their shine? I need to know how to clean queen conch shells found in Turks and Caicos and keep the color and clean them at the same time thanks!!!
Dry with a microfiber cloth. I created this website to share my knowledge with a community of like-minded people who love simple, easy and safe ways to keep their home clean and inspiring.
I hope you enjoy! So, how do you clean such treasures? Standard dish soap. Try this mixture for getting seashells twinkling clean: Mix one part of warm water with dishwashing soap and baking soda in a bowl. Dip seashells into the mixture and rinse under cold water. Wipe seashells with a clean microfiber cloth. Use hydrogen peroxide. Rinse 3. Try muriatic acid. Old fashion baking soda and boiling water.
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