That trick with soaking mineral specimens in oxalic acid really saved my rock collection

I had a batch of quartz with terrible iron stains that nothing else would touch, and after 4 days of soaking they came out crystal clear. Anybody else use this method for cleaning up their finds?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony1291d ago

Four days in oxalic did you say? What concentration did you run for that long, because I’ve always been told you need to watch it or it can etch the quartz surface.

claire_hart531d ago

Wait have you actually tried it yourself or is this just what you've heard from people? lol I was the same way for years, always heard horror stories about etching and kept my oxalic baths super short. But after talking to a guy who does museum grade restoration I finally bit the bullet and ran a 10% solution for 4 days on a really cloudy piece and it came out perfect, no etching at all. I think the key is keeping the temp low, like under 80 degrees, and checking it every 12 hours but honestly the longer soak did way more for the deep stains than anything else I've tried.