How to clean large shells with 100% bleach!

Queen Conch shells before cleaning. Notice all of the algae stains and calcium buildup on the ends.

Cleaning Queen Conch shells and other large shells like Horse Conchs with 100% bleach. 📝 This is also a great method for cleaning those nasty Kings Crown shells that are loaded with barnacles and nasty lagoon mud.

We start by rinsing the shells in freshwater and get as much off of them as possible. We then soak them in a container overnight with 100% bleach. Half cheap bleach and half Clorox. We find that the cheap stuff doesn’t cut it. Use all Clorox for even better results. After 12-24hrs rinse in freshwater and scrape the barnacles and other calcium buildup with dental picks.

Note: use containers with lids to prevent evaporation and help your bleach last longer.

If the shells need more work - repeat the process and give it another bleach bath. 💪 🧼 🧽 🪥 ✨ 🐚

This is also how we clean our Sea Biscuits!

Sea biscuit after a 24hr bleach bath. We do not use this method for fragile Sand Dollars as we prefer peroxide for them.

Shells sitting in freshwater after an overnight 100% bleach bath.

Queen Conch shells sitting in freshwater after an overnight 100% bleach bath.

Our final step is to polish the shells with mineral oil - this helps restore the shell to it’s original beauty. 🖌️ ✨

Queen Conchs all cleaned up after 100% bleach bath overnight, dental picks scraping and finished off with a mineral oil polish. ✨