Help with cleaning quartz crystals

I've dug up a bunch of quartz crystals from out of a quartz vein in the bushland not to far from home. There is a bunch of orange rusty colored encrustation (and or staining) on most of the crystals. Although the crystals aren't big or particularly good specimens I was hoping to clean them up a little as I'm sure they would look a whole heap nicer with all the junk cleaned off them.

I tried soaking in warm soapy water and scrubbing with an old toothbrush but all that achieved was cleaning every last scerick of dirt off them.

Has anyone got any tips on how to clean the crystals up, what I need and where I can get the stuff from. I'm assuming the job will need some kind of acid and if so safety precautions etc.

Thanks in advance
Adam

Adam

Get hold of some oxalic acid from your local hardware store. It is used for cleaning bricks and I believe it works a treat on quartz crystals. Of course always read the instructions as it is acid. Good luck

Jamo said:

Adam

Get hold of some oxalic acid from your local hardware store. It is used for cleaning bricks and I believe it works a treat on quartz crystals. Of course always read the instructions as it is acid. Good luck

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How much do you need? What sort of concerntration? Do you need to water it down at all? Does the stuff you buy from the hardware store already come partially diluted? How long do you soak for?

I've done a bit of reading on oxalic acid after getting your reply, sounds like it can be quite nasty.

Thanks
Adam

I've never been game enough to use oxalic acid, but I wonder if CLR would do the job?

elbowgrease said:

I've dug up a bunch of quartz crystals from out of a quartz vein in the bushland not to far from home. There is a bunch of orange rusty colored encrustation (and or staining) on most of the crystals. Although the crystals aren't big or particularly good specimens I was hoping to clean them up a little as I'm sure they would look a whole heap nicer with all the junk cleaned off them.

I tried soaking in warm soapy water and scrubbing with an old toothbrush but all that achieved was cleaning every last scerick of dirt off them.

Has anyone got any tips on how to clean the crystals up, what I need and where I can get the stuff from. I'm assuming the job will need some kind of acid and if so safety precautions etc.

Thanks in advance
Adam

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Hi adam ive cleaned up lots of quartz crystals with the same iron oxide coating and yes oxalic will do the trick but isnt great to breathe any of the fumes and takes a while to do, I have found hydrochloric acid from hardware much more effctive break it down 50/50 with water and leave soak in a plastic not metal container(also use a mask and rubber gloves) it will strip away iron oxide pretty well mild staining check after a few hours for heavy staining leave overnight it wont hurt the crystal at all, but if you want to keep away from chemicals go the wire brush bench grinder or drill setup that will clean off most of it and cant hurt crystals either quartz is harder than wire but it will leave a grey metal coating on them but easy to clean off later,Also if your doing clusters with too strong an acid or too long with small gaps and crevices the hydrochloric can seep in too deep in and cause a yellowing stain which time out in the hot sun will help remove single points come up a treat....good luck

Adam, oxalic acid is usually in powdered form. Probably about a cup full in a half a bucket, use hot water to dissolve it, then throw your stones in and leave for a couple of days. Check the instructions also (although I know us blokes aren't always good at doing that).

Cheers

Thanks for all the tips guys! I'm going to try clean up some crystals, they aren't amazing quality but because they are out of the ground all the facets are 100% in tact and some of the tips are nice and clear! Cant wait to see them sparkling a bit.

I've picked a bucket of oxalis i.e. soursobs (or sour grass as its called in Vic) covered them with water for a week or so then dump the iron stained crystals in and leave them for a week or two before hosing them down. Works well but can smell a bit if you leave the bucket of the mixture in the yard & forget about it.

Probably would be easier to buy oxalix acid from the hardware store!