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Directions and use of this product is
for cleaning quartz crystals and clusters. NOT for use on softer minerals.
Cleaning crystal is
a three step process. First the clay must be washed off the crystal.
Second, the iron oxide film coating is removed in an oxalic acid bath. And
last, the oxalic acid is washed off the crystal with fresh water. Sounds
simple, but there are many ways to do each step depending on the type of
crystal (points or clusters) and the quantity you have to clean.
Washing the clay off the crystal is not always as easy as it
sounds, especially with clusters. Points are fairly easy to rinse with a
garden hose. I do not recommend doing it in your kitchen sink because the
clay can plug up your sink traps and plumbers are more expensive than your
crystal. Most clusters have small cracks and crevices filled with clay. A
pressure washer works best to flush out the clay. You can let the clusters
dry in the sun for a couple days after washing to shrink the clay and
pressure wash again. This process may have to be repeated several times.
The cleaner the crystal is, the more effective the acid bath. Trapped clay
prevents the oxalic acid from removing the iron film in that spot. The
clay and iron oxide will also turn your acid green and eventually reduce
its effectiveness. So do not rush the process and remove as much clay as
possible before putting the crystal in acid.
Mix the oxalic acid with fresh water. The recommended mixture
varies from one pound oxalic to two gallons of water up to one pound per
five gallons of water. I use one pound per two gallons water. If you see
funny green crystals growing in your solution you know you have added more
oxalic than can dissolve in the water, you're saturated. This will not
hurt anything, it just looks funny. Now you have to decide how fast you
want to remove the iron oxide film off your crystal. If you are not in a
hurry, you can let them soak in a plastic bucket in the sun for several
days. If you are in a hurry you need to heat the acid. I do not recommend
building a fire under your plastic bucket. An old crock pot works fine for
the smaller crystals. Half of a fifty gallon drum will work for the bigger
crystal. Set the drum on cement blocks and build a wood fire under it for
a few hours. You can also use a propane burner to heat the acid. I do not
recommend cooking your crystal on your kitchen stove and do not put oxalic
acid in aluminum pans. The oxalic acid should be heated in a well
ventilated area and wear rubber gloves if you stick your hands in the acid
or OSHA might get you. And be sure to neutralize your acid with baking
soda, lime, or ashes from your fireplace before disposing of it.
When you remove the crystal from the acid you should wash it
thoroughly with fresh water. I use a pressure washer to help remove any
clay residue. If you're not satisfied with the results, repeat steps one
through three. I've had to clean small, needle point clusters as many as
six times before I was satisfied with them. Some clusters have trapped
clay that cannot be removed except with a hammer. You can get them clean
this way but they do not look very nice when you're done.
Trick - The porous sandstone base of some clusters will turn
green in dirty, hot oxalic acid. When the sandstone gets hot the pores
expand and open allowing the acid to penetrate. When the sandstone cools
the pores will close trapping the acid and turning the sandstone green.
One method of removing the green color is to re-heat the clusters in acid
to open the pores, and while still warm, put them in warm soap water (dish
washing soap works fine) to soak for several days in the sun. The soap
water will neutralize the acid turning the sandstone base back to its
normal color. It's best to use clean, fresh acid when cleaning clusters
that have a sandstone base.
Another way to clean sandstone base clusters is to heat the
clusters in clean water before putting them in the acid bath. This will
open the pores and fill them with water. Then, when you heat the clusters
in acid, the acid cannot penetrate the water filled sandstone. Soaking
sandstone base clusters in cold (non-heated) acid for several days will
also prevent most of the green problem.
For small crystal cleaning jobs you can use a product called
"Iron Out". Iron Out is used to remove rust stains from sinks, bath tubs,
and toilets. We had a lot of trouble finding oxalic acid in this part of
the world, so we cleaned our crystals with a compound called "Iron Out"
which is a bisulfate cleaner. It was quick and did a very good job. Use
about 3 TBS per cup of water and cleaned a few points at a time. Don't
know how to compare it to oxalic, but finished points look good. One
bottle does a bucket full."
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