cleaning up sea biscuit tests

[tawnyman]

Hi there,
I came into possession of a nice echinoderm test recently (thats the solid bit that's left when the animal dies, for those not familiar with echinoderms). I think this one is a brown sea biscuit, Clypeaster rosaceus, but the important thing is it needs a bit of a clean. Anyone any experience on doing this? Some sources say use bleach, others say that will result in the disintegration of the test. I think my example is fairly sun-bleached already so there's no colours to lose.
thanks
julian

[wanlock dod]

presumably you are looking to remove any remaining organic material from the shell structure. Assuming that they all make their structures in the same manner testing any treatments on other pieces (perhaps broken bits?) should tell you whether or not it is likely to affect the piece. I woudl be tempted to try hydrogen peroxide, but it might not be readily available as a sufficiently concentrated solution to oxidise organic material.

[tawnyman]

Hi wanlock, thanks for the response. No, the specimen is very free of organic remains, just rather dirty from handling. What concentration of hydrogen peroxide would be suitable? There's a bit that's broken off the inside near the mouth, so I could test that for effects.
julian

[tom00_uk]

i stick stuff like this under a old flower pot close to a ant colony and let them clean it for me

[tawnyman]

Useful things, ants. Except when they're in your kitchen.