[Rockhounds] Cleaning Galena, Help?

[Mark Stanley]

Dear Kevin:

I have successfully used sodium bicarbonate with a sand blaster to brighten
dull Galena crystals.

I use an enclosed table top sand blasting cabinet.  The sodium bicarbonate
comes in 20 kg bags from a livestock feed store.  This method can also be
used to remove many different types of soft coatings on minerals.

Mark Stanley
Norwood, Ontario, Canada

----- Original Message -----
From: <Paintricks at aol.com>
To: <rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 11:18 PM
Subject: [Rockhounds] Cleaning Galena, Help?


> Hey everybody.  I have some nice Galena crystals that have an  oxidized
> coating i need off.  It's a dull grey like your tire weights have  after a
few
> thousand miles.  This stuff is beautiful underneath.  Any  suggestions?
>   Thanks in advance,
>   Kevin