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Techniques for CollectorsRemoving Clay Residues from Deep Beryl Crevasses

6th Oct 2015 05:29 UTCSteve Hardinger 🌟 Expert

Looking for suggestions to clean clay from deep crevasses in a beryl crystal. (Associated minerals are tourmaline and a feldspar, probably albite.) The crevasses are too deep and too narrow for my trusty ultrasonic cleaner to have much impact. Also too deep for a water gun. There are too many crevasses to clean with a needle or bamboo sliver. I seem to recall that some clays can be soaked loose with ammonia, but I can't find a reference to this. Any ideas?

6th Oct 2015 06:23 UTCBob Harman

STEVE, That must be some really "deep stuff" if the crevasses are too narrow and deep for your cleaning gun to reach. If the "clay" might have a component of a carbonate based mud, I might try soaking a while in vinegar and then using vinegar instead of water in the cleaning gun. I have had some success the few times I tried this here in the Midwest with carbonate limestone based mud in crevasses in my Indiana specimens. CHEERS.......BOB

6th Oct 2015 06:48 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Carbonate-rich mud would be unlikely in a pegmatite.

6th Oct 2015 06:56 UTCReinhardt van Vuuren

Ive been thinking of using hydrogen peroxide you know that bubbly liquid people use to make their hair white? It's just an Idea that could or could not work, the theory is that the bubbles agitate the clay loose? but my theory is questionable.

6th Oct 2015 07:55 UTCAlfredo Petrov Manager

Reinhardt, it works well when the clay is not too indurated! Clay can also be softened by soaking it in ammonia or other salts which expand the layer structure, or even some organic fluids. But... all this only works when the clay is porous, not too indurated, ie. not too compact, so that the solutions can penetrate. If the clay is so dense as to be impervious to liquids, then none of this is going to help.

6th Oct 2015 08:41 UTCBob Harman

Frankly, if as Steve says, the crevices are soooo deep and soooo narrow as to not allow meaningful cleaning with his hi pressure gun, I do not see how any liquid of any type will penetrate enough to allow any meaningful cleaning action. Only exception just might be organics (rather than clay) in the narrow crevices; use a bleach solution?

Maybe soaking in something for weeks or several months?????

But, in the end, I have found that too much fiddling around with cleaning solutions allows for some surfaces to become dulled or unwanted ugly crusts and color changes to form. The end result often turns out badly. When it comes to cleaning, less might be better. CHEERS.......BOB

6th Oct 2015 10:44 UTCPeter Trebilcock Expert

Living and working in the " Clay Country" of mid cornwall has meant that the majority of specimens collected locally have a similar problem with hard and difficult areas of clay to remove. I am not a chemist but have always taken expert advice from those involved in the clay industry, the chemical which I have found to be most efficient at breaking down stubborn deposits is called Sodium Hexametaphosphate, despite its long name it is also commonly used as a sequestrant, used as a food additive, in meat processing and of course as a dispersing agent to break down clay and similar soil types so used sensibly is reasonably safe. Use a teaspoon of chemical per litre of warm water and just leave in a warm place for a week then hit with a controlled spray from a pressure gun etc.

I have never found it to have any adverse reactions on my specimens but of course try on a scrapper first. Easily found on E Bay.

Cheers Peter.

6th Oct 2015 14:43 UTCTimothy Greenland

Removing clay residues from specimens from Chessy (Rhône, France) is a regular task. Sodium hexametaphosphate is very good, but if you don't have any available, a couple of spoonsful of coarse cooking salt is a fair substitute. Combine with ultrasonics and repeat the process for as long as it takes (often LONG)...

Interestingly, the name "Chessy" probably derives form the name of the Roman owner of the land there way back -'Cassius' - so we often have to remove Cassius Clay from our specimens!

Cheers

Tim

18th Nov 2015 15:58 UTCPaul Stephen Cyr

Tim- that is funny!

I am also in the process of removing some red clay material from a lot of small Nigerian emeralds. After about of week soaking in sodium dithionite I would say they are about halfway clean. Next I may try the salt in the ultrasonic. If they still aren't prime after that, sodium hexametaphosphate seems like it will be helpful for this and other projects.

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