Cleaning gypsum

[Rin]

I just want to make it clear that I am NOT talking about selenite.

I'm on a vacation in the Maritimes right now, and I just picked up a buttload of gypsum off the beach of Hopewell Rocks (New Brunswick). Basically the tide rises and falls about 40 feet, I believe. I found alot of gypsum rocks on the beach.

The bigger (half fist size) ones feel damp, but they was about 6-8 hours ago, about a day after I had gotten them. The smaller ones are completely dry.

I was thinking about using a toothbrush and some warm water and maybe some Dawn, but I'm a bit uncertain.

Does anyone have any experience with sea-found gypsum and how they cleaned it? Or just information in general?

 

[crystalwoman]

What a FANTASTIC find!!! If you put that stuff in your house your home will be quickly cleansed, recharged, energized. Try to put a piece in each room if you can.

Gypsum rock is the most common sulfate and it's formed by the evaporation of saline solutions that have lots of calcium in it so it is very permeable and absorbant of water, so it may crumble if it absorbs too much. Unless your gypsum rocks are really filthy dirty I'd recommend that you only wipe them down with a damp cloth. Gypsum has a hardness of only 2 on the MOHS scale so you can scratch it with a fingernail, possibly even scratch it with a stiff toothbrush (just like selenite).

If they are very dirty then I'd recommend giving them a really quick scrub all over with a SOFT bristle brush that is soaking, dripping wet, then quickly rinse the brushed stone under cold running water (not warm) to rinse away residue. Warm water may make it softer than cold water will do. I don't suggest submersing it for more than a minute or two max, just enough to rinse it, and I don't think you should use any kind of soap at all. Once you've cleaned your stone place it somewhere warm with good air circulation so it will dry rapidly. You'll notice that it takes quite a while to be completely dry, and then it will lose some of it's clearness or translucency. But loss of translucency won't effect it's healing properties. Ocean-side gypsum will have all the properties of gypsum plus the properties of sea-salt so it will be invaluable to use for cleansing and recharging other stones that are placed on top of it.

I have gypsum from an ancient sea-salt desert basin, some of the gypsum formed to look like coral, other pieces were chunky rocks. The first time I got the stuff I tried to clean a piece by soaking it in water for a little while and when I went to scrub it under running water it started to fall apart.

 

[Rin]

Man.. I wish I had remembered to look BACK at this post!

I had totally forgetten I had posted this, and today I started cleaning them. I actually had them in the water for a really long time while I was cleaning it.. and just now I threw some into the water with some extra-sensitive dish soap. When I read this I immeadiately grabbed them out and rinsed all of my pieces again just to make sure.

Oddly enough they are actually quite fine and for being stuck in a container thats gone everywhere and on a plane as well, they don't have any scratches. Even I can't scratch it. Maybe I'm lucky? Lol.

Thank you so much for the advice. *headdesk* Hopefully they are still fine, and I'll know next time when I do the next batch. XD

 

[Rin]

You know.. now that I'm looking around at pictures.. it makes me wary that this is even gypsum at all. The only clue I had to go on was a sign that talked about alot of the rocks at this particular beach. However, they are all quite similar. They are kind of translucent, and are quite white. Would them being at a beach (that is connected to the ocean, so its salt water) make them harder? Or possibly even a different colour as well?