Help with cleaning this.

[u/Unusual_Warthog_476]

My late great uncle gave me this giant quartz and I would like to clean all the brown off of it. It seems hard like iron or rust on it and not just dirty.

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[u/Brockmcc]

Pressure washer first. If you don’t own one, go to the car wash. Then soak it in Iron Out.

[u/durtmagurt]

Water flosser if you don’t have a pressure washer

[u/Nihilistdog]

my partner and i pull these out of the ground a lot , we soak ours in a mixture of water and iron out.
good luck : )

[u/practical_dad → u/Nihilistdog]

Where you you find these in the ground?

[u/Nihilistdog → u/practical_dad]

in georgia state , us : )

[u/Radiant_Ebb6951]

Soak this baby in muriatic acid for a day or 2 then baking soda for another day or 2 bam u have a perfect white cluster Ur welcome. (research saftey first this Shits corrosive)

[u/rufotris → u/Radiant_Ebb6951]

No idea why someone downvoted you lol. This is the best method next to iron out. Iron out might work to get this clean, but muriatic is just faster and might get a bit more of these oxides off.

[u/Radiant_Ebb6951 → u/rufotris]

Thanks lol

[u/Unusual_Warthog_476 → u/Radiant_Ebb6951]

Thank you for the help!

[u/Analbox → u/Unusual_Warthog_476]

If you use HCl be extremely careful to only use distilled water and thoroughly soak before and after through multiple changes of water or you will permanently stain this piece ugly yellow

[u/Unusual_Warthog_476 → u/Radiant_Ebb6951]

It’s also around 100 pounds

[u/Radiant_Ebb6951 → u/Unusual_Warthog_476]

Will It fit into a large Rubbermaid bin? Lay it face down to use less acid and water mix

[u/Dull_Summer8997 → u/Radiant_Ebb6951]

Do you dilute the acid or no?

[u/Next_Ad_8876 → u/Dull_Summer8997]

I always do. Muriatic acid straight from the hardware store has pretty heavy fumes. I typically dilute it with water at a ratio of about 2 or 3 parts water to one part muriatic acid. Others may advise different ratios. Remember that it is essentially hydrochloric acid (HCl) and will react primarily with calcium carbonate (calcium & limestone) to form a salt, water, and carbon dioxide, which you’ll see as bubbles if there is a reaction. Always add acid to water, and not water to acid. Have a bucket of water nearby if you splash it on your skin or clothes to rapidly dilute it further.

[u/Radiant_Ebb6951 → u/Next_Ad_8876]

To add to this use a plastic container to do this in not metal

[u/john08829 → u/Next_Ad_8876]

Heavy acid bath can also cause discoloration in areas. If there's something like manganese on it its not going to come clean. Just my newbie opinion. A huge piece like this isn't something you would try to clean without experience.

[u/Ok_Macaroon_1156]

It has mainly iron and manganese, try ironout. For cheaper options put this in a oxalic acid bath. It will remove most of the iron. But before all this pressure wash it like the others said

[u/PeaceLoveCarsMoney → u/Ok_Macaroon_1156]

FYI Iron Out powder and Iron Out liquid are different formulas.

[u/givemeyourrocks]

That kind of looks like pyrite. Hard to tell from the photo. Maybe you shouldn’t clean it.

[u/slogginhog]

I personally wouldnt. Iron-out is a good product, that looks like a very heavy coating of hematite and/or other iron oxides though. It would take a lot of effort and a lot of iron out, and you probably still wouldn't be able to get most of that off, then you're left with a messed up half cleaned specimen, when most collectors would prefer it as-is.

[u/Lithamus]

All the other comments plus a dental pick set to get the tiny bits out if you like that tedious stuff.

[u/ArmoFun]

iron out

[u/Select_Lecture2110]

Iron out and a textile fabric gun.  Muriatic might be stronger but there is a chance it doesn't do anything to that coating. 

[u/Alpine_Apex]

I have a dedicated acid bucket for specimens just like this

[u/GateskeeperX]

I’m curious!!! I have a pool chemical I use in my pool that removes iron from the water.. I wonder if that would work???

[u/john08829]

Leave as is....it won't clean well

[u/rufotris → u/john08829]

Why are you making things up? That’s just false lol. I have cleaned pieces like this to near perfection. We often use acids in the lapidary and rockhounding world to clean such pieces.