Cleanning stones

I purchased several pieces of various stone from a local gem &
mineral show on which pricing had been done with a permanent marker.
I cannot remove it–Rio Grande suggested you might have the answer.

Many thanks.

I have successfully removed permanent marker with acetone.

Pat

A soak in denatured alcohol, available at your local hardware store,
should remove the ink. The other solution is more costly and not so
easy to come by, Methyl Chloride. Caution should be used on any
stones you suspect might be died as the die could be leached from
the stone.

Best of luck, David

Try Denatured Alcohol. Be sure to use rubber gloves and adequate
ventilation.

Rick Copeland
Silversmith and Lapidary Artisan
Colorado Springs, Colorado
http://home.covad.net/~rcopeland/

Hi if acetone (nail polish remover) does not work try shout it out
wipes. I used to take permanent marker off of collector toys this
way.

or you can always use an emery board and sand it off lol

America’s Only cameo Artist
www.cameoartist.com

What kind of stones are they and are they polished or rough?

Greg DeMark
email: greg@demarkjewelry.com
Website: www.demarkjewelry.com
Custom Jewelry - Handmade Jewelry - Antique Jewelry

On this same idea - some of the materials I’m getting lately feel
like they have been coated with wax or paraffin (specifically that
bad boy, Ching hai “jade”, which is an un-jade.) Has anyone else
seen this? How can I remove it without scouring? Is there a
relatively innocuous solvent? Thanks.

Tas
http://www.earthlywealth.com/

some of the materials I'm getting lately feel like they have been
coated with wax or paraffin (specifically that bad boy, Ching hai
"jade", which is an un-jade.)  Has anyone else seen this?  How can
I remove it without scouring? 

Be aware that once the waxy stuff is removed, you may be
disappointed in the appearance of the stone. The waxy stuff may have
been applied to disguise a porous surface which will not polish
without some sort of treatment.

Lee Einer
Dos Manos Jewelry
http://www.dosmanosjewelry.com

I always find that baby wipes works best on permanent markers.

  Be aware that once the waxy stuff is removed, you may be
disappointed in the appearance of the stone. 

I sort of suspected that. I just want to get enough off that it
doesn’t feel icky to the touch.

Tas
www.earthlywealth.com

Tas,

Be careful what you wish for…it may be a dud! Many natural
stones, especially the jaspers, have small pits or grainy surfaces.
The former usually are small vugs with crystals in them or pithy
areas in the stone. These will often not polish though the remainder
of the stone may be very beautiful. The grainy surfaces may be
simply because the stone is not sufficiently compact…much of the
cheaper lapis lazuli…even jades often show this characteristic.
Sometimes a cutter will ‘seal’ the stone with opticon resin or even
a thinned epoxy but aother very common method is to ‘wax’ it.
Common paraffin is often used but more descerning cutters use whale
wax. This wax originates from the sperm whale and, when properly
applied to a stone, will last a very long time. Natural whale wax is
harder to find than hens teeth these days however, and a synthetic
is available that comes close. Carnuba wax is also used a
lot…there is a version used to wax guitars that does a pretty
fair job.

Should you remove any of these treatments, your stone will probably
never look the same. Personally, when I cut a stone with a vug or
pits, I leave it natural…that is what Mother Nature intended. If
its pithy, I cut away the area…“better a smaller perfect stone
that a large inperfect one”. If its grainy, I might seal it but
will then declare the treatment.

If you insist…try soaking in acetone first or, if no luck, alcohol
or gently heating the stone. If none of these work, you might try
resurfacing and polishing. Otherwise, I would call it 'leaverite’
and look for something else.

Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry! @coralnut2

    I sort of suspected that.  I just want to get enough off that
it doesn't feel icky to the touch. 

Interesting that the material discussed here is a non-jade of
Chinese origin. The Chinese have been wax-treating Jadeite for
centuries also. Usually, the polished stone is dipped in hot wax,
then buffed. Perhaps a light application to a clean buff will
“un-ickify” your stones. Maybe hand-buffing on a scrap piece of
denim or canvas would work even better. My thought is that this may
remove the heaviest concentration of the wax without ruining the
finish.

James in SoFl

If your stone has a smooth surface you might try something I
discovered quite by accident. Why it worked, I don’t know, but work
it did. On a dry erase board (smooth surface) someone had used a
permanent black marker that we couldn’t get off. I took a dry erase
marker and scribbled across it, and it dissolved the permanent marks,
and when wiped off with the eraser, no trace of the permanent marker
was left behind. Whether this will work on smooth stone, I don’t
know, but it shouldn’t hurt the stone. I would try it on a small bit
of the unwanted mark first just to see if it works or makes matters
worse.

Betty

You might try cleaning the stone and then re-wax it with Renaissance
wax which dries hard and clear. It is a little pricey but you will
use it for years. I use it on all my silver pieces as a tarnish
retarder.

Bill from L.I.