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 #2080864


Breezie5353
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 Rock question

i collected some rocks over the weekend to make some new hides for my uros. i got them out of a crik/gully thing in the woods. they are mostly sandstone but i also have a couple slate roofing tiles. i scrubbed them all w/ hot water and a stiff brush and let them air dry. do i need to bleach them or bake them or anything, or will they be fine as is?



10/06/09  09:17am

 #2080913


Mbwrink
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   Message To: Breezie5353   In reference to Message Id: 2080864


 Rock question

It certainly does not hurt to bleach and bake them however with sand stone being rather porous and water retaining, I don’t know if you can bake them safely without blowing open from the release of moisture. The same problem happens with soap stone because it is soft and porous.



10/06/09  12:35pm

 #2081078


Breezie5353
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   Message To: Mbwrink   In reference to Message Id: 2080913


 Rock question

yea, i certainly dont need any explosions in my oven! and i also dont want them to absorb bleach and not be able to get it all thoroughly rinsed.
10/06/09  06:41pm

 #2081135


Mbwrink
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   Message To: Breezie5353   In reference to Message Id: 2081078


 Rock question

Try another disinfectant like Quaternary Ammonium Salts. Very effective broad spectrum but at concentrations very low to make safe with human/animal use. Wipe Out has them as the active ingredients but you can get some as cleaning agent from the grocery store if you bother to look up the compounds that qualify and make sure it has them, just do not use anything that has Ammonium in its regular form as Ammonium Hydroxide.
10/06/09  07:59pm

 #2081166


Sahells Mom
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   Message To: Mbwrink   In reference to Message Id: 2081135


 Rock question

Sandstone isn’t good in the enclosure, anyway! It is like sandpaper, and takes skin off. Put the other in the oven at like 250 for a couple of hours. Same with anything wood you plan to put in.
10/06/09  08:49pm

 #2081324


Sugar Snap Pea
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   Message To: Mbwrink   In reference to Message Id: 2081135


 Rock question

For a list of stone cleaning solutions (ie. disinfectants)...
http://www.stonecaretechniques.com/38.htm

Most of them are pH neutral, alkali and acid free. Some of them are rinse free like Marbalex which I found for $7 a bottle in a neighborhood tile store. Even if it’s rinse free, I would rinse with water for the uro just an extra precautionary step.

So far, I have been using lots of boiling water to sterilize found rocks all this while, after a good scrub in hot water. In my experience, it’s been just as effective in killing germs etc.



10/07/09  09:09am


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