How to Bleach Sand Dollars

Finding Sand Dollars while at the beach is always fun to do, just like searching for sea shells or looking for neat rocks. But natural Sand Dollars will rot and give off a nasty odor if not treated. So here is my instructable on how I treat/bleach a Sand Dollar.

If you want information on how to find Sand Dollars, do a quick google search and there will be hunndreds of links for you to research up on!

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Step 1: What you need:

Anything big enough to hold your Sand Dollars flat and be able to have a few inches of solution in the bottom, a bucket wil lwork perfect for this but you may also improvise wish any container.

Bleach, normal is fine but It just so happens I had scented laying around which will work perfect as well.

Something to dry them on: Paper towel, Cloth towel, anything will work.

The sun, It shouldn't be very hard to find a nice sunny spot for a couple of Sand Dollars to sunbathe.

Sand Dollars... Of course!

splazem says: Sep 4, 2011. 7:17 AM

Interesting!

Deadendshop34 says: Sep 2, 2011. 3:12 PM

When a sand dollar dies, its skeleton (called a test) will often wash onto shore. At times these tests appear with out the velvety coating and have been naturally bleached. If there appears to be fine hairs (called cilia) covering the body, and these hairs seem to move then you have a live sand dollar. Make sure you defiantly have a dead one because there are laws that prevents the public from taking any live plants or animals from state parks. In addition,municipalities may have their own laws. For example, Hilton Head Island forbids the removal of live sea creatures from the beaches, and officials have placed signs along the beaches that post the laws. It is up to the public to check with local government.

dimtick says: Aug 31, 2011. 11:18 AM

good instructable!
I've read that you shouldn't bleach your sand dollars for very long because it weakens them.
I have a bucket full of shells that my kids collected from our last trip to Florida (no sand dollars). I first soaked in 50/50 bleach water for 24 hours. I did this while still in Florida so that they wouldn't stink on the trip home. The bleach did a pretty good job but the shell are still discolored and still smell, although much much less.
I did a google search and came across this site. (it's got a section on sand dollars)
http://seashellsandlamps.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-clean-seashells-and-preserve.html

I'm using the first method and have buried my shells. they've been going for a couple weeks now. I'm going to leave them in there for a few more before digging them up. I'll let you know how it goes.