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I've been cleaning pottery shards wrong for months
I was working on some Roman pieces from a dig near Pompeii and kept getting weird white crust on them after drying. My professor saw me just using a stiff brush under running water and said the minerals in our tap water were leaving deposits. She told me to switch to distilled water for the final rinse, and the difference was clear right away. Has anyone else run into this with finds from volcanic soil sites?
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wyattramirez10d ago
Had the EXACT same problem with some Byzantine sherds from a site in Turkey. The local water was just full of junk. My fix was doing the main clean with tap but then using a big jug of store-bought distilled water for three good soaks and a final rinse. It was a total game changer, no more chalky film. Your professor is spot on.
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