# Preserving Sand Dollars



## deabic (Mar 20, 2007)

I have sand dollars that I've collected over the years.  I've kept them in a plastic container.  Now I'd like to display them, but they are so fragile, I'm afraid they will break.  Has anyone tried anything successful to make them more stable?


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## SherryS (Mar 20, 2007)

I've "painted" them with a slightly diluted Elmer's Glue (or any white glue).  Seems to help a little. Have also used that spray-on clear coat on a few.


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## Don (Mar 21, 2007)

The Shell Factory in Ft. Myers, FL makes a Sand Dollar Hardener.  It seems to be watered down Elmer's, at least, that was my impression.  Our bottle cost $2.99 for 6 oz (4 years ago).  You can call 1-888-4shells and possibly get some by mail.  We used it on the sand dollarsthat are ornaments for the Christmas tree we put on our lanai.  We haven't broken one yet in 4 years.


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## JLB (Mar 21, 2007)

Did you know the Shell Factory was originally in Bonita Springs?  It was sorta the last stop going south on old US 41.

This thread topic has me laughing every time I see it. I/we have been going to SW FL for 30 years, and have never been heavy into _shelling_.

Two years ago another couple started going with us and one day they came back from the beach with dozens and dozens of sand dollars, which they had dug out of the sand as the waves uncovered them.  I know live shelling is a big no-no, so I had to shoot my mouth off about how do they know they were not live?

The next year we spent a week at Lahaina Inn, and, sure enough, there was a newspaper article about a couple who had been fined $50 _*per sand dollar*_!  So I had them make me a copy and I gave it to our friends.

Now every now and then we will be doing something, out to dinner or something, and outta the blue, she will start talking about how she knows they were not live sand dollars.  I just laugh, like I am now.  it's topic that will not go away!

We have a week in Grand Cayman, a week at Siesta Key and a week on Sanibel coming up with them and I can already hear her!

Anyway, she preserved them with a sealant spray, and used them in decorating a beauty salon.

I believe we have a keeper full of them around somewhere, but we don't talk about it.  




Don said:


> The Shell Factory in Ft. Myers


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## deabic (Mar 22, 2007)

Thanks for the ideas.

I remember the Shell Factory.  I lived in Fort Myers and then Cape Coral in the mid 80s.  I always loved going there!


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## Don (Mar 22, 2007)

JLB said:


> I/we have been going to SW FL for 30 years, and have never been heavy into _shelling_.



Actually, I'm more into Sharktoothing. And not only on the beach, I look for them anytime I'm walking around a shell parking lot or walkways.  I found six in the shell walkways of our development's Learning Garden and a couple of 1 1/4" long teeth in my neighbor's yard which is shell rather than grass


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## JLB (Mar 24, 2007)

Our friends our visiting this weekend and she made a point of showing me her earrings.  Guess what they are?   

She says she dips them in resin to preserve them.  



JLB said:


> Now every now and then we will be doing something, out to dinner or something, and outta the blue, she will start talking about how she knows they were not live sand dollars.  I just laugh, like I am now.  it's topic that will not go away!


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## Jollyhols (Mar 25, 2007)

When I last collected Sand Dollars in Sarasota, I thought the live ones had a brown fuzzy texture on the underneath and so I threw them as far as I could back into the ocean so they were not disturbed.  I only kept the pure white ones, which looked pretty dead to me.  Perhaps someone can confirm what a live one looks like.  I also threw a live conch back because I never intentionally kill any animal.  However, I suspect that the shops selling shells don't wait until the animals are dead before collecting their shells?

Mine are still in Epcot popcorn buckets awaiting lacquering or something to make them stronger so I think I will try some of the tips on this thread!


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## Makai Guy (Mar 25, 2007)

Monterrey Bay Aquarium page re Sand Dollars:
http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/living_species/default.asp?hOri=1&inhab=143

See photo of live sand dollars.

Current wikipedia article on sand dollars:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_dollar

Current version has several photos.


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## Jollyhols (Mar 25, 2007)

Thanks for that.  I can now with confidence say that I indeed have picked up a live Sand Dollar by mistake and subsequently put it back unharmed.


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