Spring is here! Let’s go through a spring-cleaning checklist fit for a geo-enthusiast. 

Best Ways to Clean your Collection

Spring cleaning on its own can be daunting, but it’s downright maddening for rock, mineral, and fossil collectors. So, how do we go about this yearly ritual without losing our minds?

Tools and techniques:

• Dusters are often too big or get stuck to stuff, so makeup brushes are the way to go! Their diverse shapes allow for both broad dusting and detailed crevice cleaning.

• Use a soft toothbrush to remove tougher debris from coarse rocks. Try brushing dry at first, then consider wetting the toothbrush if you need more scrubbing power.

• Water can be an effective tool, but use it cautiously on certain rocks and minerals. Rinse specimens under a faucet to remove dust, or soak in soapy water to loosen stubborn dirt.

• For those hard-to-reach places, or while cleaning especially delicate specimens, you can’t go wrong with a can of compressed air. Blow away!

Fun Fact: These same cleaning methods work well for Lego sets, too! I learned about the makeup brush hack on TikTok and thought it would work great for my rock collection.

Dust busting tips:

1. Using display cases or cabinets with glass doors can significantly reduce dust buildup. Ensure doors are easy to open and close to avoid knocking collectibles over.

2. Floating frames are a great way to display small, flatter specimens and keep them totally out of dust’s way.

3. Keep your collection away from high-traffic areas, open windows, or vents, all of which can stir up dust.

4. Yeah, it’s “spring cleaning” and all, but one month of dust is surely easier to clean off than one year of dust. Start a monthly cleaning routine!

Special considerations:

• Know your specimens: Always research the specimen before deciding on a cleaning method. Certain minerals like pyrite are reactive with water; wetting can lead to surface tarnishing. Porous or permeable rocks are prone to cracking when drying from a point of saturation.

• Age isn’t just a number: Be mindful that these things are millions of years old, and it would be a darn shame to ruin them just for the sake of spring cleaning. Take extra care so they’ll be beautiful for eons to come!

A message from AAPG & AAPG Foundation

Submit Now: Sustainable Energy Development Competition 2024

Proposals for this year’s SDEC, which focuses on using energy and geosciences to help improve life around the world, will be accepted through 30 April.

Proposed projects must:

• Cover aspects of extraction, processing, consumption, or disposal of components of the energy chain
• This can be involving (but not limited to) oil, gas, solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, nuclear, or critical energy minerals
• Have an impact on sustainable development objectives

Read more about requirements, judging, and prizes here.

Give Your Old Field Gear a New Life

Got field gear lying around that you’re not using? Whether you’ve outgrown the gear or outgrown the job you used it for, here’s what to do to minimize clutter, reduce waste, and benefit young geoscientists.

Option 1: Sell online

• Listing on online marketplaces such as eBay, Poshmark, Facebook, and OfferUp allows people to search for your items specifically by style, brand, and size.

• Include keywords like “geology” or “geologist” in your listing title to make it easier for the right people to find. One pair of secondhand field pants I bought was listed as “pants for woman geologist,” and I couldn’t be happier with them!

Option 2: Trade them in

• Plenty of outdoor brands offer trade-in programs to recycle old items and/or resell items in good condition. Either way, your gear is saved from a landfill!

• Brands that have these types of programs, that you also may have in your closet, include Patagonia, North Face, and REI. Keep in mind, they might not pay for items that don’t fit the resell criteria, but even rejected items get recycled.

Option 3: Donate … to a university!

• Before chucking everything into a random donation bin, consider contacting a local geoscience department to create or expand a gear stockpile for underprivileged students.

• Geoscience students often struggle to find and afford quality clothing and gear required for their field trips. Being unprepared in the field hinders their ability to learn and may deter them from completing their degree.

The bottom line:

• As geoscientists, our strength lies in collaboration, not fancy new gear. Just as we share data and information, we should also share our tools, including pre-loved clothing, shoes, and equipment.

• For me, there’s something so charming about wearing someone’s old dirt-stained pants or sun-faded hat; it makes me feel more in touch with our field and the things we accomplish together.

While You’re At It…

 Woodsnorthphoto/ Shutterstock.com

Since you’re already in the spring-cleaning groove, you might feel up to finally tackling the more challenging tasks you’ve been putting off—or ones you might not have even considered.

Here’s your personal to-do list:

✅ Empty your car of forgotten finds

• Before you bring your car in for a much-needed wash and vacuum, take out the rocks you’ve collected from roadsides, parking lots, and geological expeditions.

• Wait… do you remember where you picked that one up?

✅ Catalog your collection

• It may be harder for long-ago acquisitions, but if you’ve recently collected anything and remember where it came from, it’s a good idea to label it sooner rather than later.

• All you need is some white paint, a sharpie, and a notebook or spreadsheet. If you’re going the digital route, take pictures, too!

✅ Digitize your field notes

• Digitizing your collection is easy enough, but this task requires a bit more effort. Sit down with your field notebook and type up your notes in a Word document. Take pictures of the drawings and add them in, too.

• Make separate documents for different dates, projects, and locations. Servers like Google Drive make it easy to search your notes later or share them with colleagues who would have never been able to read your chicken scratch handwriting.

It was so much fun writing this week’s newsletter that I’m actually starting to feel motivated to get some of this stuff done myself! I have to be honest: I have rocks in my collection that I haven’t dusted since I put them on display as a baby geology student seven years ago …. “Do as I say, not as I do” and all that. Happy spring and go dust your rocks!

Cate Larsen

Editor, GeoLifestyle

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