DO NOT BOIL ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lupin

Yo Mdel! Glad to see you here, dude.

phrazelle

wow i just boiled 4 rocks i found in a creek for about 30 min. i came to check if i should be adding bleach or if 30 min was enough without and read this post. oooooooookkkkkaaaaayyyyy wont be doing that again...

Kim

If you need an alternative to clean rocks found outside you could do what I did although it's a bit of work.
Scrub the rocks clean, then just put them in a bucket and repeatedly pour boiling water over them - and I mean repeatedly. It takes forever (and you need to be sure that you got every part of each rock) but it will kill any nasties without risking bleach or blowing yourself up! Obviously, since the rock itself never reaches the boiling point, this method is completely safe.

Everdai

you can boil your rocks, the only reason they will explode is if they are boiled rapidly. its the same concept of pouring hot water onto a frozen windshield or submersing hot metal. they WILL all explode, warp, crack, whatever, if you take a cool or cold one and rapidly boil it, if you increase the heat very slowly (giving the rock time to slowly heat up all the way to the center) and then finally bring it to a slow boil, you'll be fine, you just have to be patient and heat very slowly is all. just think about it, it's common sense, rapid temperature changes make all kinds of materiel's go whack. water meeting water is NOT explosive, it's all about the temperature changes and the rate at which they change.

onefish2fish

although i see what you are saying, i disagree. first off we are not talking about the rock itself but rather water that could be trapped inside which you will have no way of knowing.

if water that is trapped inside a rock is heated at any rate it will build up pressure causing explosion, no questions asked.

Everdai

well if what you're saying was true then i guess we'd be seeing rocks exploding every time there was a climate change...
i'm sorry, i know this thread was made with the best of intentions but it's simply not true, and even common sense says that this is not true.
you cannot honestly believe that adding liquid to a rock makes it an unexploded bomb.
slowly heating a rock that has soaked up liquids will not make it explode.
if this were true rocks would be exploding all of the time in places such as texas, where it rains often, and then the next day temperatures raise well above 100, and in direct sunlight on black roadtops, literally hot enough to cook eggs, i've seen this i don't know how many times, and i have yet to see an exploding rock.
gradually heat them, they won't explode. if you're really paranoid, leave them out in your house for awhile and let them get to room temp, then maybe put them next to a heater or fire and let them warm up.

to be clear i am not sayign that rocks will not explode, they will, i've seen it, but only when heated rapidly. i'm not to sure about the effects that have been talked about on here that make it sound like a grenade going off, i doubt that. but i have started several campfires with old wet rocks under the ashes that have exploded, although all it added up to was a loud sound and some ash flying around, but i wouldn't say its not possible. all i'm saying is that i do not believe that SLOWLY heating the rock will cause an explosion

onefish2fish

i dont think you fully understand the concept.

moist/wet/soaked rocks are not the debating issue.(the ones that have water on and in the nooks and crannies) its rocks that have either air pockets or water pockets on the inside which is undetectible. correct, rapid heat will basically equal quick explosion but regardless any heat at any rate is heat which in turn will eventually make it build up enough pressure to explode.
even if the explosion is small, what if a tiny frag flies up and finds your eye? is boiling a rock worth this? chances are slim but the risk is there, i think its better safe then sorry.

soaking a rock in vinegar, scrubbing, then soaking in water then scrubbing then soaking in water is prob. the safest way to do this. if you wish to boil your rocks that is your choice but this thread was made to warn you of what can happen. again i feel its better to be safe then sorry. a rock just isnt worth injury IMO.

Everdai

ok i guess, i'm sure once in ten thousand times it happens.
eating hamburgers, driving to work, and breathing the air in moderate to highly populated cities is definitely more likely to kill or injure you, but i guess this is worth mentioning.

coldplaying

oh man!! I've never personally boiled rocks, but this is good to know! Although, if there are SOME rocks that can be boiled and some that cannot, it might be a good idea for someone to post a list of the types that fall into each category. That might be a lengthy process, however.

iamntbatman

Just play it safe and don't boil any rocks. Seriously. As onefish2fishsaid, any sort of water trapped inside the rock could build up pressure once it hits boiling and presto! explosion. Any sort of rock is capable of doing this. As someone who used to ignorantly take joy in tossing river rocks in campfires for the ensuing explosion, I can tell you that it's not just "one in a million" but pretty much impossible to avoid for a rock that has been soaked in water. And, I've seen plenty of rocks used to build campfire rings explode as well, even ones that hadn't been submerged in years. It's just not worth the risk.

The water pouring method Kim described is simply a better choice as it has zero chance of causing your rocks to explode.