How to polish sea glass (and get rid of the salt)

Whilst we're on holiday I wanted to collect some shells and sea glass from the beaches of Wexford so as to make a picture of a beach scene when we get home.

I've been collecting shells from our Wexford holidays for the last 10 years, but I am determined to get something actually made with them this year!!

I have in mind a felted beach scene in a box frame with the shells and small pebbles at the bottom of the frame.... however, whether I manage to actually make it remains to be seen!

Now, for the sea glass. I've seen some amazing things (Pictures & jewellery mainly) made from sea glass but I've never really managed to find much. But this week we went to a stonier beach (we usually favour the beautiful sandy beaches that are so wonderful around here) and my husband and one of his cousins' sons were brilliant at spotting the sea glass. So I came home with this little collection:

But I'm not keen on the salt residue left on them, obscuring the gorgeous colours and natural shininess of the glass.

So first I washed them in plain water... they looked fine and shiny, until they dried out. And then the salt returned. So next I tried soaking them in lemon juice.... thinking that the acid in the lemon would strip away the salt. But still no luck:

PIC

So finally I thought I'd try the other thing that was nudging at the back of my mind... oil. The only oil I could readily find at my Mother-In-Law's was olive oil, so I put a small amount onto a couple of pieces of kitchen roll and rubbed the sea glass over the patches of oil.

And, once dry.... voila!

Hurrah!

The piece I'm most keen on is the piece of safety glass, which is the one with the metal (Iron?) inside the glass, to toughen it. I think the sea glass will be made into a separate picture... hopefully of a fish if I can organise the pieces into a fishy shape!