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Many people enjoy collecting pretty rocks because they’re just so appealing. You might even collect them from various places that you visit to help you remember your travels.

These rocks can be made even more beautiful by polishing them. The most common way to polish them is to place them in a tumbler so that they can be turned into smooth, shiny rocks.

However, not everyone owns a tumbler, and this might mean that you won’t be able to use the easiest method. If you still have rocks that you want to polish, then what are you supposed to do?

Continue reading to learn how you can polish your rocks without a tumbler. You should be able to find at least one or two methods that will be appealing to you.

Understand That Not All Rocks Will Become Shiny

Before moving forward, it’s going to be important to know that not all rocks become shiny after being polished. If you picked up some rocks and are hoping to make them pretty and shiny, you’ll need to make sure that they’re the right kind first.

Rocks such as agates, jaspers, tiger eyes, and aventurines will be perfect for turning into shiny rocks. Just do a bit of research on the type that you have so that you won’t be disappointed with the results.

There are many that will simply not be worthwhile to polish. Sandstone is the best example.

Clean the Rocks First

It’s going to be practical to clean the rocks before you get started with polishing them. This can make your job a lot easier since it’s likely that they’re a little dirty if you just collected them.

Simply get a bucket and fill it with warm water. Then put some dish soap in the water to form a sudsy mixture that you can use to clean the rocks.

Place the rocks in the bucket of soapy water and then start scrubbing them. It’s likely going to be best to use an old toothbrush to get the job done.

If some of the rocks that you’re cleaning are quite large, you might have better luck with a scrubbing brush. Either way, you should be able to clean them up nicely.

It’s a good idea to allow them to soak in the soapy water for a bit. This can make some of the dirt and grime loosen up so that it’ll be easier to scrub off.

You Can Grind the Stones

Grinding the stones is going to allow you to polish them nicely. The best way to go about doing this is to use some type of rotary tool.

Sometimes these tools are called dremel tools. Once you have what you need, it’s going to be time to start grinding the stones and shaping them.

You’ll be able to use the tool to grind off the sharp edges of the stones. You can turn jagged rocks into smooth, shiny ones with enough work.

Spending a bit of time grinding the stones is highly recommended. It’ll make sanding the rocks a lot easier overall and you’ll be pleased with the results.

Just try not to rush things while you’re grinding the rocks. Do your best to shape them how you want them to because you’ll truly be defining the rocks during this step of the process.

Sand the Rocks

Sanding the rocks is the next thing that you should do. To start, it’s recommended to use coarse-grain sandpaper, and you’re supposed to use water to moisten the paper.

Start sanding the rocks and try to smooth out the rough edges even further. Eventually, you’ll be able to make the rock completely rounded if you put in enough work.

It’s also possible to accomplish this using a dremel tool, but it’ll be easier to finish things off by using sandpaper. This process is not going to be fast, and it’ll require a lot of manual work.

Note that you will want to change the sandpaper that you’re using based on the type of rocks that you have. Some types are softer than others, and this means that you might need to use a less coarse type of sandpaper.

Continue sanding until you’re satisfied with their shape. They should be ready for the final polishing touches once you’re done.

Final Polishing Tips

You can do some final polishing work to give the rocks the best luster. Get some type of heavy fabric material such as denim so that you can finish polishing your rocks.

Just keep working on the rocks and polish them by hand. You can get decent results by just polishing them with the denim, but you might want to use a special product to kick things up a notch.

Buy commercial rock polish to get them to truly look the best that they can. Apply some of the rock polish and then use the denim cloth to keep polishing them by hand.

Eventually, you’ll have reached the desired result and you’ll need to allow the rock to dry. Do this for each of the rocks that you wish to polish.

After they’ve dried, you’ll be able to check them out to see if the results are to your liking. If you did everything as described above, you should be very happy with the overall look of the rocks.

Using a Tumbler Is Easier

Of course, it would be substantially easier to use a tumbler to get this job done. If you had one of those, you’d be able to accomplish all of this in a much shorter amount of time.

For some, it’ll be worthwhile to invest in one. If you love collecting rocks and polishing them, it’s not going to be a waste of money to get a tumbler.

However, you can also say that it isn’t completely necessary. The above methods prove that you have viable ways to polish rocks that don’t involve using one.

Anyone who wants to polish rocks will be able to do so even if they don’t have access to certain pieces of equipment. You could also see if you can borrow a tumbler if you happen to know anyone who owns one.

Final Thoughts

You have quite a few options when it comes to polishing rocks without a tumbler. It’s possible to use a combination of the methods above to get good results.

It’s also easy enough to leave out a few of the ideas and still polish the rocks perfectly fine. For example, you can polish them without using a dremel tool if you don’t have access to one.

Using only sandpaper to smooth the edges of the rocks will take a lot more time, though. So the practicality of the situation depends on your willingness to manually get the job done.

If you can sand the rocks down and shape them properly, you can start to do the fine detail work. This gives you the chance to truly make the rocks shine.

Buying rock polish is highly recommended when you’re looking to make them look shiny. Hopefully, you’ll be very pleased with your work and will be confident that you can keep polishing rocks this way in the future.

Ben Esman

Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.

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