gowan wrote:
Shell stones come with a coating of wax which makes them feel so smooth. Possibly you removed the wax coating when you cleaned the stones. I think the wax might be available from Kuroki Goishi shop. Some kind of micro-crystaline wax, like Renaissance Wax might work. I doubt that buffing the stones without wax would help much.
I completely agree with Gowan.
The wax is at the origin of the smooth and shiny appearance of the white stones.
H2O2 treatment removed it while restoring and cleaning the surface.
The difference between H2O2 and soap is that the former is lightly acid and will attack the surface of the stone creating the microporosity (matt/frictioning sensation). The soap option will mostly remove dirt and wax with less acid effect.
I do not recall any suggestion about soaping white shell stones thought, it is usually said to buff them with some soft cloth (that have the effect of removing the dirt and shine again the wax by levelling it on the surface).
Anyway, Erythen's guide advise to apply wax again after H2O2 treatment (if I well remember, he suggest using carnauba wax, but microcrystalline is a good, possibly better option, as Gowan stated). After waxing you will again have your lustering white stones ...and they will be better protected too.
Galation