Cleaning Gunk Inside Bottles?

[RIBottleguy]

I'm pretty sure most of you have had the experience. You dig up a bottle and the inside is coated with this lovely sticky goo. Hot water, soap, and copper pellets are of no avail. Your cleaning brushes get covered with the stuff.
My first question would be "what is it?" and of course, How do you dispose of the nasty stuff.
I have a nice early hinge molded medicine I want to clean, so I can't use anything hot. If I don't get any suggestions I'll just break out the sulfuric acid []

 

[medbotls]

Hey. I still swear by sudsy ammonia. I've used it on several "mystery goos", with good results. You do need patience though. Sometimes it just softens the stuff enough that you can get globs of it stuck to a coat hanger, then pull it out that way. Careful not to scratch your bottle with the coat hanger! Sulfuric is great for eating up anything organic, but it generates a LOT of heat in the process, the fumes are dangerous, and the result is corrosive goo instead of just goo.

 

[morbious_fod]

I ran into one of these a while back. It was a 1943 Pepsi-Cola Fountain Syrup bottle from Princeton, WVA. It had this sap like goo in it and it kept sticking to my brushes, so I tried the cut copper idea, larger sized pieces actually about 1/8" to 1/4" and after much shaking cleaning the copper in goo gone and shaking again, and again, and again, it actually all came out and I found myself with a mint condition bottle. Keep at it and good luck.

 

[madman]

i say soak soak soak it will break down! ive used many things! for goo... ive had luck with pine sol let it soak for a week ,

 

[buriedtreasuretime]

I'm a fan of luke warm or tepid water and Clorox , five parts water to one of Clorox . Let it soak overnight or for two days and you will be surprised. patients is a virtue too!

 

[atdadump]

sometimes good ol gasoline takes the black tar away, fill it and let it sit for a while in a safe outside location. then use a old brush. use eye protection!

 

[RedGinger]

A little water and some cat litter might help. Try doing it twice and shake really hard. After that, you might try some baking soda and water. If you have some kosher salt, pour a bunch of that and a little water in and shake, rinse and repeat. Have you tried CLR or The Works?

 

[bottle_head9]

I had an original master ink with a good solid inch of dried black ink.I didn`t want to go to the hardware store.I used nail polish remover with foil over the top of the bottle.It took about a week.I think I changed the remover onece or twice.I also took a wooded dowel and loosened the gunk up during the week long peroiod.Patience is key.The bottle came out gorgeous in the end.The foil is so the remover doesn`t evaporate.