cleaning

[grouse hunter]

hi all, new to the forum and this my first post. i became interested in old bottles in a roundabout way. as my name implies i'm a grouse hunter and as such my quarry takes me into some pretty out of the way places. the first bottle i ever found was in a personal dump close to an old farm. whenever i come onto an old abandoned homestead i start looking for the dump, mostly in a ravine not far from the house. as my finds increased the one problem i had was cleaning them up. i discovered that the commercial cleaning liquid "CLR" [calcium, lime, rust] does a great job for me. i just soak them over night and if they're not clean another soaking will usually do the job. this is an enjoyable site, i really enjoy it.

 

[Roger]

Welcome to Antique-Bottles.Net grouse hunter !!

 

[TSUNK]

WHERE CAN YOU BUY THE ''CLR'' I HAVE HAVE TRIED SEVERAL CLEANING SOLUTIONS AND NONE OF THEM WORK. THANKS
TOM

 

[Fruit Jars]

Grouse Hunter, do you dilute the CLR or do you use it straight.

 

[grouse hunter]

i bought mine at "lowes". i just pour the liquid in the botle undiluted and pour from one bottle to another until it becomes badly discolored at which time i discard it. to use on the outsice i put them in a shallow plastic pan, dilute with water about half and let sit as long as it takes. i've also brushed with a brass brush.

 

[diginit]

Howdy Youall,
If you go back a few pages or so in this forum all your questions will be answered.
I wouldn't recommend using anything metal to clean glass. Nylon is the best.
I've found listerine really can safely clean most stains. But I use a 4 to 1 mix
of water and muratic acid. This is dangerous and extreme caution must be used
with this method.

 

[digdug]

I have found that Oxyclean really works well on tough stains. BUT- I have also noticed if there is any small flea bites or flaw in the glass it can make them larger. I guess all the oxygen being released builds up pressure in small holes. I've used it on 1960's and 1970's soda bottles and the No Deposit bottles with sucsess.
Also-I found some "Gardening" liquid hand soap. Helps remove tree sap from hands, etc. really gets any residue out of bottles.

 

[slimdigger]

Some of the chemicals work very well on removing dirt, rust stain , original contents, ect. No over the counter remedy will work on removing mineral staining. The stain is actually a chemical reaction to the glass and the only way to remove it safely is through tumbling. I have posted a typical dump dug bottle. The high mineral content in ash and lime seems to do a number on the glass. I will post another picture of the bottle after tumbling to show the results. It is very impotant to discuss what type of stains we are trying to remove in order to really assess what products are working. The Listerine and Denture cleaner does a great job on content stain and leaves the bottle smelling nice. It is also safer than most chemicals out there. Lime Away and CLR work very well on Rust Stains on ACL bottles and do not hurt the Applied Label. Slimdigger

 

[idigjars]

This bottle would look great after running through a bottle tumbler. Check out the machines by the JarDoctor. I have seen alot of bottles that were run through his machines, they look like brand new. []

 

[farwell]

Hello where do you find a bottle tumbler and how do they work?