Glass stopper removal

[timmy]

Hello All, I have a small Larkin Co. perfume that I found. The glass stopper is stuck. Would like to get it out so I can clean the bottle. Have tried WD 40 etc.. but no luck. Scared to put to much pressure on it for fear of breaking it off! Any suggestions! Thanks in advance, Timmy.

 

[Bixel]

Try leaving WD-40 or something similar soaking around the top for a week or two. I have a couple bottles that I never did get the stopper out of. Sometimes it just becomes impossible.

 

[surfaceone]

Hey Timmy,

Those Larkin's stoppers seem to wanna stay in there sometimes. If you Search "stuck stopper" on the forum you should see some methods you might use.

From.

 

[epackage]

Soaking it in WD40 is a good idea, I have had good luck with running bottles under slightly wamr water while rotating the bottle. The warmer water should help expand the glass slightly allowing you to remove the stopper...

 

[JOETHECROW]

Yes,...be careful...I've removed many stuck stoppers successfully, but here's one that didn't quite survive the process...While exerting pressure on the stopper and gently trying to turn it, the bottle actually cracked, not the stopper. (Although it's usually the stopper) [8|] Original contents are still inside.[]

 

[JOETHECROW]

*

 

[madpaddla]

Yes the having warm water running over the neck and lip of the bottle have given pretty good results. Let soak in the warm water if needed.

 

[AntiqueMeds]

Best method I have found so far is to hold the bottle upsidedown over a towel and tap the neck/stopper with a wooden spoon handle (or wooden dowel) while rotating the bottle. It takes a while to losen it. It has worked on a couple perfume bottles.

 

[timmy]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Will keep trying to get the stopper out.

 

[mctaggart67]

Pour water into an empty tin can or other similar container to a depth of an inch or two. Turn your problem bottle upside down and submerge it into the water so that the water level goes to the shoulder of the inverted bottle. Let the bottle stand like this for a day and then see if the stopper comes out. The capillary action should draw the water into the space, as miniscule as it is, between the stopper and the bottle neck and slowly dissolve whatever is sticking the stopper. You may have to wait a few days, but this process is pretty reliable and reduces the risk of breaking the stopper or bottle to almost zero. I recently bought a large collection of apothecary jars and removed the jambed up stoppers from about 30 of the bottles using this technique. Only one stubborn fellow wouldn't cooperated, making my success rate with this method clock in at 96%. By the way, when you remove the upside down bottle from the can or container, make sure you secure the stopper with your finger before you right the bottle.