How do I get this tough film off the glass?

[creekwader]

On a recent trip down into a creek, I came up with about 50 bottles in various shapes, between 1 1/2 - 10 inches tall. They all have one thing in common, a hard film, possibly mineral deposits, brown in color. I took a shard with the film on it, and it took steel wool to get this stuff off. Is there a solution I can soak the bottles in to remove this hard film, and not damage the bottles?

 

[WhiteLighting]

oh -no- never use steel wool,the bottles might be very old and the wool could do some serious scratching!,
try using a 3 day soap bath,and if that dosent remove some of the gunk then use CLR or some lime away with copper beads or BB's and shake for a bit,.......
also hydro peroxide might remove the deposits in 24 hours,i worked for me a few times,but they still needed to be tumbled to remove the white calcium deposits......

 

[IRISH]

Welcome tothe forum creekwader.
The brown or black film on creek found bottles is mostly Manganese Oxide, it's precipatated on the glass by some sort of bacterial action apparently. Any Acid will remove it without much trouble, good old Hydrochloric is best but CLR will do fine too.

 

[swizzle]

Where do you find hydrocloric acid and how do you use it and dispose of it when your through with it?

 

[IRISH]

Most hardware shops or plumbers supply places will sell it, it's also sold under the old and incorrect name of muriatic acid. Disposal can be just tip it onto a patch of weeds and hose it down or neutralize it with lime or bi-carb of soda until it stops bubbling and tip it on your garden or down the sink.

 

[swizzle]

Thanx for the info on the tough film problem. I have another question though. When I went to walmart all I could find was hydrocloride. Is that the same as hydrocloric? I still have a tough white film that I'm determined to try to remove without tumbling. I soaked the inside of the bottle in clr all day and when I got home I tried using BB's and a small brush, neither seemed to work. Is there any brushes out there made to fit in a bottle with a small neck? Should I try sawing a toothbrush in half lengthwise? I see this as a possibility with drawbacks. The handle will only reach three quarters of the bottle. I'm guessing a wire brush would be a cleaning NO-NO. I'm going to try fine bird shot, whenever I can find my shotgun shells. Is my $5 bottle hopelessly lost to the sickness? Its not worth a tumble, I just want it for my personal collection. Swiz

 

[Gunsmoke47]

Hi Swiz, I'm sorry but yes it is. If your bottle is sick (the white, opalescent, flaking film) there is no household chemical that will get rid of it. There is only one acid that I know of that will take it off and I will not even mention it here as I don't want to read about your demise over a $5.00 bottle.[] You can coat it with a thin film of olive oil and that will help somewhat if you don't want to tumble it. Sickness is a bottle diggers curse![] Good luck, Kelley

 

[swizzle]

I'll scrub and soak some more. Anyone ever try battery acid? I know its bad and very nasty and dangerous. But if someone was to be very careful and use lots of common sense would it work? I'd be willing to try anything, even if I have to buy a resperator and gloves and all the chemical gear. I'm willing to go a little overkill on safety precautions to prevent a hospital trip. But then again if I went to the hospital I could ask them where their old dump is. lol j/k I hate hospitals. Swiz

 

[IRISH]

I've never heard it called hydrocloride but it could well be the same stuff if it's a liquid, tell them you want the stuff for acid cleaning bricks, it should have a % of HCl listed on the lable somewhere (often about 30% but varies from 10 to 33%).
Battery acid is Sulphuric Acid, nasty stuff but probably won't do a lot more than Hydrochloric for cleaning, if you do try it just take care, it's not overly toxic but is VERY corrosive.

The stuff not named by Kelley won't put you in hospital unless you have a minor spill, any concentrated or significant amount on your skin and you go straight into a bodybag [X(] . It's not worth experimenting with even with the correct gear, a combination of being incredibly corrosive and reactive and very toxic is not a good thing out side of a professional lab []

 

[swizzle]

Thanx for the info. This forum is awesome and has been very informative. I was considering trying, extended soaking, like a CLR bath for a year. So the sickness is just plain old calcium? The only other thing I could think of is actually really a nasty thought that I don't think I really want to try. But stomach acids break down the calcium on on teeth. When you don't brush then your saliva starts to flow and eats them right up. As sick as it sounds I've been wondering if its ever been tried. I know I for one won't try it but I am curious as to know if anyone else has. I know it takes years to break down teeth so using an acid with the same PH as stomach acid would probably have to set for a few years to actually work. But if it did work then treat your bottles like a fine wine and get a rotation going. If you could do a 100 bottles a year then in a few years time you could be in a steady rotation. It would definately take extreme patience. What the heck its the only other option I think I have. Can CLR be bought by the gallon? Which should I do first? CLR or Muratic acid bath? Sorry about all the questions, I'm just really curious about whats been tried and what works best. Thanx again for the info. Swiz