I'm very new to this and I need help!

[bornherm]

I'm cleaning old antique bottles for my table centerpieces for my wedding. My fiancé's father collected them and has since passed away. So these bottles are really important. It has taken me many hours and multiple cleanings to remove the dirt and rust on only 12 bottles! (There are 2 large boxes left). My main question is how to clear up the glasses with out tumbling. I saw on YouTube someone use floor polished. I was wondering if clr cleanser would work. I read mineral oil might help. It is so frustrating to have a clear bottle under water and then within minutes they are foggy! Help please!

 

[utility man]

Sorry to say that tumbling is the only way I have found to remove the haze on dug bottles. Mineral oil will clear them up but it does not take it off. Just make sure your guests do not handle the bottle cause they will have greasy fingers. I would not recommend using mineral oil on bottles for resale either, it is a way to hide stain and when the oil is removed the stain will appear again. I personally do not like the practice of using mineral oil but it would be a quick fix for your wedding. This is merely my opinion and if you use this practice for bottles in your personal collection that is fine but some dealers use the stuff to get more money out of stained bottles.

 

[cowseatmaize]

Hi, if you just want some table pieces go to a hardware or pool supply store and get some muriatic acid and follow the directions carefully, it's caustic. A 50/50 mix for 24hrs will dissolve about anything except the mineral stain. After soaking, a sand swish and water rinse should clear them out OK. It will cut a lot of time from the process anyway. Then do whatever you like, shellac, oil etc.If they are high end in value the buyers with deep pockets will find out and want their money back anyway. If they are common you wouldn't be able to sell them anyway.So what is it your trying to clean?

 

[bornherm]

@utility man: Yes I'm looking for a quick fix for the wedding. But something that is reversible incase my future husband's family wants to sell them in the future. I hope the oil won't make them too slippery.... Thank you for your input.

 

[bornherm]

@cowseatmaize: I'm not really sure what the glasses I'm cleaning are. My fiancé's
Dad had the bottles before he met his wife and they lugged them around where ever they moved. I'm the first one in possibly 20years to look at them abd try to clean them. What should I be looking for if some of the glasses are "unique". I don't want to be the new sister that breaks our ruins the glass bottles. Oh does the patent date mean the age of the bottle or just the patten of the stuff that was in it originally? Thank you for your help

 

[chosi]

If there is a patent date embossed on the bottle, it normally refers to when the bottle was patented, not the contents of the bottle.Most of the bottle patents were "Design Patents", which only lasted a limited time (less than 14 years), after which the glass companies would no longer bother to put the patent date on the bottles. I think the pre-1900 design patents usuallually lasted 7 or 8 years, so if a bottle has a patent date of 1888, it was probably made between 1888-1896.

 

[bornherm]

So if one says 1868 that is 1868-1875ish . Thanks!

 

[cowseatmaize]

Not really and in some cases it is the product. Chosi was a bit off in that statement. In some cases it may state Pat 1868 but still have been used for decades after. It's like seeing "since 1868" on a something today. Design patents are a little different, they can be renewed but most companies (Coca-Cola excluded for one) will change the package form and let the old one go.If you go get into specifics and post a picture or two that would help a lot.

 

[swtmuzik]

I'd love to see photos of those bottles you are talking about. Wondering why you don't use them add they are? I love my bottles looking as old as they are. I simply rinse them.

 

[Robby Raccoon]

Never liked the heavy staining in mine. The white mineralization always makes me... unsatisfied with the appearance.I was hoping you'd come back and post some pictures, but I'm assuming it's wedding time now and yeah. But, when you do see this, we'd all love to see what they look like.
I have a question! How do rust stains get into bottles that didn't have a metal cap and were underwater for a very long time? I've always wondered that. Oh, ironic: I found an early milk glass Mentholatum jar with metal cap still attached--barely-- in the lake and it (Cap) disintegrated, the ironic part being that it has no rust stains. But! A larger milk glass jar I have would have had a metal cap, but I didn't pull it up with one and yet it has a rust stain in it. Gotta love that.
Also, anyone know why bottles 100 years old have little staining, but 80 years old they have some, then 60 years old much, then 30 years old some, then I can guess why 10 years old little--all these bottles found within 500 feet of each other in an area of the lake? It's what I've noticed in my finds.