Newer to cleaning have some question need some help, kind of long explanation inside..

[Jordan57]

Ok first off I have spent so many hours searching for info. my eyes and head hurt, I'm am so full of differnt numbers, oxides, hours, minutes, etc.etc etc, and still feel like I'm missing something.. I ran into a dump area and my eyes light up like a Christmas tree, I turned to see my husband dropping his head, knowing what was coming ,, it was bottle dump from a farmer in the early 1920's through the 1950's ,,hospital and vet IV bottle, farm oil supply stuff, sodas, milk, some old depresion glass vases, liquor , beauty and personal medicine bottles and my favorite and probably the most worthless form what ive read , the cleaning ones like a huge brown clorox handled jug,, yes I know these are not that old but so many of them just brought back more important memories for me than money value so I wanted to clean and polish them for me to display and look at ..


I have come to the conclusion 1200 or 1500 grit silicon oxide depending on sickness of the glass and amount of embossing, i will turn as long as I feel it needs, while watching it often each day,, not long I'm sure most of them don't need a lot at all.

Aluminum oxide polish after to finish it up, I just seem to like the look it gives on the ones I have seen finished with it .

Copper filler


Now question--

How much of the silicon oxides and then the alum. oxide would i use on say a half quart jar for example for an inside and outside cleaning.

Does everyone use that tube that the jar doctor guy sells online ,, they are spendy especially if you need more than 1--- if not how do you roll yours ? What do you put the bottle into for the rolling process when cleaning inside and outside of the glass?


Thank you VERY much for any advice or answers, my husband will be happy when our garage floor doesn't have bottles all over it, could be a LONG time since I can't help going back and digging for more each day,,

 

[chosi]

The canisters are put into a bottle tumbler, which is a machine that spins the canisters around. You can buy a tumbler from the Jar Doctor, or make your own. Either way, it's rather expensive. I would suggest you hold off on buying a tumbler until/unless you decide if you really want to go all in on bottle collecting as a hobby. You can get pretty good results cleaning with a product called Bar Keepers Friend (BKF). It's similar to cleanser, but specially made for cleaning glass. Use it and a toothbrush to clean the outside of the bottle. For the inside, use small bits of copper, with BKF & water and shake the bottle. If you don't have small bits of copper, use uncooked rice. I own a tumbler, but I always try BKF first, and only go with the tumbler if that fails.