Not sure what it is so not sure how to clean?

[thinkingit]

I THINK it's a demijohn but I have no idea and I've read several cleaning methods here but not knowing what it is and the time period scares me. What would one recommend. I originally was going to do muriatic acid but I don't want to ruin it.

 

[thinkingit]

side

 

[epackage]

Muriatic acid won't hurt it, try pouring about a 1/4" in the bottom and cover the top, let it sit for 24-48 hours and wash it out. Make sure to do it outside...

 

[chosi]

ORIGINAL: epackage

Muriatic acid won't hurt it, try pouring about a 1/4" in the bottom and cover the top, let it sit for 24-48 hours and wash it out. Make sure to do it outside...

Will 1/4" clean the whole bottle? Does that mean that the fumes of the Muriatic acid will clean the bottle? I would have thought you would have needed to spread the acid around somehow - like maybe rest the bottle on it's side and rotate it a little bit each day so the acid touches each edge.

Anyway, the only other recommendation I can offer for thinkingit is to try a little bit of steel wool and a bent clothes hangar.

 

[epackage]

The fumes do a great job cleaning bottles, I got this E-Mail a few years ago from Earl in Hawaii and his bottles always looked pristine...

Hi Jim,

I use straight muriatic acid, the product name is called HASA, it is very strong industrial acid, I picked it up at a swimming pool supply store...You have to be very careful using it, do it outside, watch the wind direction, you want to be up wind, use rubber gloves and a mask, it does smoke when you pour it and you do not want to breath the vapors.

The way I clean bottles is put a small amount inside the bottle just enough to cover the base, then I put the bottle inside a plastic 5 gallon bucket, pour some acid inside the bucket just enough to cover the bottom, then cover the bucket... I usually leave it in the bucket for 24 hours, the vapors of the acid is the one that cleans the bottle, remember when you open the bucket a lot of vapors will come out of the bucket, be very careful!!!!

I then rinse the bottle with water, I use a brush or sand to clean whatever the acid don't clean out, it's amazing how clean the bottle can get, unfortunately it does not clean sick glass, hope this helps, thanks for asking...Aloha Earl

 

[Wheelah23]

I use acid directly... But it'd be WAY too dangerous to fill that thing entirely with muriatic! I agree with Jim's method. The fumes are probably strong enough to get the job done.

 

[thinkingit]

thanks!

What about the outside of the bottle? Should I just put it in a storage tub with the idea? 1/4" on the bottom, put a lit on it for a day or two and rinse well?

Thanks!

 

[epackage]

ORIGINAL: thinkingit

thanks!

What about the outside of the bottle? Should I just put it in a storage tub with the idea? 1/4" on the bottom, put a lit on it for a day or two and rinse well?

Thanks!

Yes if the outside needs cleaning that would be good as well, if the outside isn't cloudy you might just want to do the inside first...

 

[thinkingit]

Didn't seem to help and did it again a 2nd time and then did it with filling the entire thing with a water/acid mix and let sit a week. Is this what they call sick glass? How can I fix it?

 

[epackage]

You can't fix sick glass without tumbling, and you're not tumbling a demi-john...you can try spraying it with clear polyurethane..