Sick glass

[HouTxSoda]

I have to give you the standard warning about tumbling bottles - if you ever plan to sell them, some collectors love tumbled bottles, others wont touch them.
Do whatever YOU want to do.

 

[slugplate]

I have to give you the standard warning about tumbling bottles - if you ever plan to sell them, some collectors love tumbled bottles, others wont touch them.
Do whatever YOU want to do.

I'm a non-tumbler myself. IMHO, cleanliness of the glass is moot and should not detract from its price, but to some it does. As diggers and hunters we know that "Not all things that shine is gold". A bottle can look good and be pleasant to the eye, but not worth much. Some bottles don't look half as good as others that are worth thousands. Honestly I'd NEVER tumble a bottle, I won't take that risk. Collectors know the value of bottles regardless of their outward appearance.

 

[martyfoley]

I used to use fine sand or gravel with a few drops of dish detergent. Fill the bottle half way and shake thoroughly. You would think the inside of the bottle would get scratched but it doesn't not in my experience. Works great to get the soft gunky material or dirt out of the bottle. You may have to do this a few times for pesky dirt.
For stained bottles not much you can do as the stain is actually in the glass. Some say limeaway or denture tablets may help, haven't tried them. Some bottles come out of the dirt clean as the day they were thrown away, others get stained badly over the years. Soil conditions, material left in the bottle can determine staining or not.

 

[ROBBYBOBBY64]

I don't use on any nice bottles but i have on ones not worth tumbling. Mineral oil work great to clear up sick glass. Never use on a bottle you intend on selling. Thats just low.

 

[imtellingyouitsnotmine]

im a new digger barely a month old and a I've been digging a dump that lies on the edge of saltwater lots of sick glass and was looking for a cure , you all have great ideas. I'm an electrician and we used to sandblast the inside of motors with pecan shells or walnut shells because they couldn't hurt the copper I wonder if anybody's tried something like that

 

[ROBBYBOBBY64]

I have used walnut shell to polish. It worked well. The shell breaks dowmore than i expected. I used a tumbler. Now i use copper bb's. I am a tileman 35 years and polish mostly with diamond pads or felt with aluminum oxide cream on a water fed polisher. Tumbling is the only real cure for sickglass. Some collectors do not like tumbled bottles and wont buy them. Some like natural as found state stains rust in all its sick glory.

 

[Mjbottle]

I prefer to Tumble them. Before & after pics below. LEON.
[/QUOTE

I prefer to Tumble them. Before & after pics below. LEON.

Hi Leon, how long did you tumble that for?

 

[hemihampton]

PROBABLY 3 DAYS.