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



## thinkingit (Mar 23, 2012)

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.


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## thinkingit (Mar 23, 2012)

side


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## epackage (Mar 23, 2012)

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...


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## chosi (Mar 24, 2012)

> 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.


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## epackage (Mar 24, 2012)

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


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## Wheelah23 (Mar 24, 2012)

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.


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## thinkingit (Mar 26, 2012)

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!


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## epackage (Mar 26, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  thinkingit
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> thanks!
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 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...


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## thinkingit (Apr 12, 2012)

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?


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## epackage (Apr 13, 2012)

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


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## thinkingit (Apr 13, 2012)

Is this what they call sick glass?


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## thinkingit (Apr 13, 2012)

Also, would any kind of lime a way or CLR help?


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## RED Matthews (Apr 13, 2012)

Hi thinkingit;  It looks like you have a nice BIM -(2 part mold) demijohn.  I would like to see a closer picture of the finish and a picture of the bottom.  These would verify the applied finish that I am sure it is, it would also show any uneven sloppy glass under the tooled finish.  The picture of the bottom would tell us more about the making process.  I like these bottles, because they were made all over the world and traveled the early world liquid needs.    RED Matthews


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## thinkingit (Apr 13, 2012)

> ORIGINAL:  RED Matthews
> 
> Hi thinkingit;  It looks like you have a nice BIM -(2 part mold) demijohn.  I would like to see a closer picture of the finish and a picture of the bottom.  These would verify the applied finish that I am sure it is, it would also show any uneven sloppy glass under the tooled finish.  The picture of the bottom would tell us more about the making process.  I like these bottles, because they were made all over the world and traveled the early world liquid needs.    RED Matthews


 
 I'm not a bottle person so part of your reply is in a foreign language to me. Ha, ha...here are the only pics I have with me. Can you tell if the bottle is "sick"??? or can it be cleaned with one of the above methods such as lime away?


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## thinkingit (Apr 13, 2012)

next


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## thinkingit (Apr 13, 2012)

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## thinkingit (Apr 13, 2012)

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## chosi (Apr 13, 2012)

I can't tell from the photos if it's sick glass or not.  If the muriatic acid didn't even make a dent in it, then it's probably sick glass.

 It doesn't hurt to try CLR, as CLR is safe for glass.  But I suspect your likelyhood of success is small.  

 CLR usually requires some rubbing.  A sponge or rag on a coat hanger might help, but be careful not to let the sharp edge of the coat hanger scratch the glass.  If the CLR doesn't work, maybe some steel wool on the end of a coat hanger will do the trick, although it'll take an awful lot of patience.  Fine grain steel wool shouldn't hurt or mar the glass at all.


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## RED Matthews (Apr 13, 2012)

Well I am back to you thinkingit;   First of all I doubt it the glass is what I would call sick.  It is hard to tell what it has had in and around it.  "Works'  helps some times.  Another thing I have used on stubborn glass is a product from Walmart for cleaning false teeth;"Stain Away + (plus that is.)   
 Your finish picture looks quite clean.  It might not even be tooled - you would see the circular lines horizontally around the finish if it was applied and tooled.  I just couldn't tell.  
 The bottom picture didn't tell me much either.
 It is still a neat demijohn.   RED Matthews


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## andy volkerts (Apr 14, 2012)

It might be hard water stain, scale in its first stages, in which lime away couldnt hurt, as the Jewish mother says about chicken soup, what could it hurt?????


> ORIGINAL:  thinkingit
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