# Best bottle cleaning tool. (DIY)



## ROBBYBOBBY64

I have come up with a solution for cleaning the inside of a bottle of almost everything but sickness. I will try to make this as easy as possible.
Step 1- get copper scouring pads



Step 2-unroll pad until you get down to a roll 4 layers thick.


Step 3-cut the ring of copper pad in one spot.


Step 4-unroll one end and then tightly roll up around a wooden dowel and twist in any direction until it tightens up 3 inches on the dowel.  (i am using a 1/4 inch dowel 12 inches long)


Step 5- I CA (Crazy glue) onto the stick.
Step 6- twist the copper into a tight whip like tail i bend over the end and twist in the same direction i twisted the copper onto the dowel. It should look like this picture. 


Step 7- after it dries i put it in my electric hand drill tighten up the chuck. A little clr in the bottle, then i push the copper tail in the bottle. Turn on the drill and let her rip. 


Step 8-Caution it foams the clr and expands so only use 1 or 2 inches in the bottle. Wait for drill to stop before removing from the bottle. The tail is sharp and will cut you. It works great for me. It never got twisted up and could not come back out. I go in both directions pulling in and out like a butter churn. Be safe use goggles.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Oh i almost forgot. Start up the drill slowly and then speed up. The spinning liquid and weight of the tail along with centrifical force will press the copper ball and some tail up against the inside walls. The faster the drill goes the harder it presses against the inside walls of the bottle. It molds to the shape of the bottle, round, square, rectangular and can reach anywhere. Use forward and reverse. Good luck!


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## mytauntaunsbeat

Just tried this last night and worked pretty well.  Did leave some "swirly" scratches inside but nothing too major.  Thanks again for the tip.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

mytauntaunsbeat said:


> Just tried this last night and worked pretty well.  Did leave some "swirly" scratches inside but nothing too major.  Thanks again for the tip.


Did you use the CLR? I never was able to scratch a bottle. I think you may have bought a cheaper copper scrubby. Use a magnet to see if it is just copper coated steel. That may be. Can you get a picture of it? If so please post. Sorry for the confusion. You can get copper wool From fine to coarse  online it is not cheap. Even copper bb's are steel inside and copper coated. Hope it was not valuable.


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## DFW Digger

I have a similar set up but thought of the drill part. Damn that's smart thinking there bud gonna go try it now. No more popeye arms from shaking cut copper pellets. Btw barkeepers and copper make pressure,  found out the hard way.


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## DFW Digger

Sorry meant never thought of the drill part.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Variable speed drill is the way to go.


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## J.R. Collector

Fantastic method Robby


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## Timberwolf70

DFW Digger said:


> I have a similar set up but thought of the drill part. Damn that's smart thinking there bud gonna go try it now. No more popeye arms from shaking cut copper pellets. Btw barkeepers and copper make pressure,  found out the hard way.


I use fine grit pool filter sand, works really well... I have a rock tumbler that I use to clean brass with a stainless steel medium... I wonder if it would work on glass?


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Stainless steel might scratch. On the Rockwell scale, brass and copper is softer than glass. I use Cerium Oxide. That is what glass houses use to polish their glass.


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## mytauntaunsbeat

> Did you use the CLR? I never was able to scratch a bottle. I think you may have bought a cheaper copper scrubby. Use a magnet to see if it is just copper coated steel. That may be. Can you get a picture of it? If so please post. Sorry for the confusion. You can get copper wool From fine to coarse online it is not cheap. Even copper bb's are steel inside and copper coated. Hope it was not valuable.



i think i found the proper scrubber now so going to get that rigged back up and try again.  I did use CLR though maybe not enough.  The bottle i tried wasnt anything special so no big damage or loss


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

mytauntaunsbeat said:


> i think i found the proper scrubber now so going to get that rigged back up and try again.  I did use CLR though maybe not enough.  The bottle i tried wasnt anything special so no big damage or loss


I have a good time with mine. The smaller the mouth the less copper pad i use.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

I made a couple different sizes.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

WARNING! Do not use this method on codd bottles. The spinning dowel can all too easily trap the marble against the side of the bottle. You can only guess what happens next! I broke a common codd doing this method 10 years ago. I never forgot or did that again.  No biggie!    ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## Timberwolf70

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> Stainless steel might scratch. On the Rockwell scale, brass and copper is softer than glass. I use Cerium Oxide. That is what glass houses use to polish their glass.


Ok thanks... I haven't run into anything (yet) that needed that much cleaning/polishing anyways


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## Harry Pristis

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> Stainless steel might scratch. On the Rockwell scale, brass and copper is softer than glass. I* use Cerium Oxide*. That is what glass houses use to polish their glass.



*Does the cerium oxide reduce the "sickness" (etching) at all?  I think that the C.O. is the final stage in tumble-polishing a bottle.  Have you tried a more aggressive grit for sick glass?*


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Harry Pristis said:


> *Does the cerium oxide reduce the "sickness" (etching) at all?  I think that the C.O. is the final stage in tumble-polishing a bottle.  Have you tried a more aggressive grit for sick glass?*


Oxidation is crystals. Each crystal, depending on the metal it forms on, produces a different uniform sized crystal. Each type of oxide or crystal is a different grit. Grit has a number which ranges from coarse (low number) to polish (high number). Used from low to high grit in order to remove scratches produced by the last grit used.  Lite sickness can be removed with a polishing grit (7000-20,000 grit). Heavy sickness needs a medium grit (600-1000 grit) that grinds a very thin layer of material away. Then you can use a higher grit to polish the glass. Cerium is the final Polishing step in most glass houses. It has a grit of 1.3 -1.6 microns.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## yacorie

Another cheap thing you can do is use popcorn kernels.  You can add them and shake around.  Cheap and effective


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## Harry Pristis

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> Oxidation is crystals. Each crystal, depending on the metal it forms on, produces a different uniform sized crystal. Each type of oxide or crystal is a different grit. Grit has a number which ranges from coarse (low number) to polish (high number). Used from low to high grit in order to remove scratches produced by the last grit used.  Lite sickness can be removed with a polishing grit (7000-20,000 grit). Heavy sickness needs a medium grit (600-1000 grit) that grinds a very thin layer of material away. Then you can use a higher grit to polish the glass. Cerium is the final Polishing step in most glass houses. It has a grit of 1.3 -1.6 microns.
> ROBBYBOBBY64.



*I guess that's a "No, I haven't used a more aggressive grit with my copper mesh rotary tool."*


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Harry Pristis said:


> *I guess that's a "No, I haven't used a more aggressive grit with my copper mesh rotary tool."*


I meant in a tumbler. Not with the copper mesh.


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## Remi Wood

Shoot, I've just been using vinegar, salt, and dish soap. No wonder I'm not seeing much results. What do you use on the outside of the bottle? To give it a little shine? Mine are so grungy on the outside as well.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

I use mineral oil on the inside. Pour some in tilt the bottle back and forth to coat. Turn the bottle over to drain excess oil. You can also use a paper towel with mineral oil on it rolled up stuffed in the bottle. I move it around and remove it with a piece of coat hanger to coat the inside. It skips the drain step. I use aussie leather conditioner on the outside only. (If you use it on the inside you can't buff it off and it will leave a haze) I got mine at the tandy leather store. Use the conditioner sparingly and rub it into any worn whitened areas. Takes a couple minutes to soak into bad areas. Wait til it looks clear then buff with a cloth. Think of it as a type of bottle snake oil sickness and abrasion cure. It makes bad spots clear so you don't see them so easily.  Nothing is better than tumbling. This method is reversible at least. Don't do this to something you are going to sell to someone. That's just dirty pool.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## Remi Wood

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> I use mineral oil on the inside. Pour some in tilt the bottle back and forth to coat. Turn the bottle over to drain excess oil. You can also use a paper towel with mineral oil on it rolled up stuffed in the bottle. I move it around to coat the inside. It skips the drain step. I use aussie leather conditioner on the outside only. (If you use it on the inside you can't buff it off and it will leave a haze) I got mine at the tandy leather store. Use the conditioner sparingly and rub it into any worn whitened areas. Takes a couple minutes to soak into bad areas. Wait til it looks clear then buff with a cloth. Think of it as a type of bottle snake oil sickness and abrasion cure. It makes bad spots clear so you don't see them so easily.  Nothing is better than tumbling. This method is reversible at least. Don't do this to something you are going to sell to someone. That's just dirty pool.
> ROBBYBOBBY64.


Thanks you so much, very helpful information


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## Dewfus

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> I have come up with a solution for cleaning the inside of a bottle of almost everything but sickness. I will try to make this as easy as possible.
> Step 1- get copper scouring padsView attachment 205809
> Step 2-unroll pad until you get down to a roll 4 layers thick.View attachment 205810
> Step 3-cut the ring of copper pad in one spot.View attachment 205811
> Step 4-unroll one end and then tightly roll up around a wooden dowel and twist in any direction until it tightens up 3 inches on the dowel.  (i am using a 1/4 inch dowel 12 inches long)View attachment 205812
> Step 5- I CA (Crazy glue) onto the stick.
> Step 6- twist the copper into a tight whip like tail i bend over the end and twist in the same direction i twisted the copper onto the dowel. It should look like this picture. View attachment 205813
> Step 7- after it dries i put it in my electric hand drill tighten up the chuck. A little clr in the bottle, then i push the copper tail in the bottle. Turn on the drill and let her rip. View attachment 205814
> Step 8-Caution it foams the clr and expands so only use 1 or 2 inches in the bottle. Wait for drill to stop before removing from the bottle. The tail is sharp and will cut you. It works great for me. It never got twisted up and could not come back out. I go in both directions pulling in and out like a butter churn. Be safe use goggles.


Love it my friend I hot glued a bottle brush to a wooden rod a couple times worked pretty well lol


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## Dewfus

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> I use mineral oil on the inside. Pour some in tilt the bottle back and forth to coat. Turn the bottle over to drain excess oil. You can also use a paper towel with mineral oil on it rolled up stuffed in the bottle. I move it around and remove it with a piece of coat hanger to coat the inside. It skips the drain step. I use aussie leather conditioner on the outside only. (If you use it on the inside you can't buff it off and it will leave a haze) I got mine at the tandy leather store. Use the conditioner sparingly and rub it into any worn whitened areas. Takes a couple minutes to soak into bad areas. Wait til it looks clear then buff with a cloth. Think of it as a type of bottle snake oil sickness and abrasion cure. It makes bad spots clear so you don't see them so easily.  Nothing is better than tumbling. This method is reversible at least. Don't do this to something you are going to sell to someone. That's just dirty pool.
> ROBBYBOBBY64.


When this sickness crao is done you need to come over to my neck of the woods and  show me how to so this


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

Dewfus said:


> When this sickness crao is done you need to come over to my neck of the woods and  show me how to so this


If it is ever over.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

If anyone uses this tool, you must rinse out all the dirt out before using this tool. If you don't it will scratch the bottle. It is not pretty. The copper scrubber doesn't scratch,  the dirt will. 
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## TxBottleDigger

Seems too harsh. The problem is, there is too much abrasion. You aren't periodically removing the debris, as it goes at a fast rate. The dirt gets between the copper and glass, and scratches the glass. Respectfully, I'll stick to less risky techniques like the salt, dish soap, and water, technique. I'd be interested in what a professional archaeologist would think about this.


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## TxBottleDigger

yacorie said:


> Another cheap thing you can do is use popcorn kernels.  You can add them and shake around.  Cheap and effective


Great idea !!!


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

TxBottleDigger said:


> Seems too harsh. The problem is, there is too much abrasion. You aren't periodically removing the debris, as it goes at a fast rate. The dirt gets between the copper and glass, and scratches the glass. Respectfully, I'll stick to less risky techniques like the salt, dish soap, and water, technique. I'd be interested in what a professional archaeologist would think about this.


Only on common items. I would tumble anything of value.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64

yacorie said:


> Another cheap thing you can do is use popcorn kernels.  You can add them and shake around.  Cheap and effective


I have a bag of stale white rice i use. Like the popcorn it works great.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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