# Cleaning Bottle Insides



## Alexis143 (Oct 12, 2005)

OK Guys-
 After finding my motherload of bottles (My first two digs ever!) I am stuck with some bottles clean on the outside, and full of nasty crap on the inside.  No, I don't have a bottle brush yet (going to make a trip to the store today- I live in rural Alaska so store trips are far and few between!).  I was planning on getting a bottle brush and some cleaning agents? What do you guys think is the best cleaner to let them soak in (I can't get ahold of any acids or anything...just what you would find in a limited-selection, middle of nowhere grocery store.) I've heard CLR is good. Any reccomendations on getting dirt and crud out??

 Thanks guys!!!!


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## bubbas dad (Oct 12, 2005)

search this forum.  this subject has been discussed alot in this forum. there are alot of good ideas here. i think barkeepers friend works real well.


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## Bottle tumbler (Oct 13, 2005)

soaking them is best if your limited in supplies, you could buy some from ebay to clean your stuff. if the inside stuff is like sticky goopy crap, i use gas. 

 rick


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## maxmusic (Dec 5, 2005)

Hey everyone,

 I am new to all of this, but what I found to work,( at least in my opinion) pretty well to clean the inside of my bottles is this ... take some table salt pour it in the bottle and add a little water, ( enough to slosh around the salt but not enough to absorb it ) and shake for a while . Repeat if neccessary. The granules are fine enough to not do damage to the glass ( I don't think), but the abrasive action seems to remove most junk. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG!

 Max


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## Bottle tumbler (Dec 6, 2005)

your right that will work good to. 

 rick


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## maxmusic (Dec 6, 2005)

hanks Rick,

 I'd hate to give advise that might poss. damage someone's bottle. It just seemed to work for me a couple of times.

 max


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## gatorman (Dec 7, 2005)

Hi maxmusic, Im new at bottle digging too. What I found that works pretty good is I wash my bottles in warm water and dish soap first, using my new bottle brush kit I got on ebay from oldglass99@yahoo.com for $27.50. Now Im not trying to sell anything but just passing along good info. I think this kit is great even on really small ones too. Then if needed I poure veniger and a little salt in the bottle and let sit for 2 or 3 days. Now I still havnt found a cure for sick or cloudy bottles from minerals in the dirt yet. Im still at the drawing board on that one.[] Here is a pic of my brush kit of 15 brushes. Gatorman[]


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## maxmusic (Dec 7, 2005)

Thanks Gatorman,

 I have one of the narrow ones you displayed and one thicker one. But I see much value in the kit you showed. I'll have to pick one up for sure. I also have some Muriatic acid around so i'll trya weak dilution as well.

 max


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## gatorman (Dec 8, 2005)

Hey maxmusic sounds good, let me know how the deluted acid works I have a few bottles with a cloudy film to them that CLR wont evan remove. gatorman


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## youngpup (Dec 9, 2005)

I found that if you get water and put some sand or salt in the water and shake it up...it works pretty well. Bottle brushes are a dream come true. They work for almost anything. A bottle mop also works well. I haven't tried it yet, but I believe that if you use lemon juice (It's a citric acid) that might work as well. I cleaned some pretty nasty bottles and bottle brushes work the best. I wouldn't suggest using gas...then your bottle has a funky smell.


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## 58froggy (Dec 15, 2005)

I have frequently used fish bowl gravel or small round 'pea' gravel.  Works great and doesn't scratch.


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## newtothebottleworld (Jan 8, 2006)

You guys will probably think i am nuts,but i use oven cleaner on a lot of tough stains.Mostly the residue from leftover contents.I had a couple of bottles that had a film all over the inside that looked and felt like tar.I took some oven cleaner and sprayed it in the bottles and let it set for 5 minutes or so,and then rinsed with plenty of water.Make sure you do this outside though because the fumes are pretty tough.Also if you have any salt glazed stoneware that has been painted over,you can use oven cleaner on it and make light work out of removing the paint.


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## walkingstick (Jan 29, 2006)

Kitty Litter, a bottle brush and some good ol' fashioned elbow grease will work to clean out a lot of the gunk from inside bottles.  Just be sure you don't buy "clumping" kitty litter![:'(]


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## youngpup (Feb 7, 2006)

How do you guys think hydrochloric acid would work? If it would...how should i dilute it?


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## GuntherHess (Feb 7, 2006)

Diluted Hydrochloric acid is sold as Muratic acid. Its mostly good for stuff like calcium deposits. Dilute it as it states on the container.


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## barbieheid (Feb 8, 2006)

Kitty Litter, a bottle brush and some good ol' fashioned elbow grease will work to clean out a lot of the gunk from inside bottles.  Just be sure you don't buy "clumping" kitty litter![:'(]
 [/quote]

 Another great tip I got from someone is number 6 buckshot. Just put some in a shake it around, gets most little corners, etc. I don't know if you have to have a gun permit to buy shells though; this batch was given to me. If you know a hunter, ask him for some.


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## youngpup (Feb 8, 2006)

Yea...my hydrochloric acid is pure.....from a chem lab...i wasn't sure if it'd hurt my bottles or not


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## walkingstick (Feb 9, 2006)

"The Works" toilet bowl cleaner is a somewhat diluted hydrochloric (muriatic) acid.


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## walkingstick (Feb 11, 2006)

Some of these may help blast the gunk from the inside with a jet of water.

 http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BOTTLE_WASHERS_C48.cfm


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## pixmc (Feb 28, 2006)

Howdo new bottle buddies!

 Bottle brush substitute:
 New member responding to an old post. I'm drooling over your tumblers! I clean the insides of my bottles with all those spices I never cook with. On this little Bixby ink I used coriander but some very stained bottles I use Lime-Away (just in case it works better, I'm not actually sure) instead of water and a large and small seed mix like coriander and poppy and shake. Usual shaketime is less than a minute due to my attention span. Not a glorious result but always an improvement. Hope that helps!

 Pixmc


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## southern Maine diver (Feb 28, 2006)

Hey Pixmc...

 I bet them the'ya bottles smell some finest kind after the cleanin, too.[:-]

 Wayne


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## amblypygi (Mar 1, 2006)

> ORIGINAL:  youngpup
> 
> Yea...my hydrochloric acid is pure.....from a chem lab...i wasn't sure if it'd hurt my bottles or not


 
 HCL won't damage glass, but it will damage bottle collectors so you should dilute it. It can be diluted with water, just "do what you oughta; add the acid to the watta" rather than the other way around. I think that's so that if it splashes it's mostly water rather than acid that flies.

 The lead shot, salt and cleanser mix gently shaken for a while in the bottle has always worked well for me, just make sure it's real lead shot. I wouldn't open shells to get it, because A: that can be dangerous, and B: lead shot is illegal most places these days and so you will probably end up with steel or copper shot, which can very easily break a bottle (trust me, I know...[])

 A good place to find real lead shot is soft dive weights, they are full of them. I bet the bottom of Wayne's boat is full of them too, since real divers' gear is always somewhat trashed and lead shot is one of the first things to start leaking []

 Sean


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## southern Maine diver (Mar 2, 2006)

Hey Sean... I know what you mean...

 I was into and out of my weightbelts so often, I wore through several of the "shot" type weight belt bags.  Lead pellets all over the place and they got stuck in everything!![]
  I'm back to solid lead weights and harnesses...

 You can try any outdoors, hunting type of outlet Like Cabella, Kittery Trading Post, and LL Beans.  Look them up on line.  They have access to the lead pellets.  Shooting supply stores. You can buy them in bulk.  I think You can use them in shot for target practice, but you just can't hunt with them.

 Wayne


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## lmtae2 (Mar 21, 2006)

Always Add Acid--That is so when there is a reaction with the water, usually heat, you do not blow the house up, or lab as I work in.  Think of it this way.  If you add a drp of water to a cup of acid, the whole cup is reacting, adding acid to a cup of water a little at a time will only react the amount of acid actually poured into the water.  Hope this clears things up.


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