# bottle cleaning ideas



## itz3r1k (Feb 20, 2010)

ok so is there any way's of cleaning the sickness out of a bottle besides tumbling or putting it in acid. I've heard of using bleach and i've not tried that yet. I've tried baking soda and hydroden peroxide and it work's good for the gunk and caked on stuff.But i wanna know what i can do to get the sickness out without having to build a tumbler.


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## suzanne (Feb 20, 2010)

This gets rid of  areas of  very light mineral deposit inside a bottle and helps bottles that have heavier deposits look better.  

 Examine bottle for very thin spots or very large bubbles.  Mark these spots on outside of bottle if you think you may forget where they are.  

 Don't do this on bottles under 5 inches.  A lot of times their glass is unbelievably thin and they may crack.

 You need a high speed electric drill, a plastic coat hanger, and an old rag that has a rough texture, like an old dish towel.  Cut up hanger so that you have a long piece.  Wrap tape around one end, overlapping the end, to pad sharpness of hanger end that could scratch bottle.  
 Cut off strip of rag, making it long, not wide.  2 inches wide at bottom works good.  Tape rag to coat hanger piece, put in drill.  Electricians tape works great for this because it's nice and stretchy;  you can get a secure tape job without gobs of tape that will get stuck in bottle.   Moisten rag and stuff in bottle using whatever you can find thats pointy.  Lay bottle and drill on something to protect table,  but not a towel, it can get wrapped around the drill chuck.  I use phone book.   Buff inside of bottle at high speed.   Most electric drills have a button on them you can push and they run without you having to hold the trigger down constantly. Reverse drill direction in order to make contact with all parts of the bottle. Doing this changes the shape of the rag and gets sickness from all angles.  This process should take 5 minutes or less.  If after 5 minutes of buffing bottle is still sick inside it is time to go to Plan B.   

 It's hard explaining how to fix bottles in a few sentences.  It would be like thinking you can take a 15 minute class and then do auto body repair.  All  of these guys on here that tumble spent months practicing at home on their own to get good at it.  So did I.


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## RedGinger (Feb 20, 2010)

Bleach won't get rid of the sickness.  I've yet to try pieces of copper wire on a lightly sick bottle.  You can use a tiny bit of olive oil on the inside for displaying purposes, but it isn't a cure.


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## RED Matthews (Feb 20, 2010)

Hi,  I still like denture cleaners.  Walmart STAIN AWAY + (plus) works good but it has gotten to be hard to find.  Walmart must be making more with the other brands.  RED M.


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## GuntherHess (Feb 20, 2010)

> tumbling or putting it in acid


 
 I dont think acid dipping is much of an accepted option these days.


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## suzanne (Feb 20, 2010)

I have never in my life been able to get rid of mineral deposits with denture cleaner.  And I've heard that advice a lot.  I tried it a few times way back when I was first trying to learn to clean bottles.  Somebody on this forum suggested it.  Maybe mineral deposits are made up of something different in your part of the country and are easier to break up.  

 One thing I had  tried at the time was to drop a bunch of denture cleaner tablets in a sick bottle and soak for a couple days.  This was after I tried using one tablet and soaking overnite without results.  Frustration with techniques like denture cleaner  finally caused me to develop an obsession for figuring out what really works.  Here are some more things I tried in the past that don't work at all to get rid of mineral deposits,  at least for bottles from this area of the country-

 Toilet cleaners (any kind)
 Drain uncloggers (any brand)
 Water softener cleaners
 Radiator flush/degunker
 Gunk (engine cleaner) 
 Clr
 Lime-away
 Vinegar
 Paint solvents
 Alcohol
 Baking Soda
 Steel wool (helps slightly but the amount of rubbing it takes isn't worth it)
 Shaking with sand and water (helps slightly on very light deposits)
 Salt

 The list is long.  Using bleach is a great way to get rid of organic material though and it doesn't affect the glass.


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## itz3r1k (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the replies so far.I've tried denture cleaner and i let it soak for a week with 3 or 4 tablets per bottle and it did nothing.And thanks suzanne for the list of stuff i've thought about using clr or lime away but never got around to buying any.But i have several bottle's that need a good cleaning i have a hutch that has a thin layer i wanna get out and a crofts swiss milk cocoa.A w f & s beer bottle that need's it to i used the baking soda and hydroden peroxide on the beer bottle and got some out.And i have several medicine bottle's from the 10's and 20's that need it also i have one medicine bottle that has a nice ambering to it.But as i said thanks for the replies so far.


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## suzanne (Feb 20, 2010)

Another thing you can do that works on heavy mineral deposits inside bottle is use 1000 grit sandpaper and a bent stick or screwdriver to rub it against the inside of the bottle,  padding end of tool with disposable erasor to avoid scratching. I have a screwdriver I use that has 12 inch shaft and I put about a 15 degree bend in it.  If you ever do this you might want to get a screwdriver with a 1/4 inch shaft so it will bend easily if you put it in a vise or something.
 This works great with heavier deposits but leaves sanding streaks which you then buff out as described above.  You can moisten rag with water; what works way better is to use Mequiar's medium cut cleaner available at O'reilley's Auto Supply or online.   It costs 12.00 but is miraculous and one container of it is enough  to do a very large quantity of bottles.  

 If 1000 grit doesn't get it your bottle is not only sick, but has glass deterioration they call etching.  This requires drastic measures.  (just kidding!)   99% of bottles can be made clear and sparkly  using the 2 methods above,
 without tumbling or acid.  Or spinning.  If you think 12.00 is a lot to spend for a bottle of cleaner, look at it this way.
 You could spend 3.00 on denture cleaner which don't work, 3.00 on clr which don't work, 3.00 on vinegar which don't work, and 3.00 on toilet cleaner which don't work.  Or 800.00 on a one canister tumbler and supplies which is a lot to spend on a few bottles.

 If your bottle is so sick inside that you can't see through it you may want to purchase one of my books or send it off to the tumbler guy.


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## itz3r1k (Feb 20, 2010)

fortunately it's not that sick inside. All of my bottles that have sickness u can see right through em.


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## suzanne (Feb 20, 2010)

Thats great -  I just remembered, if you get the cleaner (and if you are serious about getting your bottles sparkly inside you should get it) you don't use the directions on the side of the container.  After buffing the bottle out you wash out
 cleaner residue with stick, sponge piece, and dish detergent. Make sure to get medium cut cleaner, not fine.   That's all there is to it.  Good luck.


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