# Cleaning the outside of ACLs



## nym9nyj7 (Aug 17, 2012)

Got a 7Up bottle a few weeks back - psyched because it was bottled in a local city my family is from.  It's in great shape except for a small, but noticeable stain that is partly on the glass and partly on the ACL.  Could be permanent damage, but I'm not sold on that yet.

 What's the best way to clean a tough stain off the outside of a bottle without compromising the integrity of the ACL?

 Thanks!!!


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## nostalgia (Aug 17, 2012)

Do you have a picture of the bottle (with close-up on the stain); this would help


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## ratbastard (Aug 17, 2012)

i use bar keepers friend and a wet sponge and clean stains very lightly and works every time for me


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## TJSJHART (Aug 18, 2012)

A BEFORE PIC WOULD BE NICE


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## nym9nyj7 (Aug 18, 2012)

Your wish is my command...  What do you guys think?


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## T (Aug 18, 2012)

if that stain is on the outside you might not get it off without dulling the glass or taking some of the paint off, if it is on the inside it ant no big deal, had a square quart painted label milk and a painted label singal dot pepsi bottle that had been in a sink full of water for bout 2 years he said, the water had evap. out of the sink and left a thick white crusty mess inside and out of both bottles , they came out with no paint loss and had a good clean clear shine, but it might not always come out like that, i have tried everything  you can think of by hand  to fix what you have if that is on the outside with no luck,just dont look right when it dries and is on the shelf,  thanks glenn


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## chosi (Aug 19, 2012)

I've had a lot of success cleaning ACL bottles with barkeepers friend and a toothbrush, but I've also had a few that went wrong and the color starting coming off.

 I would suggest first trying barkeepers friend & toothbrush on the stain away from the ACL.  If it cleans the stain, then I would gently rub it in around the corner of the ACL and make sure the color doesn't come off.  If the ACL stays strong, then proceed to clean the stain that's on the ACL, only rubbing as hard as is necessary.

 If you rub a corner of the ACL with barkeepers friend and the color starts to come off, then I don't know of any method to clean it.  I usually leave it stained at that point.


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## nym9nyj7 (Aug 25, 2012)

Thanks for the tips everyone.  I tried some CLR and a Brillo pad, and unfortunately had no luck.  The ACL remained solidly intact, but sadly so did the stain.  Is there a big difference between Bar Keepers friend and CLR?  Is it worth going out and buying a bottle, or should I just expect the same results as with the CLR?


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## chosi (Aug 26, 2012)

CLR is non abrasive liquid that will on occaision work wonders on a stain (particularly if the stain is from Calcium, Lime or Rust), but for most stains it doesn't help at all.  

 Bar Keepers Friend is a mild abraisive, similar to cleanser. It also has Oxalic acid in it, which works wonders on some stains and does nothing at all for others. 

 If you buy a canister of Bar Keepers Friend and it doesn't help with your bottle, you can probably continue to use up the rest of the canister for any cleaning where you would normally use cleanser.  So it wouldn't be wasted money.


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## JarDoctor (Aug 29, 2012)

I am having success tumbling ACLs, however, it is time-consuming to protect the label.  Nothing outside of tumbling will clean what you have on your 7-up bottle.
 Good luck.


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## bamabottles (Nov 29, 2012)

I have tumbled a dozen or so ACLs of my ownâ€¦ all came out nice and clean, but would never accept one for payment from someone else, as it can be very risky and just not worth the bad publicity if it ruined the label.  Depending on the stain, I tumble outside and inside for between 12 and 24 hours with aluminum oxide only.  Never had one that lost any of the label, but you could say I was lucky.  This one looks like it would survive it fine, but still risky.


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## AlexD (Dec 25, 2012)

Bar Keeper's Friend and a toothbrush does wonders[]


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## splante (Jan 2, 2013)

agree with barkeepers friend make it a paste and wipe very gently, had a early whistle bottle that started to lose some paint (might of wiped a little to hard)but I think the earlier acls were not as strong as the ones after the mid 40's. Only one out of 100 that i had a issue with.


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