# Soaking a 1930s bottle full of rubbing alcohol?



## Jet Coaster Fan (Feb 11, 2011)

Is this a good way to clean a 1930s Old Monk, Nice France olive oil bottle?  Or should I rinse it instead?


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## cowseatmaize (Feb 11, 2011)

I'd know it won't hurt but doubt if it would help much. It may slightly loosen dried oil but not much more.


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## Jet Coaster Fan (Feb 11, 2011)

Would bleach make the glass cloudy or damaged looking?


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## cyberdigger (Feb 11, 2011)

Bleach is harmless to glass.. only really strong acids like hydroflouric will "burn" glass..
 Do you have old oil residue in the bottle?


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## Jet Coaster Fan (Feb 11, 2011)

It was a hard black dried on remains of the olive oil I guess or something that got in the little hole in the rusty cap.


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## cowseatmaize (Feb 12, 2011)

I've dealt with hard dried up goo. It can be a real pain. If it's not real bad mineral spirit may do the trick. Warming it in changes of water can soften it some first. If you've ever done any canning you know that you can boil glass. Just be sure to bring it to boil slowly and not just drop it in boiling water. That's the recipe for disaster.


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## suzanne (Feb 13, 2011)

Charlie, while you are on the subject of hydrofluoric acid, I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth, in case it helps anyone.  It only works well on green bottles.  (fortunately most bottles are green)   Green is the natural color of glass.  In order to make bottles that were clear, bluish, olive, cobalt, amber, whatever, they had to add stuff to the glass.  So when you put hydrofluoric in the bottle the acid reacts to the additives in the glass and causes haze.

 Usually it's great for goo removal as long as the bottle is green.   Sometimes though it reacts with the goo somehow and leaves hazy impressions where the goo was.  It's always good to spot test when you use an acid before you do the whole bottle.  Then there are no surprises.


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## Jet Coaster Fan (Feb 14, 2011)

The blackish stuff won't come off my bottle brush soft pad.and even a old toothbrush.  Was the stuff a chemical that leaked in through the rusted lid with a little hole or was it the remains of the olive oil?


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## cyberdigger (Feb 14, 2011)

Try this..    Drano:water, 1:10 ratio..     soak outdoors for 24 hours, rinse..


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## Jet Coaster Fan (Feb 14, 2011)

Would Drano ruin the glass? 
 Right now I am using pumice powdered heavy duty hand soap added to the water in the bottle to soak it in that mixture.


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## woody (Feb 14, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: suzanne
> 
> Charlie, while you are on the subject of hydrofluoric acid, I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth, in case it helps anyone.  It only works well on green bottles.  (fortunately most bottles are green)   Green is the natural color of glass.  In order to make bottles that were clear, bluish, olive, cobalt, amber, whatever, they had to add stuff to the glass.  So when you put hydrofluoric in the bottle the acid reacts to the additives in the glass and causes haze.
> 
> Usually it's great for goo removal as long as the bottle is green.   Sometimes though it reacts with the goo somehow and leaves hazy impressions where the goo was.  It's always good to spot test when you use an acid before you do the whole bottle.  Then there are no surprises.


 
 I've always thought that aqua was the natural color of glass.


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## JOETHECROW (Feb 15, 2011)

I copied and pasted this from Lindseys "Historic bottle site" ...I remember reading years ago that aqua was the natural color for glass, and that's why early meds and common bottles were aqua....I suppose aqua IS a shade of green.[] I guess both colors are correct as the natural color of glass.


 From this point in the glass producing process, the final color of the glass is a matter of both controlling off-coloring impurities and achieving the desired color.  This is done by adding certain types of compounds to the glass batch in certain quantities.  Bottles made from glass with just the basic ingredients (sand, soda & lime) will usually be different shades of green because of the iron impurities in the sand, though other colors can also be attained depending on many factors.  So called "natural" colors are those that result "naturally" from the basic ingredients in a glass batch (McKearin & Wilson 1978).  In general, with lesser amounts of iron or less oxidation of that iron, shades of bluish to greenish aqua are achieved.  With higher amounts of iron or higher oxidation of the iron, darker greens will usually occur (Toulouse 1969a; Jones & Sullivan 1989)).


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