# Cleaning gunk from the river



## FreeRangeAsparagus (Aug 11, 2019)

Hello,

I am new to this forum but I have been collecting for about 7 years now. The majority of people here tend to dig for their bottles, I snorkel for them in the Charles River. I have always had an issue with a black scale-like substance covering the outside and inside of bottles I fish out. It is easy enough to scrub the outsides of the bottles but i cannot get enough force with a wire brush on the insides to make any meaningful progress. I was wondering if there is a solution I can bathe my bottles in that will help break down this scale. Here are some before and after cleaning photos of a Dr. Swett's root beer I dove for this past Thursday, hopefully that sheds some light on what I am dealing with. I am sorry I do not know why the images are on their side.

Best,
FRA


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## Screwtop (Aug 11, 2019)

I hear what you're saying. I find bottles like that in creeks, and that gunk won't come out for nothin'. Tumbling would work like a charm, but that's too expensive for bottles like you are holding right there.


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## Eric (Aug 11, 2019)

Since there is no ACL present what about a strong toilet bowl cleaner or CLR soaking? What are you using now? I was watching a guy on Youtube who restores old toy and he places the plastics and
rubber wheels that have crud built up on them in a Simple Green solution and places them in what looks like a large ultrasonic jewelry cleaner I would think the agitating process might help loosen the
gunk on the inside. And I'm sure there are some folks here that can tell you what works best... Good luck and keep us posted on what you find.


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## FreeRangeAsparagus (Aug 11, 2019)

I will look into the cleaner, I think that's my best bet right now. I suppose I can shake the bottles to simulate an agitation. Right now I'm just using the rough side of a sponge and occasionally some strong dish soap.


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## Eric (Aug 11, 2019)

CLR you can get almost any place Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart or ACE Hardware it does well on Lime and rust... a good toilet bowl cleaner may do well too.. since there is no label. 
Check this link to a post here also about using oxalic acid to clean bottles:

 https://www.antique-bottles.net/sho...each-safe-for-ACL-bottles&p=716188#post716188


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## Harry Pristis (Aug 11, 2019)

Start with CLR, move on to oxalic acid, then muriatic acid.  As long as there is no paint on the bottle, the glass will not be affected by these acids.


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## GLASSHOPPER55 (Aug 11, 2019)

What I have done for over 30 years or more, is mix a 50/50 mix of liquid Drano and (Red Devil) powdered LYE (like soapmakers use). If you've seen that black coating railroad insulators get from train exhaust, this cleans that off when other solvents fail. Plus it doesn't have the noxious fumes that muriatic acid has, not to mention the dangerousness. Mix it in a container big enough to immerse your bottle in and cover it for a day or two, then 0000 steel wool rub. I never had good results with CLR.


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## Eric (Aug 11, 2019)

Here's a link to that Ultrasonic cleaner that this restorer uses to clean parts

*https://www.amazon.com/Industrial-L...23f999f97352b4e302dcf0d4d7b18e&language=en_US*


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## FreeRangeAsparagus (Aug 11, 2019)

GLASSHOPPER55 said:


> What I have done for over 30 years or more, is mix a 50/50 mix of liquid Drano and (Red Devil) powdered LYE (like soapmakers use). If you've seen that black coating railroad insulators get from train exhaust, this cleans that off when other solvents fail. Plus it doesn't have the noxious fumes that muriatic acid has, not to mention the dangerousness. Mix it in a container big enough to immerse your bottle in and cover it for a day or two, then 0000 steel wool rub. I never had good results with CLR.



Can’t argue with 30 years of good results! I’ll be trying this first. As for the steel wool, is that a viable option for cleaning the inside of the bottle too? I should have made it more clear, in the second photo the residue is on the inside and the outside is clean. Does the mix loosen the residue enough to be effective with a wire brush?


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## Btl_Dvr (Aug 12, 2019)

FreeRangeAsparagus said:


> Can’t argue with 30 years of good results! I’ll be trying this first. As for the steel wool, is that a viable option for cleaning the inside of the bottle too? I should have made it more clear, in the second photo the residue is on the inside and the outside is clean. Does the mix loosen the residue enough to be effective with a wire brush?


Just as a note, lye is as dangerous as muriatic acid. Don't breath the fumes from either or get it on bare skin.


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## GLASSHOPPER55 (Aug 12, 2019)

When you immerse the bottle in the mix, fill it inside also and stand it up then pour more mix around it (in a tall container) and cover it. I use a stiff bottle brush inside the bottle. If the gunk is still sticking, immerse longer in the mix. When done, pour the used mix back into your mix bottle-it will turn brown but it is reusable over and over.

Yes lye can burn you so use rubber gloves and don't breath it (or any mix). Better to be safe. Lye is used widely by soap makers. It's also in oven cleaners (see "sodium hydroxide on labels). It's still much less nasty than muriatic, which left to open air will rust/corrode shiny metal in the room it's in.


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## sandchip (Aug 12, 2019)

I've used muriatic acid for years.  Soak the bottle for a day or two and usually the black stuff is just gone.  I pour out back into my plastic pan all but an inch or so, pour in an inch of blasting sand and shake it good to get out stubborn spots inside.  Insulators did take some scrubbing with a stainless pot scrubber.  Use long acid resistant gloves and goggles.  Good ventilation outside.  Take care not to splash or splatter.  My plastic pan has a cover, so I just leave the acid in it, but as Glasshopper said the vapors will corrode any metal in the area, so be particular how and where you store it.


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## FreeRangeAsparagus (Aug 12, 2019)

I appreciate all the warnings, this is all very new to me and I would be bound to make a mistake without it! Thank you


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## FreeRangeAsparagus (Aug 12, 2019)

Btl_Dvr, do you dive for your bottles as well? I am having a hard time finding other folks who do, even outside of this forum. I think I just haven't found the keyword for it yet.


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## bottlebuddy (Aug 14, 2019)

Try putting water & efferdent (denture cleaner) inside the bottles & let them soak for a day or so. I have used this method many times & it has worked well on getting sticky substances & other residue out, along with scrubbing with a wire bottle brush, but let them soak before scrubbing.


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## American (Aug 14, 2019)

OXI does a pretty good job if you can leave it soaking for a day.  It's not caustic like some of the other suggestions here


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## Huntindog (Aug 14, 2019)

Muriatic acid will eat concrete too, so don't splash it on your patio...
I've used this before with good results.
Long Rubber gloves, a splash shield for the face, a full body rubber apron and outside in good ventilation.
I know maybe a bit of over kill, I like to be cautious.


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## Diggerscott (Aug 14, 2019)

Dr. Swett’s root beer.


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## WesternPA-collector (Aug 19, 2019)

Once you have let it soak in whatever substance you decide on using, put some rice into the bottle and shake it aggressively for about 5-10 minutes. Rice will get to almost every spot inside if you use enough.


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## FreeRangeAsparagus (Aug 19, 2019)

Diggerscott said:


> Dr. Swett’s root beer.



Quite an unfortunate name for the soda, but it was produced for 115 years, so it must have been pretty good!


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## FreeRangeAsparagus (Aug 19, 2019)

WesternPA-collector said:


> Once you have let it soak in whatever substance you decide on using, put some rice into the bottle and shake it aggressively for about 5-10 minutes. Rice will get to almost every spot inside if you use enough.



Thank you! Cheap, easy, definitely trying this.


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## nranderson (Aug 21, 2019)

Has anyone used denture cleaner? I have had some great results on certain crud. Worth a try!


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## Van (Feb 6, 2020)

Perhaps salt and alcohol. Soak it.


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## DeepSeaDan (Mar 14, 2020)

I use Barkeeper's Friend, copper bits, a large variety of brushes, lengths of copper wire bent at the ends at different angles, with the ends bevel cut to produce a sharp point ( gets into small imperfections to scrape the gunk out ).

All that, and a good measure of elbow grease!

Admittedly, I'm a bit OCD about it!

Regards,
DSD


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Mar 14, 2020)

I have used heavy duty oven cleaner with a lot of success. It works like a charm when i clean black carbon off of some glass insulators i found. I heat up the insulators in a old coffee Cup Full of water upside down. I spray the cleaner inTo the item and put in a closed bag. Be careful the fumes are nasty. Do not heat up the item too much or it will break. 160 degrees about works and i have had no casualties. The picture was the only one i broke heating up so be warned. I used epoxy to reassemble.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Mar 14, 2020)

Heavy duty oven cleaner has worked on stuff that muriatic acid did not even effect.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Mar 14, 2020)

Here is two of the same insulators. The one with the heavy scale and carbon was soaked over night in muriatic acid with no result. The top one was 5 minutes in heavy duty oven cleaner.(easy off from home depot) Clean as can be.


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## longdavid474 (Mar 18, 2020)

What's them old insulators worth??? I've 10 of the old HEMINGRAY-42 & THERE GREEN

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Mar 18, 2020)

Insulators are not worth much $5.00 not being old and also they are clear. Color is everything. Green is a desirable color. Not sure the value.


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## martyfoley (Mar 18, 2020)

How about some coarse gravel and/or some bb's and shake well 1/2 full with water.  worth a try.


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