# Hard, Putty-like Material Inside A Bottle



## slugplate (Dec 16, 2019)

Hi Everyone, I've run into an issue cleaning a Civil War Era bottle. Inside the bottle is a hard putty-like substance that is not being cooperative with my cleaning attempts. It just won't let go. I do not want to use any kind of aggressive cleaning approaches and I'm wondering if you have any ideas of how this substance can be broken up or dissolved without manually chipping it away. It's not something I want to mess with, obviously, since I've dug only three Civil War Era bottles. I'd greatly appreciate your expertise.


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## photolith (Dec 16, 2019)

Got pics?


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## Harry Pristis (Dec 16, 2019)

*I've had success with solvents -- acetone, mineral spirits, etc.*


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## slugplate (Dec 16, 2019)

photolith said:


> Got pics?


Thanks for replying, unfortunately it's black glass and the only way I found it was holding it up to the sun to check for any cracks and a small piece fell out. I had this problem once before with a small, clear bottle and was able scrape it away... it certainly wasn't as valuable as the Civil War Era bottle, which I want to be ultra-careful.


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## slugplate (Dec 16, 2019)

Harry Pristis said:


> *I've had success with solvents -- acetone, mineral spirits, etc.*


I'll definitely give it a try, thank you. I'll let you know how it goes,.


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## embe (Dec 16, 2019)

Might be worth trying to soak the small piece that fell out (in water, solvent, etc.) before trying the whole bottle.  Could be something as simple as a longer soak time needed.


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## Harry Pristis (Dec 16, 2019)

embe said:


> Might be worth trying to soak the small piece that fell out (in water, solvent, etc.) before trying the whole bottle.  Could be something as simple as a longer soak time needed.




*I understand the caution, but it should be unnecessary because these common solvents won't damage glass.  Let the solvent sit in a corked bottle for a week, or so.  Shake or swirl the contents occasionally.  Residual traces of softened gunk can be scraped away with a length of 10 gauge,  threaded copper wire.  The copper is softer than the glass, and normally will not scratch the glass.*


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Jan 19, 2020)

Acidic toilet bowl cleaner. Zep i get at homedepot. Cleans some haze and most scum some rust too.


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## Patagoniandigger (Jan 20, 2020)

Some substance melt at low temperature.  It will sound nuts. If have two different size recipients that you can put the whole bottle inside the smaller and this Inside the bigger in s way to avoid contact . Fill it all with water. Heat very slowly controlling the temperature of the bottle. It could be melted.


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## Screwtop (Jan 20, 2020)

Did somebody say...

*CIVIL WAR!?*

Behold, that is my expertise, my friend! 


First, I'd try a mixture of salt, and Ox-clean, followed by sand, salt and Dawn dish soap. That should take care of it. If it's really bad, soak it overnight in Vinegar or Nail polish remover before the previously mentioned methods.


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## Flasks (Feb 21, 2020)

If your bottle is truly a keeper, and has the age you suspect, leave that accumulated "what-ever" alone as it is part of that bottles history. The picture I've included is a "crude oil" sample bottle with contents that was sent to a laboratory circa early 1860's to find out the ratio of paraffin to various other flammables within this oil as it came from the well.  My point is, that rarely are these sample bottles found, let alone to find one with contents which have solidified as has the oil in the bottle pictured.....that makes this bottle unique. Knowing "what" the stuck contents are  has more significance to me that guessing what might have that bottle might have contained...get my point?  At one time about 150 years ago that dark oil would have been the consistency similar to cooking oil but hard a dried clay today.


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