# Can I tumble hutchinson bottle with stopper inside?



## bigber4604 (Jun 4, 2010)

I've got several hutchinson bottles to turn.  Many have stoppers inside the bottles yet.  I'm affraid if I force them out they could break or crack the blob tops.  Is it okay to tumble the inside and outside with the original stopper inside the bottle?
 Thank you in advance for your comments.


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## CreekWalker (Jun 4, 2010)

Hi bigber4604, try searching the "cleaning and repairing " forum. Type in "tumbling hutch* or tumbling hutchs. There is a 2008 article concerning this. Rick


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## chosi (Jun 4, 2010)

I've tumbled several hutchinsons with the stopper inside.  If the stopper has a rubber gasket on it, the rubber will be gone.  But the good news is, the metal stopper will be shiny & clean.  I've never had an issue with it damaging the glass.

 But if the stopper is up in the blob, I find that I end up bending the metal inward in order to push it down into the bottle.  Once I do that, I find it's really tough to "unbend" it and get it to stay in the blob when I'm done.  So the photo below shows what typically happens - in the before pic, the stopper is in the blob where it belongs, but in the after pic, the stopper is inside the bottle where it's destined to stay.


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## blobbottlebob (Jun 4, 2010)

The stoppers were originally designed to be removable. (The metal is smaller than the opening). If you can cut the rubber gasket off, it should pull right out. However, I have heard that if they are in good shape, in place, you can just leave them at the opening and use the stopper to seal the bottle where a cork would go. You might want to place a dowel of some sort in the outside loop of the stopper so that it doesn't unseat and make a mess.


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