# Bottles on the roof?  Or bats in the belfry?



## Humabdos (Jul 29, 2004)

I put about 75 or so bottles up on the roof of my shop on tin foil about a three weeks ago. Some are turning Smokey yellowish. Others are turning green, blue, purple.  How long should I leave them up there? Could it ruin them? We have had a lot of days over 90 and some 100. Is this smoky yellow a desirable effect? Most of these bottles fall in to the almost worthless so I was hoping to make them look a little more interesting. 
 Glen


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## BARQS19 (Jul 30, 2004)

AHH I'm glad you reminded me about bottles on the roof. There is a building here in town that have old bottles all over it. I talked to the guy about 3 months ago who cleaned it out and said instead of throwing them away, because he thought they may be worth something, he just threw them up on the roof. I drove by there and saw them. At first I thought it was leaves. Just bottles all over the roof. I need to get on that and see who the building belongs to now. Thanks for reminding me LOL


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## Humabdos (Jul 30, 2004)

Hopefuly there not ACL's or they will be faded[:-] 
 Glen


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## Tandy (Jul 30, 2004)

[] No, not bats in the belfry! A lot of bottles that were made with manganese dioxide and have turned amethyst/violet/purple will benefit by being left out on the roof. However, for every bottle that does go a deeper colour, there are those that will only turn the faintest of the range of colours. It seems to depend on how much manganese dioxide was used in the bottle's manufacture. [] 

 I must say that I am impressed with the other colours of the bottles - I like your idea of "to make them look a little more interesting", if you are lucky enough to be able to do so, and thereby increase the sale price to double what you originally thought, then leaving them on the roof is a decided advantage. I'll have to try with some of the more common aqua or clear bottle we get over here.


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## bigkitty53 (Aug 1, 2004)

Hey Glen,
               As Tandy said,bottles containing manganese (which when used in small amounts,'bleached out' impurities resulting in CLEAR glass.) will turn variing shades of purple when exposed to UV light.Circa 1910 manufacturers started using Selenium to de-colour glass.This glass will turn variing shades of yellow when exposed to UV light.I have never heard of glass turning blue or green before,(unless it's algae[])can you post a picture?I'm not too fond of yellowed glass,usually it's a shade like urine! Value of sun-coloured glass is like beauty,in the eye of the collector!L.O.L.

 Oh yeah,Tandy,note CLEAR glass! Aqua glass won't change colour.[]

 KAT


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## Tandy (Aug 1, 2004)

[] Yep, clear glass. 

 [8|] In regard to blue produced by exposure, I have found a bottle that was what we describe as "black glass", with a blue patch on the base, where it was exposed to the sun's rays. Not cobalt blue, but a lighter tone and colour, medium blue.

 [] Happy digging.


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## Humabdos (Aug 1, 2004)

I forgot to tell you i'm color blind![][][]
 Glen


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## David E (Sep 9, 2004)

Another clear bottle that will never change color is crystal (leaded glass)


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## kumtow (Sep 12, 2004)

Hi Tandy,

 Most black glass that has a patch of blue (milky blue) on the base is a result of a pontil.  I have a few black glass bottles that have this effect and they are 1850s blacks with improved pontil.  The blue is caused by bits of glasgal? (old glass) used on the pontil to make the pontil stick to the bottle and refiring to smooth the pontil out.  If your bottle is of this era, the effect is not due to the sun.

 Cheers Alan


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## VaChick (Sep 14, 2004)

Hi all, my father put over 100 bottles on their roof -- for at least 10 years.  When we took them down, many had changed to an absolutely beautiful deep shade of purple.  

 However, there were wasp nests or other kind of bugs' homes in many -- and some had a yucky heavy brown glue like substance covering them (that took hours and hours of scrubbing).  Worse, though, about 90% of them were cracked or broken.  He'd stored them there upside down, so I don't think water got in them, froze and cracked/broke the bottles, I think they just broke due to temperature changes.  He had some really nice ones up there too. . . 

 Just a warning about bottles on the roof. . . .

 By the way, what can I do with all the cracked bottles -- they're way too pretty to throw away. . . besides, they were my father's and I don't feel right putting them in the trash.(many are complete, just cracked).  

 Can they be used for stained glass, mosaics, target practice[]??

 thanks
 VaChick


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## kumtow (Sep 14, 2004)

Hi VaChick,

 Not a lot you can do with cracked bottles, except position them on your shelf to obscure the damage as best as possible.  Check this discussion out  https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/fb.asp?m=12463&key=


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## VaChick (Sep 14, 2004)

Alan, thanks for the link -- I know someone who is learning to blow glass -- after reading the link, I definitely won't ask him to experiment!

 I guess I could still take up stained glass or mosiacs, most of these bottles are cracked all around. . .

 Actually, for the few that did survive, the color is wonderful.  Here's one I just washed that isn't broken. . . . 

 So putting them on the roof can be worth it!

 vachick


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## KentOhio (Sep 15, 2004)

I wouldn't do it. Too many of them will break. Roofs get incredibly hot during the day, and then a sudden rain shower cools them off, and BAM! Cracks.


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## sodabottle (Aug 12, 2005)

would using a heat lamp make clear bottle change the color or does it have to be out in the sun


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## KentOhio (Aug 12, 2005)

It needs to be ultraviolet radiation, which could be sun, or also a black light. Interestingly enough, heat actually makes them less purple and more clear. They say putting a purpled bottle in the oven will turn it clear again.


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## Tony14 (Aug 12, 2005)

Well since you said that I might have to buy a black light to color some of my more common bottles. Thanks for the tip Kent.


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## whiskeyman (Aug 12, 2005)

KENT is correct. Years ago many peeps did that...You have to enclose the bottle &  UV light together,  inside some type of box...and just leave it until any changes occur.


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## sodabottle (Aug 12, 2005)

Hey Does Any one Know if there is any thing other than a black light and the sun that you could use to chage color?



 How long does it take for the bottle to change under a black light  or the sun


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