# Before & After



## Gunsmoke47 (Jul 22, 2004)

Hey Yall,  recently I was visiting with a lady about all the aspects of our hobby, and sick glass came up. I was explaining tumbling and how the inventor of a safe, quick, liquid cleaner that woud actually take the sickness out of the glass would be rich overnight. She gave me a spare bottle of a product she bought and asked me to try it as she hadn't gotten around to trying it on her stained glass, (she is not a bottle collector), and the products disclaimer scared her off. Well, I tried it and I must say, it is a very good *cleaner* of mineral deposits and stain. I am sure many of you have heard of it and some of you have tried it. "Dexter's Stain Remover" For the people new to the hobby, this is *NOT* a miracle worker. It *WILL NOT* touch truly sick glass (etched), but let me show you some before and after pic's of those hard to tumble glass stoppers. These before and after stoppers are not the same ones because I didn't have the aforethought to take pic's before I started, but please believe me when I tell you, the cleaned ones were every bit as bad as the uncleaned ones you see in this first picture. Just thought I would share this.  Happy Diggin[]  Kelley


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## Gunsmoke47 (Jul 22, 2004)

After:


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## flasherr (Jul 22, 2004)

Ill keep an eye out for  "Dexter's Stain Remover" any ideas as of where to find it? Glad to see you post something I was beginning to wonder where you were.
 Brian


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## Harry Pristis (Jul 22, 2004)

Dexter's has been around for decades.  I think I bought mine through an advertizement in OBX, a now-defunct bottle magazine.

 The active ingredient was hydroflouric acid, which is "an aqueous solution of hydrogen fluoride HF that is a weak poisonous acid, that resembles hydrochloric acid chemically but attacks silica and silicates, and that is used especially in finishing and etching glass."

 I don't know if Dexter's is a stronger concentration of HF than in the spot-removers you can buy at Wal-Mart or a hardware store.  I do recommend you be careful with it, as the label recommends.

 ----------Harry Pristis


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## Gunsmoke47 (Jul 22, 2004)

Send a SASE to 15140 Wasington St. Riverside CA. 92506 for inquiries. The bottle she gave me was 12 fl. ounces and had a price tag of $7.98 on it. The directions say it is reuseable.  I've never tried spot removers so I have no basis for comparison. I have however tried Muriatic acid, all the toilet bowl cleaners, (even Listerine[]) ect. and this Dexters has given me the best results by far. Part of the disclaimer states to try it in an inconspicuous area on valuable glass, so they are trying to cover their butts to a degree. Anyway, I can attest to it working well on stoppers[]  Happy Diggin,  Kelley


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## Pontiled (Jul 22, 2004)

Please be cautious using this product! I have written about it one of the books I published and in many articles as well. HFl attacks silica, okay, but do you know that silica is a primary part of the ingredient of glass? If you take an older piece of glass where the mix isn't always precise, for instance, and put it in this product, it will begin etching the glass! I have seen this product work on glass and virtually destroy it! 

 Nuff said!


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## medbottle (Jul 23, 2004)

I must agree with Pontiled.  I tried Dexter's about 25 years ago, and got mixed results.  It actually removes a layer of glass, which is why the directions say to "cover the whole item".  Several of my bottles were given a dull finish after using this stuff, which would require tumbling to remove.  I accidentally left a Quaker Bitters about half covered, and now have a rare "4-piece mold" version.  (I was a teenager at the time and just HAD to answer the phone.)  Be careful, and good luck.


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## amblypygi (Jul 23, 2004)

> ORIGINAL:  Harry Pristis (quoting Dexter's label I assume):
> 
> which is "an aqueous solution of hydrogen fluoride HF that is a weak poisonous acid..."


 
 Never mistake HF for a weak acid though, it is one of the strongest acids known. The label should say that it is a weak solution, not a weak acid! And Mike is right, I wouldn't let it near a bottle I cared about.

 Sean


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## Harry Pristis (Jul 23, 2004)

I should have sourced that definition; it is the AOL on-line dictionary definition.

 As I recall (this was many years ago), there was minimal information on the Dexter's label.

 -------Harry Pristis


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## IRISH (Jul 24, 2004)

Technicaly Hydrofluoric acid is a weak acid BUT it is very strong is the areas of toxicity  
 and corrosiveness [] ,  HERE  is an MSDS on the acid and it is every bit as dangerous as that sheet says plus some [] .  The very dilute mix in the spot remover etc. is obviously safe to handle by the general public but I would still treat it with the utmost care and caution.


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## Diego916 (Jul 29, 2004)

Hey all, new here but I know a little about HF(aq) from my chemistry in college. 

 First, it eats glass. It one of the ONLY acids that will, but in consumer products it is rarely strong enough to do so quickly, though any concentration will.

 Second, one of the first things us chem students were required to do before working with it in the lab was to read an article about a man who had been working carelessly with rust-remover, which contained HF, and was hospitalized when he began to experience incredible pain throughout his body. You see, HF is not as corrosive to tissue as, say, nitric acid (HNO3), which will turn your skin into brown goo, but the ions of HF do penetrate tissue and attack minerals and free mineral ions in blood, bone, etc. In layman's terms, you will die painfully without injections of aqueous calcium and other minerals if you don't take care! 

 On the bright side, gloves will protect you and sodium bi-carb (baking soda) dissolved in water and kept in a spray bottle near by will neutralize the acid if sprayed on a spill or accident.

 I've previously read in a book on restoring antique glass about the use of HF, but I have until now been too cautious to try it. Thanks for the before and afters! I think I may just give it a go!


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## idigjars (Dec 25, 2004)

Chemicals are tricky.  Always use lots of caution if you attempt using any chemicals and always make sure you are not in a confined space.  I would recommend "free" tumbling stoppers, etc.  Use a plastic jar, fill it with copper, your stoppers, some water, cleaning powder of your choice and put it in a tube for a few days and tumble away.  Good luck. []


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## drjhostetters (Jan 2, 2005)

Hey Gunsmoke,

 No comment on cleaning just a question about the stoppers....a friend loaned me several of his collection of stoppers almost identical to yours..and since I am not familier with them..are they worth anything on the market to collectors of such? I told him I would ask here on the forum and I happened on your pics first....he also loaned me a 'fired' and 'glazed' procilian(?)(sp) whiskey (I think) bottle with the name of the company, "...reversed embossed on it...I am trying to post a picture but I am not so good at this computor stuff...I am trying to borrow a digital cam to get some pics of it...the names on it are...can't read first line...not embedded deep enough..starts with "GITREOUS (fades out....) then next line "J. Bourne & Son,"
  next line..."patenteer"...next line..."DENBY POTTERY,"..next line..."NEAR DERBY"..then a long "scratched" line...then the next line reads...."P. & J. ARNOLD"...next line...."LONDON"...I know my discription is kinda weak but that's the best I can do..oh yeah...it's brown glazed, round(about 3 inch diameter, about 7" tall, top two inches tapered, with thick cork opening (duh!)  Very heavy bottle...best I can do until I get a pic of it..any ideas anyone?

 Thanks..The Doc...[X(]


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## woody (Jan 2, 2005)

It's a master ink bottle, Doc.


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## Gunsmoke47 (Jan 2, 2005)

Hey Doc, I see those stoppers on Ebay all the time for next to nothing. ( 5 or 10 stoppers for an opening bid of $ 2.00)  The problem with people buying them is that each stopper was ground to fit a particular bottle. You would have to get lucky for a stopper to match up properly with a bottle it was not made for. I keep all the ones I find because I have gotten lucky on a few occasions. Happy Diggin,  Kelley


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## drjhostetters (Jan 2, 2005)

Thanks Woody...

 ...and????



 The doc...[X(]


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## drjhostetters (Jan 2, 2005)

Thanks Gunsmoke...

    At least I have an answer for my friend...some of these that he has look like crystal, and one looks like a many facetted(sp) old fashioned door knob with a long stopper and one looks like a large diamond, I think those are decanter stoppers..really pretty...still trying to figure out how to post a picture of them....[>:][&:][8D]


 The doc...[X(]


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