# Does Tumbling Remove Scratches?



## JustGlass (Oct 20, 2009)

I know that tumbling a bottle removes stain and ground etching and restores shine but does it remove scratches? I saw a nice dark amethyst Mrs Allens Hair Restorer at a good price with no chips or cracks but bottle had a ton of ground scratches on front and back. Many scratches are light but alot that you can catch a fingernail on. Can these  scratches be removed at all? If so can they be removed without weakening the embossing?


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## bottlediger (Oct 20, 2009)

Tumbling can remove light scratches and deep ones as well if you desire. However embossing is always an issue, to get a deep scratch out you have to take the embossing down as deep as the scratch and then you usally get that over tumbled look that looks horrible. Best way to do it would be to hand sand the scratched area than polish it in the tumbler, that way you wont hurt any embossing or get that over tumbled look. Hope that helps

 Digger Ry


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## BarbaraInCalif (Oct 20, 2009)

Digger...How would you go about sanding it: grit, hand or machine, etc.
 Would you then tumble it to polish the sanded area?

 Thanks,
 Barbara


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## bottlediger (Oct 20, 2009)

I would do it by hand, electric sanders can heat the glass way to much and cause cracks. Your just going to have to do some guess and test on which gritt is best for you, just work your way up to a more fine gritt, and after that yes I would tumble it to polish the intire bottle

 Digger Ry


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## suzanne (Oct 21, 2009)

It has been my experience that random experiments with sanding bottles with different grits and types of
 sandpaper or abrasives will surely lead to disaster and sorrow in the beginning, so if I were JustGlass
 I would start out with bottles that are worthless.


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## GuntherHess (Oct 22, 2009)

> I would do it by hand, electric sanders can heat the glass way to much and cause cracks. Your just going to have to do some guess and test on which gritt is best for you, just work your way up to a more fine gritt, and after that yes I would tumble it to polish the intire bottle


 
 Dont forget that glass is hard. You need to use a grit that is harder than glass. The grey emory sandpaper from auto shops is good and its good to do wet sanding.


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## blobbottlebob (Oct 22, 2009)

Hey Justglass,

 This is meant as a respectful suggestion. Please do not be offended.

 It sounds like you have a neat old bottle with great color and character. Why not clean it up and leave it as it is until you get the chance to upgrade? All the sanding and tumbling will likely damage the bottle worse. Just a thought.


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## JustGlass (Oct 22, 2009)

Thanks for everyones advice. If I do decide to purchase this scratched up Mrs Allens bottle I will resort to having a professional bottle tumbler person take the task of trying to restore some of its good looks. I don't have the know how or the tools to take on the challenge. This bottle I can get cheap enough to take a chance and if it doesn't clean up it would be no big loss as long as tumling fees are in the ballpark. Ive heard of tumbling services charging $25 to $45 for cutting and cleaning but Im afraid because of the extra sanding work involved it could up the final cost. If fixing it up is to costly I could sell it the way it is and probably break even. Of all the bottles in my large collection I don't have one bottle that has half as many scratches as this amethyst Mrs. Allens. Looks like the owner tied a rope around it and dragged it behind a horse.


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## bottlechaser62 (Nov 22, 2009)

Bottlediger,
 Can a bottle that was "treated" years ago be tumbled and get rid of the "treated" chemical that was applied? As a teenage, I had a few really nice bottles that were "sick" and a friend sprayed a thin coating of something on them that made them shiny and gave them a nicer presentation. Can that be desolved or sanded off through the tumbling process?   

 Thanks


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## bottlediger (Nov 22, 2009)

hey there, its hard to tell what was put on your bottle years ago but was probly some kind of shlack. I really have no experience in putting a coated bottle through the tumbling process and I personnally wouldnt tumble one because I dont know how it would effect the tumbling copper or canister. If I was you I would just soak it in some mineral spirts or paint thiner, 9 times out of 10 that will take it off. good luck

 Digger ry


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## bottlechaser62 (Nov 23, 2009)

thanks for the information!


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## RED Matthews (Nov 23, 2009)

Hi justglass;  I have removed some scratches using two grades of Bright Boy rubbing sticks.  I haven't even seen any in at least 20 years but had access to them in the mold shop where I worked.   RED Matthews


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