How do I clean antique glass bottles?

[KMinAF]

I found a little over a dozen of these old bottles at a job site last week and thought they would make great flower vases or what ever my wife could dream up. I have had them soaking in dishwasher soap and water for the last couple days but even after trying to clean them with a baby bottle brush (which is difficult due to their narrow neck) and running them through the dishwasher they are still cloudy. Any chemical cleaners or techniques that you could recommend?

 

[Caman]

Try vinegar

 

[filtered]

I have heard denture cleaning tablets work. You just need to break them into small enough sizes to fit in the bottle.

 

[G_P]

CLR. Especially if the bottles have been outside or were dug out of the ground. Its probably a film of mineral buildup on the inside.

 

[wssix99]

Subscribed. I have the same problem. My bottles held laxative that was fed to working horses in the 1800's. Lord knows what was inside before or after the bottles were opened...

 

[Cyberbear]

I've never tried it but Lime-away or pool acid mixed 50/50 may work for mineral removal, but all of my bottles with that hazy surface after being in the ground has etched the glass and perhaps there is no remedy. I have used an amount of lead bird shot, water and a little Comet cleanser for general cleaning when the bottle is shaken vigorously.

 

[Junkmanryan]

I have collected antique bottles for 7 years now. Te cloudiness is a chemical reaction that has happened to the glass. The only way to remove it is to have the bottle tumbled in a special bottle tumbler. If you post up some more pictures I may be able to tell you what you have.

 

[Zeke]

But to just clean them, start with 24 hours in white distilled vinegar. It's cheap and many times does the job. No results, go with another theory. Nothing lost but a dollar. And I reuse my vinegar. Just soaked some drinking classed yesterday that had begun to get cloudy. We have hard water.

 

[KMinAF]

So this is how I did it. After trying several different concoctions with limited success, I soaked the bottles overnight in a solution of industrial bathroom cleaner. Then, I cut the end off of a baby bottle cleaning brush and chucked it in my drill. Then I added a small amount of fine sand blasting media and filled the bottle about half full with cleaning solution. Using the drill to spin the brush inside the bottle for a minute or two, the sand really helped to get the glass very clean. I used 0000 wire wool to gently scrub the outsides. Although they are a still bit cloudy (this I learned, is from the minerals being leached out of the glass after being buried for so long) I am happy with the results and they will look great on the shelf that I will now have/get to build.
I believe the bottles are circa 1880 - 1903 as the seem stops short of the lip. Unfortunately they have no markings. The location they were found is Provo, Utah. Any input regarding the bottles would be appreciated.

 

[Junkmanryan]

They look like Lea and Perrins Worchester Sauce bottles. Look up the name on google and you can find one of their bottles. They may be the same bottles but would have had a paper label. They would have had a glass stopper with a cork lining.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Those cleaned up nice. Thanks for the tips on cleaning.

 

[968944]

That's a lot of steak sauce.

 

[Kevin54]

With all of those bottles, I would display some, and then take a couple of them and make either an outdoor oil lamp with them, or cut off the bottom and make a couple of electric lamps that hang down and mounted to the wall.

Nonetheless........great find for sure!!!!! I like the light blue color

 

[zhaddock]

http://www.jardoctor.com/