How do I clean the inside of old, antique glass bottles?
We are digging up the ground to bury a septic tank and found a whole stash of old, glass bottles that I would like to clean up and possibly display. The outside of the bottles wasn’t too difficult, but I can’t fit anything (like a toothbrush) down into the openings on most of the bottles. Is there some way to clean these without scrubbing? I thought about the dishwasher, but kind of hate to have all this dirt and grime in there. Denture cleanser maybe????
PassionForDance
on February 8th, 2012
HI. A great resource on cleaning and dating old bottles is at http://bottleinfo.historicbottles.com
There are professional bottle cleaners too, do a search.
I have found Efferdent to work.
I also just recently answered this on my blog. Check it out for more suggestions… http://maryantiques.blogspot.com
Good Luck!
Tuskey
on February 8th, 2012
CLR cleaning product, use gloves and eye protection.
pandatome
on February 8th, 2012
Fill them with vinegar and let them stand
Guineapig
on February 8th, 2012
Fill with white vinegar and let stand for a few days…this will dislodge most discolorations & old hard water deposits. You may have some serious treasure–have you looked up any of them on an antique bottle website?
Orchid
on February 8th, 2012
if you don’t mind another option try toilet bowl cleaner.
SkateRForeveR
on February 8th, 2012
Let them stand with water and white vinegar-I don’t think a baby bottle brush (cleaner) would scratch them at all.
MexicanMug
on February 8th, 2012
There are various sizes of bottle brushes that you can find in the baby section of Wal-Mart. I would start by soaking in vinegar and water overnight and then cleaning with the bottle brush.
Guineapig
on February 8th, 2012
you might fill them with vinegar and let them set for a day or two, the wash with hot detergent such as dawn dish soap.
BlindPoet
on February 8th, 2012
I heard Extra Fine sand in a water vinegar solution is a sure thing. Fine sand will not scratch the surface as much as course sand and its cheap, fill to 1/3rd and shake it up.
AgeingNature
on February 8th, 2012
You can clean these by using silver sand , obtainable from most gardening shop´s. Put a tablespoon of silver sand and a weak solution of warm water and liquid detergent. Swill the contents round, but keep checking the inside is not being scratched. If you don´t wish to go to all that trouble, then use a baby´s bottle brush , this might help reach the bottom of the bottles. or even with the garden hose, this will rid some off the dirt inside
Mayumi
on February 8th, 2012
Add raw white rice to the vineger and shake.
earl sloan
on July 31st, 2011
Use your favorite liquid cleaner with CHICKEN GRIT. Add the grit and slosh around. Workls great! Oh, be careful if you use acid as it ‘can’ damage some of the ‘cheaper grade’ glass.
Happy sloshing………