Cleaning Old Glass Bottles

AussieLass

We found an assortment of little old bottles that were dug up. We've filled them with water & tried to clean the dirt inside but so far haven't had much luck. Is there something that we could put in them to disslove the old grime left from being in the ground. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Nasnowt

If you can get hold of some small metal or ceramic balls they should do the trick.

Put them in the bottles with soapy water and give them a gentle shake. Risky if the bottles are very old though.

I think Lakeland Ltd sell some as vase cleaners

Edinburghlass_2

Denture tablets are quite good or the sterilizing tablets for babies bottles?

Or good old Soda crystals

AussieLass

Thank you both for those suggestions. The bottle openings were too small for the round ball technique but it go me thinking so I hit upon the idea of using some rice & adding a little bit of hot water and shaking vigoursly. Did it a couple of times and it worked a treat. It was abrasive enough to clean inside the bottle without damaging them. The denture & baby sterilising tablets might have worked as well but I didn't have any of them. :T

Wickedkitten

yep, rice is definitely the way to go with a bit of vinegar.

Noozan

Wickedkitten wrote:

yep, rice is definitely the way to go with a bit of vinegar.

:rotfl: I was going to suggest rice and vinegar! :rotfl: I have some pretty bottles with narrow necks that I use for flavoured oils and vinegars and that's how I clean them.

pol

Sand is brilliant for this sort of cleaning. Just pour a couple of spoons in with a bit of water and shake well. Strain it back through a cloth if you want to use the sand again when dry.

wains

If you dig up an old bottle or find a special treasure at a flea market or garage sale the first thing to do when you get it home is soak it in room temperature water and dishwashing liquid. Make sure to place a towel into the sink, or container, to cushion the glass. The temperature of the water is extremely important since water that is much hotter or colder than the bottle itself can cause it to crack. Allow the bottle to soak for a few hours or overnight if possible. Rinse the bottle with room temperature water. For many old bottles this will remove the dirt and grim that has built up over the years.