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Once you have found some bottles it is best to leave
them outside for twenty four hours in order for them to acclimatize
as it can be quite a shock for them having been buried for ages.After
twenty four hours or so you can remove outside dirt by rotating
the bottle in a bucket of sand,internal cleaning can be done
with sand and water and plenty of swishing about.Stubborn stains
can be treated with progressively stronger soda solution,but
be aware some water stains can never be completely removed without
professional help.(see my links page
for a reputable professional bottle cleaner).Iron or rust staining
can sometimes be removed with rust treatments available from
automotive suppliers.I have also had good results with magic
balls which are copper alloy ball bearings which you swish about
with water and with the ball bearings being soft alloy there
is little danger of scratching which you must be aware of when
using sand or gravel to do the same job.A similar result can
be obtained with the use of short bits of cut copper wire.For
odd shaped bottles with intricate hard to reach parts there are
several shapes and sizes of bottle brush available,a good place
to find these are home brewed beer shops.
NEVER use things such as wire Brolly pads for cleaning
as these can do a lot of damage to glass.Sometimes you will find
bottles with a kind of mother of pearl effect to a greater or
lesser extent,these bottles are known as being sick,and the only
remedy for bottles in this condition is to have the top surface
of the glass removed with strong ACIDS.This can be an EXTREMELY
dangerous process and is best left to someone who knows what
they are doing.I have heard a story of a man using acids to clean
bottles,and the resulting clouds of vapor ate away the putty
from around the windows and they all fell out.You DO NOT want
to be breathing that stuff.If you have a nice bottle that is
sick or stained please again leave it to someone who knows about
this stuff.Happy cleaning!
Another tip from Roff the Bottler:-
Some Less severe internal water staining can be removed by pouring
enough household bleach to cover the bottom of the bottle into
the bottle.The bottle should then be corked or sealed as best
you can and left to stand for an hour or two.The theory seems
to be,the bleach fumes loosen the stain and make it easier to
clean with conventional techniques.I have tried this and it worked,not
%100 in my case,but it was a VERY stained bottle and did show
a marked improvement.Thanks for the tip Stuart.Why not give it
a try?
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