How To Clean Vintage Bottles and Glass | Caring For Your Antique Glass

Caring For Your Antique Glass

Here are some useful tips to help you look after and clean your old and antique glass finds and possessions. 

First you need to know how to take care of your vintage glass. When you are using glass vessel don’t let the water sit for days. Long standing cloudy water rings are a pain to clean, so If you are using an antique vase then insure you keep changing the water every two days to look after your vessel and keep your flowers thriving.

Rubbing your glass down with distilled water regularly is a good consistent cleaning regimen. Avoid submerging and soaking quality antique glass in water, and keep the water you're using at room temperature or just slightly war

How to clean and care for antique glass

                                      How to clean and care for antique glass

 
 
When cleaning any old of delicate glass always avoid dishwashers, high temperatures, high pressure water and aggressive detergents. A great tip when washing your glass, is to use a plastic bowl, do avoid using a sink as it is very easy to knock the glass against the taps, which I have done far too many time, so do use a bowl. Cover the area with a soft cloth or towel, have a padded surface in case you put down a piece roughly, tip it over or drop it. If your heavy handed then the more towels the better. 
 
Always use lukewarm water to avoid glass breaking if exposed to sudden changes in temperature. Just add one drop of detergent per litre of water and clean one object at a time.
 
Dip the object in the water. Wipe over the surface with a cotton wool ball or lint free cloth to remove dirt.
 
Do use a bottle brush to get down through the narrow neck of a bottle to give the bottom a good scrub or opt for a light wipe to avoid taking the gilding or decoration off decorated glasses and decanters.
 
Rinse with clean water either by dipping the glass object into a bowl of lukewarm water (without detergent) or by wiping with a damp swab.
 
Ensure you blot dry using paper towels and allow the inside to dry by carefully supporting the object upside down and leaving it for several hours.


How to Remove Cloudy Rings 

The cloudy glass is actually calcium deposits, these are which causes a light, foggy appearance in glass which can be is very difficult to remove.

To removing the cloudy water marks from glass, use a natural solution of white vinegar and water to soak overnight to loosen the calcium. Rinse and then dry. 

If The vinegar does not work then you can try using petroleum jelly (Vaseline) inside the glass on the effected areas. Leave for 5 days before removing.

Cleaning Old Bottles

If your antique glass bottle has excessive staining and water damage then you will need more vigorous cleaning session to bring these back into a good condition. However do avoid delicate thin glass for this routine.

  • Fill your bottles with water and let them soak to softens the dirt and debris.
  • You can also use salt, the more coarse the better.
  • Add some dishwashing liquid and warm water to the bottle and give it a good shake and rinse. 
  • Repeat several times this should work well for surface dirt.
  • After the initial rinsing use various size bottle brushes this should help remove a large amount of the dirt.  

If you still have dirt, rust, or other materials stuck inside your bottle. then it’s time to try a mixture of small pebbles or aquarium gravel. Use various sizes to remove a lot of stubborn debris, but you many have to do lots of shaking and spinning. Not too hard but it all counts when burning calories.

Now you know how to clean your antique and vintage glass and old bottles. Hope you have found these cleaning tips helpful to bring your old glass back to life. 

Browse Our Section of Glass Bottles and Decanters  

      
Victorian Bristol Blue Pharmacy Apothecary Bottle                                               

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How to clean and care for antique glass

 

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