Cleaning old glass bottles

[TreasureLadie]

My husband brought me 6 bottles that he found while working and I want to investigate their worth but I need to clean them first. What is the best way to do this?

 

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[TreasureLadie]

Picture of the bottles after a water rinse

I lied there are 8 bottles.
*1 Wine Bottle
*2 Chero Cola Bottles
*1 Coca-Cola Bottle
*1 Pepsi Cola Bottle
*1 E.R Durkee & Co. Bottle
*1 Golden Crain Belt Beers Bottle
*1 Reif's Special

 

[pa plateau hiker]

A good way to clean the inside of bottles is soapy water with some sand mixed in. Slosh it around and it will remove dirt from the inside.

 

[Frankn]

Here's a tip. Some of the bottles, particularly the Coke bottles contain magnesium. If you set them in sand with the sun shining on them for a few months, they get a bluish patina that is much sought after by collectors. Just something to think about. Frank

 

[pa plateau hiker]

I can turn bottles purple over night in an aluminum foil lined box and a ultra violet light. Don't look at the light. it will burn your eye balls. It's manganese. not magnesium.

 

[TreasureLadie]

Thanks everybody!

 

[ridger12]

In the past I have just soaked bottles in bleach. For stubborn stains put denture cleaning tablets in the bottle with water or cut small pieces of copper wire and put them in the bottle with soapy water and shake.

 

[Frankn]

pa hiker, You are probably right about the manganese. I picked that up from a bottle shop in AZ years ago. They just sit the boxes of bottles on the roof. Is that long wave or short wave ultra violet light you use. Frank

 

[pa plateau hiker]

To tell you the truth Frankn, I don't know. The UV light I'm using came from a demolished elementary school. I went to school there in the late 50's and I remember these mounted to the walls in a metal case. They were "supposed" to kill germs. Every few weeks, our teacher would tell us to put our heads on our table and don't look at the light when she turned them on. My dad rescued one when the school was torn down and I use it now to color bottles.

 

[flyadive]

I use BB's for a BB gun with soapy water, swoosh it around in a circular motion.

 

[pa plateau hiker]

I use BB's for a BB gun with soapy water, swoosh it around in a circular motion.

I'd be cautious using bb's. I used to to use them until I broke a piece out of a thin bottle. I switched to sand after that.