Cleaning and Using Old Bottles

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JimC

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I got looking at the bottle collection my wife has acquired over the last few years scuba diving. Then I put two and two together and realized that there a lot of old soda and stubbies down there (and a few on my wall). So I grabbed a few off the wall and tossed them into a bucket of oxyclean over night. Today I pulled them out and gave them a once over with a bottling brush and rinsed. Now some of these bottles have been sitting on the bottom of a river for 50 years and oxyclean did a good job on them, but some of them still have some stuff inside clinging tenaciously to the glass.

My wife is all hyped up to crack open a 54 year old Pure Spring soda bottle full of cider or beer. Now that I set that idea in motion she is all gunhoe on collecting bags full of them for me this summer. Does anyone have any tips on further cleaning or is this a lost cause?

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Well, here's what I'd try:

Bleach, heavily

Rinse

Inspect

Isopropyl Alcohol, 91%

Rinse

Inspect

Lye

Rinse

Inspect

Now if that doesn't do the trick, I'd go ahead and consider that a lost cause.
 
TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) is an excellent bottle sediment remover. Wear rubber gloves, mix according to the directions, soak overnight, scrub the following day.
 
I wonder if some of the staining is harmless? What do you have to lose? Clean a couple as good as you can, and bottle one or two, and see what the outcome is
 
NYeric said:
I wonder if some of the staining is harmless? What do you have to lose? Clean a couple as good as you can, and bottle one or two, and see what the outcome is
Since glass is non-porous, it shouldn't stain. If any of the discoloration seems permanent, I wouldn't use those bottles.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
Since glass is non-porous, it shouldn't stain. If any of the discoloration seems permanent, I wouldn't use those bottles.

True, however it can be discolored and etched. I have seen older glass like that.
 
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