Cleaning and  Polishing Antique Bottles

Fortunately glass holds up fairly well, even after decades of submersion. Usually bottles dating from the early 1800's to the present, are found dirty and heavily encrusted but otherwise in relatively good condition. When intact bottles are found the first step is to remove the loose dirt. A little water and a bottle brush will do the job. For stubborn stains, all that is usually needed is a mixture of powdered dish washing detergent, water and a little elbow grease. For bottles that are stained on the inside, use a bottle brush with a mud-like solution of detergent and water. If you don't have a bottle brush, just shake the sloppy mixture around. It will usually have enough abrasiveness to remove most stains without damaging the glass. If stubborn stains are present, a 50% solution of muriatic acid and water can be used. Acid is especially useful in cleaning bottle that have been submerged in salt water and have marine growth. When using acid do it outside. Do not breath the vapors and remember to wear latex gloves. Its also important to rinse the artifact with fresh water after the acid bath.

As mentioned in previous chapters many bottles are dulled or sand blasted after being exposed to the effects of submersion in areas of surge or current. These bottles are less desirable to the serious collector. As a scuba diver I prefer to leave a few of these bottles alone. For some bottles my feeling is that the sand blasting or presence of coral or marine growth actually provides visual evidence that the bottle was recovered from the deep. If a crystal clear finish is desired soap and acid may just not do the trick. For these situations tumbling offers a great way to polish antique glass.


Tumbling

Some bottles may have a milky white stain that remains even after vigorous cleaning. According to Cindy Ray of Good Ole Bottles “The film is most likely glass oxidation. Glass oxidation is the breaking down of the silica in the glass. No cleaners or amount of elbow grease can remove this. The only way to remove it is to use cutting oxides on the glass effectively exposing the next good layer of glass. Contents or other chemicals that are found in the ground or the ocean - are the prime contributors to this reaction.” Other bottles, especially those found underwater will have been dulled by the sand blasting effect of sediment constantly being blown over the glass by tides and currents. Depending on the condition the effects of stains, scratches and sand blasting may be removed by having the bottle tumbled or polished. It is the individual collectors decision as to if a bottle should be left alone or professionally polished. As with many of my shipwreck artifacts I tend to clean but do not polish the majority of my bottles. My feeling is the blasted effect or presence of barnacles gives a visual reminder that this bottle had been recovered from underwater. On the other hand showcasing a hundred year old bottle that is crystal clear can be impressive.

Tumbling bottles involves rolling bottles by placing them inside a tube with cleaning or polishing oxides. As the tube is rolled the process slowly reveals a new surface on the glass. The process can take from several days to weeks but once the bottle is removed from the tube, and washed the results can be quite dramatic. My friend Mike McMeekin a local treasure hunter and bottle collector reports that “unlike most antiques and collectibles which should never be aggressively cleaned, bottle polishing can actually add value to the bottle. “ I would highly recommend a professional polishing service like Cindy Ray’s Good Ole Bottles. These professionals charge approximately 10-30 dollars per bottle. If you have a large number of bottles to polish you may even want to consider setting up or building your own tumbling machine. These machines and associated supplies can be quite expensive. Basically if you only want to clean your own collection its probably easier to pay the professionals.

As a side note, I recently wanted to build a ship in a bottle replica of the prohibition rumrunner Lizzie D. This is one of the popular shipwrecks we explore off Long Island, NY. I decided to insert it into a bottle I had recovered from the wreck. Only problem was no matter how hard a scrubbed I could not clean the interior stain. I arranged to have the bottle professionally tumbled and after only a few weeks received the polished bottle back. The results were nothing short of spectacular. The bottle was crystal clear! The finished ship in a bottle would not have been possible without tumbling.