Topic: Is it worth investing to get this decanter professionally restored?

[chopin-liszt]

They're good for getting muck out of difficult places, I use biological washing liquid with copper "Magic Balls" but, sadly, they don't do anything for water-marked glass.
That's damage to the internal surface of the glass itself.

I think if you've managed to get all your glass clean with steel balls and water, claretjugcollector, that the previous owners of your glass took great care of it!

[claretjugcollector]

the copper balls are not good - i wouldn`t take them - stay with the steel balls - because the copper will oxidate ( get ugly green and do not work anymore )  :sm:

[GlassIsGood]

I can confirm that the little balls don't work with this type of fogging, which I understand is degradation/chemical reaction of the outermost molecules of the glass itself.  I know because I've tried, along with every other thing I can think of tipping in it (and I'm a chemistry type chemist by training!!)

[chopin-liszt]

I believe it (the water marking) can be disguised by giving the inside of the decanter a very thin coating of silicon oil. This would render it unusable for storing stuff you intend to drink, and would be a problem you'd have to declare if selling it, but it would fix it for display purposes.

(umm, my copper balls go black, which is copper oxide. They still knock bits of gunge off. Copper nitrate is green - the stuff you see on copper roofs of buildings.)

[johnphilip]

I still think Basil Loveridge is the best option for a perfect job .

[Pinkspoons]

Or, if you're feeling thrifty, securely tether a sponge to the end of a flexible plastic rod, pour into your decanter a small-ish amount of cerium oxide slurry (cerium oxide can now be bought on eBay quite cheaply), poke your improvised mop into the decanter and use it to rub the slurry against the decanter walls for a couple of hours.

It's a bit laborious, but it does work. And you can do it whilst watching the gogglebox.

[GlassIsGood]

Pinkspoons - how hard do you need to rub?  That ships decanter is not an easy to get at shape, and I doubt you could rub with any degree with pressure, but with a bit of flexible rod I guess it would be possible to slosh it up and down the sides.  Would that be sufficient?

[Paul S.]

As a beginner, I notice that this subject comes up possibly more frequently than many others - so I'll bore you yet again.
If the glass is remotely valuable then jp's advice is the most sensible - why spoil the ship for a happ'th of tar.   I bought the 'copper balls' because I thought, naively, that copper being softer than steel it wouldn't damage the glass, but it would appear that I was wrong (Thomas), and apparently you can have success with steel - in removing deposits left by hard or soft water.    Simple and brief processes such as shaking the glass for a few minutes - after adding copper/steel balls (plus a metal polish and fine abrasive such as cerium oxide) - seem to do almost nothing where there has been real degradation of the glass.    Having said that, if you are prepared to spend a long time using power sources/cotton mops/powders/metal polish, then it is a fact that you will achieve substantial improvements.   Decanters are not the easiest pieces to clean - inaccessability being a problem (much Finnish glass comes under this heading) - hence balls being useful to reach the parts other mops can't get to.   A more complicated, but successful method is to use a tumbler - filling the glass with small pieces of copper wire - plus the metal polish - and run for a day or two.   I've not noticed a problem with the copper balls becoming ineffective due to oxidization - a few seconds being hammered around in a vase with cerium oxide and Brasso, soon cleans them, and they are then as effective as ever.   I know nothing of chemistry Sue - but I always remember growing the attractive blue copper sulphate chrystals at school.
There is a contributor to the GMB -'ipdglasspolishing' - who does/has offered a glass polishing/restoration kit.   I haven't tried this - if anyone has, would they like to comment on the effectiveness - or otherwise - of this product. 

[Pinkspoons]

Pinkspoons - how hard do you need to rub?  That ships decanter is not an easy to get at shape, and I doubt you could rub with any degree with pressure, but with a bit of flexible rod I guess it would be possible to slosh it up and down the sides.  Would that be sufficient?

As long as there's some contact between the mop and the decanter wall, there should be sufficient enough pressure - in my experience at least. For awkward shapes, I imagine the it would be possible to adapt a bottle brush - cut off the bristles and somehow attach a sponge (and make sure there's zero risk of any metal components coming in contact with the glass). This would give it some degree of poseability.

But, in any case, you really don't need much pressure.

If the glass is remotely valuable then jp's advice is the most sensible - why spoil the ship for a happ'th of tar.

My first go at polishing out a chip was on a vase with a value of £800-£1000.   In for a penny, in for a pound (or 800-1000).

It survived, and looks as good as new!

[Paul S.]

please expand a little    -  how do you get rid of a chip that easily.