Topic: Best way to clean??

[chopin-liszt]

We don't have nagging in our house.
We have "constructive informationalisation". (Michael's term)

[Chris Harrison]

That sofa looks a bit flimsy, to me...

[AJLUNN1965]

If i asked my good lady to clean it for me, i promise i would need something more substantial than a sofa to dodge the slings & arrows!!!

The vase is about 15" in height & the neck is about 5mm???

ANYBODY WANT TO BUY A VASE...........ITS VERY EASY TO CLEAN.....I PROMISE!!!

[rosieposie]

Thanks for the tip  on removing rust stains Sue,  my lovely blue millefiori jug has some where someone has put silk flowers in with fresh flowers in water in it.........it wasn't me!!!  I will try the onion trick.

[AJLUNN1965]

Thanks Sue

That seems like good & sound advise!! I shall try again today!!

Andrew

[chopin-liszt]

For a vase this height, you will probably need two lengths of kitchen roll, tear a thin strip lenghtways, (hoping it won't come apart) and keep twisting gently, so it will go in. Keep twisting till it reaches the bottom. It should untwist a bit at the bottom. Change it a few times, it should dry eventually, as it will absorb vapour.

[ahremck]

Wow that neck is indeed narrow!  

Normally I just get a couple of cotton wool balls - dampen them and add a very small amount of toothpaste then I slosh them back and forth so they gently scrub the part that is dirty.  I can't imagine you being able to get a cotton ball into the vase.

Necessity being the mother of invention - lateral thinking is needed.  I suggest you get some of that nice cane we all learned to use in Primary School art.  Soak the end for say 24 hours and then give hat end a good bashing with a hammer so it approximates a brush.  Put it in the vase with a very little soap & water and gently rotate it so the brush part scrubs away at the accumulated dirt.  Hopefully you will have a wonderously clean vase after you rinse it with clean water.

Dare I say, good luck,  Ross

[suzzi]

Ah, you are correct in assuming I am from the USA. I have spent a lot of time and money on finding the best way of cleaning vases just like this. You can try the onions and swirling balls, but it rarely works. I use lead #8 bird shot and aluminum oxide slurry in a motorized tumbler, and that takes a few days...so swirl away. The acid does work, especially on rust and hardened stains. Toilet bowl cleaner has enough acid to be effective if you have a problem finding Hydrochloric. You can make a brush with heavy gauge wire. Wrap the whole thing with tape to avoid scratching. It sounds funny to use 000 steel wool as a brush tip on the wire, but it works just fine. It won't scratch the glass, just make sure it is wet. If the glass is sick, you have to tumble it.  I have heard strong Nitric acid will polish it off by eating away the glass, but that is very dangerous and hard to get in a high enough concentration... you can make it, if you dare, but I really caution against it.

[AJLUNN1965]

Ok.....warm water 50/50 with white vinegar & a collection of brushes bought from a tropical fish store, which are made for cleaning water pumps!! they range form 5mm-20mm. 12" in length, made from twisted aluminium with plastic brush heads, de-ionised water & silica gel.

Left to soak, then used brushes to scrub. Rinsed with de-ionised water. I drained most of the water then placed some silica gel into the vase & left overnight! & today....sparkling vase!! at last!!!

Thanks everyone!

top tip....the brushes were very useful!!

[Paul S.]

suzzi  -  you sound the veritable alchemist  -  you should come and clean some of my pieces.   I'm with you re the aluminium oxide and balls (to which I also add metal polish), but hadn't tried the adding the tumbler.......what do you do when the glass is asymetrical in diameter i.e. bulbous bottom and narrow top, for example.........do you attach some sort of collar to the narrow end in order to create a uniform diameter??    Understand that a quantity of short off-cuts of copper wire can be equally effective as balls (when used in a tumbler).    Must admit I hadn't thought of using lavatory bowl bleach before (don't know why), but it sounds quite effective, and inexpensive, so will go out and buy some now.       Can't remember if people had commented on caustic soda - and if the results were worth while.   I'd always shied away from using wire wool  -  whatever grade - as assumed it would scratch the glass  -  never thought as to the origin of wire wool  -  i.e. as to whether it came from mild steel or something harder.     
Nitric acid  -  definitely no comment!!  stear clear.
Glad you had a good result AJ - guess you can put the goldfish back in now   -  amazing, sometimes, what you can get into a tight opening.