Topic: Best way to clean??

[ju1i3]

I was disappointed with these vases (the blue pair) when they arrived and had considered returning them but then I thought they'd be good to experiment on as they are very cloudy and weren't that expensive. If they get ruined I won't mind. If it works I'll be more confident to try cleaning some better vases (like the green one which looks practically white in that picture, I think I made it worse with all the things I tried on it: Stearadent mutiple times, 2 different toilet cleaners, etc).

[Paul S.]

I take it that all three are bulb vases??  -  as a suggestion, and if you not overly worried about the outcome, you might try suzzi's wire wool method.    Keep the area wet/moist with say Brasso, and try a small area to start with, and maybe add some cerium oxide to boot.           I wouldn't have thought that the chemicals you've used so far would have had an detrimental effect  -  unless perhaps there was some caustic soda mixed in somewhere along the line.

[Ohio]

The only things I might at is that when you are done use 91% Isoproply Alcohol after the water rinse as it displaces the water & evaporates quickly leaving no traces of spotting. On items you can reach areas that need cleaning easily (primarily bowls & large mouth vases), go to any auto parts store & pick up a can of fine grade rubbing compound & use a mix of 1/3 to 2/3 water to compound & use cotton balls to apply rubbing vigorously & when film starts to set add a few drops of water. Rinse & repeat the process probably 2-3 times. Although its work you'll be suprised that the RC will polish the sickness out without resorting to chemicals. Now if you use a Dremel & extension with a cotton attachment  make ABSOLUTELY certain that you NEVER exceed speed 2 & make certain to add the drops of water to the paste as soon as the film appears. Speed 2 no problems, anything higher will start to generate heat & heat cracks glass. Now for the tumblers, a rock tumbler & cerium will do for small items, however its its a not a bad idea to use small plastic beads you can get cheap at any of the hobby jewelery stores instead of lead or steel shot. For the big stuff...well a buddy of mine put together a roller tumbler bench & even though he kept costs down it still amounted to $350. Best idea of course is to not buy sick glass unless the piece is really, really, really good & worth the effort. Ken

[rosieposie]

Julie, I think we should start a caption competition for your picture....what is the cat thinking?!

"Poor Julie, if I knock these on the floor, it will save her the bother of cleaning them."

[Paul S.]

quote from Ken................"Best idea of course is to not buy sick glass unless the piece is really, really, really good & worth the effort"......probably the best advice yet Ken

[chopin-liszt]

The cat is thinking;- "Why on earth are these in the foreground while I'm at the back?

[Paul S.]

I would think that a cat and glass are a fatal combination  -  but I suppose if the glass is not that important then no matter.   Hopefully, the good pieces are protected.
I've just tried wire wool plus cerium oxide plus metal polish, on a piece of Aseda, and regret to say that you can detect the ultra fine wear marks of the wire wool.   However, it has removed the water staining/limescale by eighty odd percent, so the bottom line is that the effort gives a positive result, albeit not perfect, and the piece looks vastly better than before the treatment.      Nonetheless, I think Ken's advice not to buy a cloudy piece to start with is the best way.

[ju1i3]

Well this has become a personal battle between me and the cloudiness so I'm determined to find a method to deal with it but yes, I agree it probably is a good idea to avoid buying cloudy glass in the first place! This clear vase is more important to me to clean so will do this after I've gotten a good result with the others. It was one of the first antique hyacinth vases I got so I guess it has sentimental value and I'd quite like to get it looking better.

Pussycat has never knocked anything over in the 6 years I've had him . He generally doesn't get near the glass unless I'm photographing it on the table. Thinking about it hyacinth vases are pretty heavy and "sturdy" and not easy to knock over. 

I tried Spontex steel wool on the green vase last year and I can see the marks as well. Not sure if I kept going whether all the white would eventually come off and then there'd be no scratch marks to see.

[SwedenMikael]

Not sure if someone already gave you the tip of them small metal pearls that you put into the vase and swirl them around. The crystal glass company Riedel has some steel pearls that you can reuse over and over again and I use them all the time when cleaning my old pieces I come across.

/Mikael, Sweden.

[Anne]

There is a product called Barkeeper's Friend which has removed stains from some glass that nothing else would touch - it's especially good at removing rust marks and similar inside vases. http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/product/8868 but Sainsbury's sell it too. Maybe worth a try before you give up hope, Julie. (BTW for anyone who drives, it apparently works very well to really clean car windscreens too! :thup:)