Topic: Question about cloudy Uranium glass.

[theElench]

I bought a nice Czech pressed Uranium glass bowl.  It was a bit grubby and had what I thought was limescale on the inside.  I gave it a good wash in washing-up liquid then filled it with white vinegar.   The cloudy "deposit" was still there. 

Tried limescale remover, no good.  Could this be something to do with the Uranium?  I'm now not sure if it is a surface deposit or if the glass is turning cloudy all through, if its a deposit it's very, very thin, I can't see or feel any edges to the cloudy bits.  My only other thought was that it might have been used for something acidic that has degraded the polished surface.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[Lustrousstone]

It's cloudiness caused by water reacting with the glass over the long term. The only way to remove it is by polishing. Nothing to do with the uranium. You often see it as white lines in vases

[theElench]

I didn't realise that water could re-act with glass.  Will have a go at polishing with my profiler.  It came with some sort of paste that I think is for polishing (something like T-Cut I imagine).  As the bowl is not very nice to look at as it is, although washed and cleaned it still looks dirty, I have nothing to lose and if it works could be a great improvement.

Thanks for your advice.

[glassobsessed]

Polishing will work but it can take an awful lot of time and effort if the staining is heavy. Don't let heat build up, the glass could crack. Avoid breathing any dust especially with uranium glass!

You can also mask the effect of the staining to some degree with a little oil, I tried a bit of olive oil (it was handy) once and that worked fairly well but silicone oil is recommended.

John