Rust Stains

steve

What is the easiest way to remove stains from bottles re; rust, white stains. Also can someone please tell me how to clean milk bottles without removing the painted name? I soak them, and it still comes off. Thanks for your help.

historic

There are household products (find at grocery store or hardware store) that remove stains. One is ZUD which is a powder but others are available in liquid form. They contain acid but it will not harm glass. (Only hydrofluoric acid acts upon glass)

However, painted labels such as on milk bottles are relatively fragile so you are probably limited to hand washing around the labels with dish washing detergent on a sponge.

jkinney720

the easiest way to remove rust is undiluted works toilet bowl cleaner, and for white staining i use prolonged soaks in 3in1 oil and a rough scrubbing.

historic

Oil masks etching but does not remove it.

The only method for removing white stains aka etching is to tumble the glass. There are many people in the bottle community who have rock tumbler type setups who polish the stain out of bottles. I have several and used to do this for others...now only tumble bottles for myself.