restoration info

http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/clean2.htm

JEEZZZ ! after all that Im glad I'm not a keen glass collector

Good link, but does anyone know of another way to remove water staining?

I dont have a drill, nor am I good enough with one to use on a piece of glass

It's for a fairly boring Wedgwood glass vase.

It can be done manually - securely tether a sponge to the end of a flexible plastic rod, pour into your vase a small-ish amount of cerium oxide and water slurry (cerium oxide can now be bought on eBay quite cheaply), poke your improvised mop into the vase and use it to rub the slurry against the vessel walls for a while. It can take anything from 10 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the softness of the glass and the severity of the staining.

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

If you take this route, a good trick is to outline the stained areas on the outside of the vase with a permanent marker so you know where to focus your efforts as the staining will be obscured by the slurry. The pen will come off with a bit of acetone.

Oh, I thought I'd replied to a similar thread on here!

A bit more detailed: http://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t5852-removing-scratches#54502

Thanks Nic

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Done with the method Nic stated, Cheers Nic :)

Potty.

good method,I'll have a go

Glad it worked for you.

Glass polishing always seems so daunting when you start, especially when the internet is full of mentions of highly corrosive acids and expensive machinery... but there are simple (if time-consuming) alternatives for most jobs.

has anyone tried those little balls that you can buy in John Lewis? apparently you put them in and swirl them around?

Magic Balls is the brand name i think

Apparently they're okay for shifting calcium deposits and other superficial debris, but aren't abrasive enough to take off staining/cloudiness (which requires the removal of a fine layer of glass).

It did not actually take too long at all, about 10 minuets total seems to have got 99.9% of it off, if not all.

I actually found another use for the powder, I had a Glyn Colledge twin handled dish that also had some "water damage" on the inside where the main decoration is. Using some of the powder in a thick paste it was gone in a few minuets and the decoration looks as good as new.

If anyone else try’s this be warned that it would be easy (I think) to ruin the item if you polish past the top layer of glaze, so be careful if you try it!

Oh, 10 minutes isn't too bad - some glass can take forever!

I assume the different glass recipes affect its hardness - Whitefriars and Holmegaard are fairly easy cleans... but then I've a 1930s Orrefors decanter that absolutely refuses to give up its cloudiness.

Cerium oxide also works on soft metals - it's great for burnishing the marks left by deep-polishing.