Though of course I mean no disrespect to Grunge the long ago Fashion choice. In fact My fashion choice for a very short period. I thought we needed a wee rest after all the excitement and Our John spent some time yesterday going through his bottle collection and cleaning a few of them with this new idea. We are cleaning out an area of the basement in preparation for the building of a new cellar/storeroom/distillery/fermenting room. It does not have a name yet. 
And when one begins a project of this kind it is like lighting the fire, you have to read every piece of old newspaper before screwing it up and loading on the kindling. So when Our John came across his bottle collection, wandering off onto a completely different tangent seemed appropriate. So.
Get your old bottles, soak and then scrub as much of the dirt out as you can with a little bottle brush. 
Here is the trick. Cut up a piece of copper wire into little pieces. Put copper pieces, a little vinegar, a little dishwashing liquid and some water into the bottle.
And shake and shake and shake and shake until you can shake no more. Or the bottle is clean. Which ever comes first. Of course you can build a machine to do the shaking but when living sustainably Me Power is the best power. Plus if your hands are busy you cannot possibly carry rubbish bags of important stuff out to the truck destined for the dump. And Voila!
The inside of the bottle is clean. Well cleaner anyway. After all some of this dirt is OLD and takes some shifting. 
Lovely. Lots of gorgeous clean bottles for more vanilla essence, and viniagrettes, and all kinds of stuff smuggled out to the truck while he was distracted. He had forgotton he was saving this junk anyway! No. I did not throw away the good stuff. But how many pairs of old boots complete with cracks and hardened tar, jars of rusted and broken pots and worn out rugs and bug eaten car magazines and empty boxes from the fan you bought ten years ago which never worked for long anyway, and old swimming pool hoses does a man need? And a raft? What? Of course I have kept the three legged chairs, antique ice skating boots, boxes of dubious tapes with no tape player and the disco ball. Disco ball? And why is there a full sized plastic model of the Millenium Falcon, that takes up an entire ping pong table. Why is this still down here? I thought you had found another home for that? Oh yeah, That!
This dust free, purpose built storage room will be magnificent. As soon as I can clear a space so the builder can get down here.
This morning is wonderfully warm. 48F (8C.) With a little rain. I hear the sheep wandering about outside so they will be a happy, if soggy, flock this morning. They love the rain. Daisy does NOT Like the rain thank you very much!
It will be a good day on the Farmy. Good morning!
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
77 responses to “How to Clean Grungy dirt out of Old Bottles”
Love that you have a disco ball, celi, those are collector’s items, for sure! Great tips on bottle cleaning…I have some of those that need attention, and I’m curious, is there a particular reason to use copper wire…would any wire do or is copper best for bottles that might later be used for food stuff or ingestibles?
I wish we had a basement… with the Millenium Falcon in it… sigh… 🙂
I can help you with the Millenium Falcon! Though It might be a bit big to hide in my luggage, i mean this thing is as big as the table!! c
And after all that bottle cleaning, I bet you have some valuable ones in there (I’m a great watcher of Flogit on TV, where people bring junk to be valued and go home with fortunes (or not). Great post.
I love old bottles, it seems they drunk a lot of castor oil around here in the old days!!! c
What a great tip! Found your blog through Betsy from Bits and Breadcrumbs. I plant a garden with my two daughter’s in the spring….so I’ll have to see if I can pick up some tips on your site. I always plant everything too close together (we have a small space in the city) but my girls get such a kick out of eating something they’ve helped to grow!
Welcome, wonderful to see you and awesome that you have a garden no matter how small. What is exciting about planting things close is that you can pull every other one as they grow and pop it into the salad. Beets, lettuce, chard, silverbeet, peas, spinach, spring onions, celery, cabbages. All these make lovely baby leaf salads. So you see. Too close has its advantages too!! c
Lovely bottles! I think if you are brewing in your cellar, it should be called a cave like a French wine cellar 😉
Yeah! Good thinking Mad. It would sound like this “Where is John!”.. Oh in his cave!! Yup it works c
What a brilliant trick! I can’t believe the difference. It really does work! Lovely photos too….as always. 😉
Glass is wonderful to photograph! Morning Caroline! c
I learn something new every day!! Those are gorgeous bottles, can’t wait to see what you will fill them with!!!
I know.. any suggestions? I loved your post today by the way! c
The bottles are truly lovely! I cannot help but look at them and think of the wisdom of making bottles and re-using them…ah well, I am envious. I, too collect old bottles but give away too many filled with vanilla and such…
I did think about making them pressies, but now that you mention it Vivian I would have to hang a tag on the bottle saying return for refund! c
Looks like all the snow is melting…and haven’t you made those bottles look delectable; not only by cleaning them but also by photographing them so beautifully! What a truly ingenious way to not load the truck! I take my hat off to you 🙂
Well we all have our ways! And i just looked out my studio window and it is snowing again, so I wonder what will happen next! c
Now I’m curious…is it the copper’s reaction with the vinegar that gives that extra shine? My windows get pure vinegar washes.
I am not sure if it is because of the reaction or just the fact that the vinegar will shine the glass. I clean with pure white vinegar too. I have it in a spray bottle! c
Hey, one man’s trash is another woman’s treasure, and vice versa, because of course it works both ways. 🙂 A Disco ball? Why, you should hang it from the rafters of the barn and shine a strobe light on it! I just know that your farm animals would just love it! Who ever said that cows and sheep can’t dance? (or stampede) And hey, really cool trick with cleaning out the old bottles, and very impressive results!
Chris what a fantastic idea. The barn is the perfect place for a disco ball!! c
Beautiful photos!
thanks debra.. have a great day out there in the sunshine! c
wow1 talk about an amazing before and after.
I can’t wait to see what you will do with the bottles
any ideas? c
Hmmm flavored olive oil. Put arlic, rosemary or even cinnamon in the bottle, add olive oil and leave for two weeks and then enjoy.
Apple vinegar or any type of vinegar
If I think of anything else I will let you know
What a great idea, I can do that. Maybe a chili oil too i forgot all about those! Good thinking sawson! c
i Love old bottles and used to collect them when i was younger, with all my moving though they got left behind. I, like you would certainly find use for them these days.
so sad you lost them But i am sure you will find more..and yes Now that i am serious about the kitchen i find plenty of uses for it! c
some brilliant photography and use of light here Cecilia! I love old bottles too!! Have a beautiful rest of the week!
you too Mimo. I am so glad you are sticking around! c