Cleaning water stained decanters

[TexAg '01]

About a year ago I inherited a German made crystal decanter from my Grandmother. It looks like there are water stains ont he inside of the bottle and I have not found a way to remove them. Anyone have any experience with this issue?
Colin

 

[Edcculus]

Try hitting it with a warm mixture of Oxy Clean Free (unscented). I would recommend a product made by Five Star Chemical Company called PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash). Its a more effective cleaner, but is quite expensive. You can get Oxy Free at WalMart and use it for a lot of things.

I generally use Oxy/PBW to remove fermentation residue, but it might work in this application. If its a hard water deposit, you might try an acid like regular white vinegar

 

[_JP_]

A bottle brush and perhaps a vinegar and water solution.

 

[Hawkeye5]

I was also going to suggest some white vinegar and water. Perhaps let it soak for a few days.

 

[Torcams]

Clr?

 

[TexAg '01]

I read that uncooked rice in water could do it, but no joy. Tried CLR also to no avail. I read online that one option was to find a company that could grind off a very small amount on the inside, but this is oviously a last resort.. We will see how the vinegar will work.
Thanks again!

 

[thebikingengineer]

If the vinegar doesn't work then it's probably an acidic stain. I'd go for PBW as stated above, but I'm a homebrewer and keep the stuff around. It will really get pretty much anything off of glass with a minimum of effort. It's a little pricey but you don't need much at all, and it will give you an excuse to make beer at home, a fun and rewarding hobby to be sure.

 

[Hanzo]

Bill Ellis the knife maker , straight razor guy and member here has a great tutorial on cleaning perfume bottles thats on ebay. He uses CLR and metal ball bearings to clean bottle stains. Might be worth going to ebay and take a look at his info. I used his tecnique to clean up some oldclear glass barber bottles and it worked. However with a heirloom crystal bottle I don't know if its applicable.

 

[TexAg '01]

Actually I am a homebrewer myself. So far I have mainly used Starsan for my cleaning needs. But I will definitely give PBW a try.