A Little About my Bottle Cleaning

Welcome to Gunnell’s Bottle Cleaning, Polishing and Tumbling

I’ve been collecting bottles since 1998 and cleaning them bout 6 years. I tried my own bottles bout 7 months before doing any for other folks. I enjoy cleaning them bout as much as collecting them. It gives you a good feeling to take a stained and crusty old bottle that has been buried 100 years and put a little life and sparkle back in it. It is a difficult process to clean a bottle inside and outside and get all the stain off without over cleaning it outside. Bottles that have high and sharp letters close together are very tough, especially in the loops of the letters. Bottles with open bubbles inside and outside will open up a bit more and bottles with bubbles close to the surface might open up. If you have scratches before I clean your bottle you might still have them when I get done. Scratches are deeper than they seem & will take too much off the bottle trying to get them out. Some very lite spider web scratches might come out. Cleaning bottles so that they do not fog up is very tricky and sometimes I have to do 2 or 3 different steps depending on the size and shape of the bottle. Doing it right on the outside the 1st time is very important. If you have to do it twice it might wear down your letters and seems that much more. Sometimes bottles that have had chips or tops glued on might come off. Cleaning PL bottles outside is very tricky and risky. Getting stains off the outside without taking part or all the label off is risky and you might lose part or all your label, I have had 3 labels to come off and 2 to lose part of it, out of several hundred. Bottles that have laid out in the weather or had soft paint when they was new is risky. PL bottles that have frosty or the orange peeling feel might not shine up as much as a smooth one, but they usually come clean. I clean PL bottles on the inside the same way I clean embossed bottles. In most cases I put your bottle on the same day I get it. It usually takes bout 20 days to do a round bottle. Square, flat, big jugs, sided bottles, and long neck bottles will take longer. I do not guarantee, any bottle not to break, chip, crack, or any label to come off or discolor. I have had 2 flat bottles to break and 1 round bottle to crack and 1 bottle I dropped on the floor, just lucky none was rare. I can do 48 4 inch tube bottles, 20 flat bottles, 8 big tube bottles at 1 time. My machine runs 24/7. I always try my best on every bottle no matter the value. I never get in a hurry on your bottle. When you get your bottle back I want it to be as good as I can get it without overcleaning it outside. There is a point on some bottles when you have to stop cleaning as not to overclean it outside. I do not do any buffing or repairs. The biggest bottle I do is a gallon jug. Cleaning a PL bottle outside that has hard crust and stain will sometimes help it , but might not take all the stain off. The longest I have ever cleaned one outside was 15 days, it had a lot of hard crusty stain, but had a good label under the crust, it took 95% off without wearing down the label. They usually take 3-5 days outside for normal stain. Bottles are cleaned on a 1st come basis. Most embossed brown, black, dark blue, dark green and deep purple (zapped ) bottles that have pecks, scratches, and rubs after being cleaned, in these places will show up white when they dry, with brown bottles being the worst. I am in Rural Hall, NC 27045 near Sauratown Mountain and Hanging Rock State Park, Stokes County. If you need a bottle cleaned please call 336-969-9643. Different pictures will be added time to time.

Thanks,

Glenn

Please check out before and after pictures below

open bubble on left side open up abit more

This bottle was cleaned on the outside with weedeater line and alum. oxide polish just to bring the color out and take off the light stain, it left all texture and light scratches. It does not feel slick like some polished bottles