Cleaning Cloudy Discount Glass Vases
Discount glass vases can be found in many places-at live auctions and on online auctions, at open air markets and on online marketplaces, at fairs, and in every sort of store, junkshop, and dealership possible. Since buying a glass vase fresh from the creator or manufacturer is rare these days due to the expense, it is often cheaper and easier to buy glass vases used. Used glass vases are more likely to have flaws, however, that can fool amateur collectors.
Some glass vases are made of glass that is called "sick" and consists of millions of tiny fissures. These vases appear cloudy; so many cloudy vases are often incorrectly labeled as "sick." Cloudiness, however, is often the result of chemical deposition or erosion, which can be corrected. If someone decides to buy truly "sick" glass, they should understand that the cloudiness cannot be corrected. Dealers may sometimes temporarily hide a vase's cloudiness by filling it with water or rubbing oil on it. If buyers detect that a glass vase has moisture in it or has been oiled, they need to be wary of the dealer and realize that they aren't seeing the true condition of the vase.
Cloudy vases that aren't internally flawed can almost always be cleaned. Deposition, however, is easier to clean from a vase than erosion, and eroded cloudy vases typically must be sent to a cleaner. Vases often hold water, and the carbonates in the water will stick to the glass, leaving a thin, white film, similar to the white buildup left behind in a bathtub or shower. Sometimes, deposition can be removed by soaking vases in a solution of denture cleaning fluid. Unfortunately, stubborn build-up will require hydrochloric acid, which is dangerous to work with and may require a buyer to send his vases to a professional cleaner. Discount glass vases that are cloudy as a result of deposition rather than erosion are more likely to be sold by individual, amateur sellers rather than by professional glass or antiques dealers. Dealers know how to remove deposition from vases and will do so to receive a higher price for their products if they can. Chemical erosion can also cause cloudiness in vases and will most often require professional cleaning. Eroded vases can be cleaned by polishing the inside of them with lead or copper in a process similar to rock tumbling, only it's the glass, not the stones, which get polished.