Glass

Glass easily breaks so exercise particular care in cleaning, display, handling and storage. Follow the simple tips below to preserve your investment in these beautiful items.

Cleaning

Remove any hand jewellery to avoid percussion damage. It is advisable not to wear gloves as you do not get a good grip.

Wash in luke-warm soft or distilled water charged with a small amount of washing up liquid. Hard water can leave surface lime scale on glass and hot or cold water potentially crack any old or weakened item.

Do not use a dishwasher. 

Wash items one at a time in a plastic bowl.

Dry items individually with a clean lint free cloth again making sure that you keep all items well away from each other after cleaning.

Place on a protective mat after cleaning.

For ingrained dirt, do not use hard brushes as cut or painted glass easily scratches.

Loosen dirt using luke-warm water then clean using only a soft brush.

Repair

Do not attempt to glue broken glass.

Repairs should only be undertaken by a recognised glass conservator. 

Display

Glass is best displayed protected within a suitable display cabinet.

Display pieces well away from each other to avoid the potential for percussion damage.

Also avoid direct sunlight or any other strong heat source (e.g., radiators). Rapid temperature changes can easily crack weakened glass.

If you use your glass vases to display flowers, change water regularly as standing organically charged water can easily produce internal staining which may then become difficult to remove.

Also remove all organic debris during cleaning. 

Handling

Always handle using two hands making sure that you remove any loose items such as lids etc., beforehand. 

Wear white cotton gloves to avoid leaving grease or acid on the glass surface.

Storage

Store wrapped in acid free paper (not newspaper) and box to prevent any potential for percussion damage.

The Trusted Experts on the site will advice you about restoration and many other matters related to what we hope will be a very enjoyable and at times profitably hobby and past time.