Author Topic: Tip on Cleaning up Ceramics, Pottery, Porcelain  (Read 1983 times)

GreenhornGirl

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Tip on Cleaning up Ceramics, Pottery, Porcelain
« on: September 02, 2011, 08:52:04 pm »
Fabulous trick...you know how the ground bottoms (those often circular bottom rims) of pottery, ceramics, and porcelain, etc.--especially when vintage or antique--have that "dirty" unglazed look?  A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (local grocery store in the cleaning section) will restore almost all of these to their clean, original state, so that taking pictures of the bottoms of your pieces won't look used and turn off the buyer.

I wouldn't recommend using them anywhere else on the piece, but if you have one of those pieces with a discolored or dirty looking bottom lip where the piece makes contact with surfaces, be it a decorative plate, a planter with unglazed foot bottoms, the bottom of a vase, etc...this works MAGIC, seriously.  It's such an amazing transformation that I wowed my husband with the before & after, so it was too good of a tip not to pass it on.

A little before and after picture on the bottom of a salt shaker below!

Also:  I always buy long toothbrushes if I find them on sale near the checkout for a buck or so, because they're AWESOME for cleaning out tall bud vases.  Other hard-to-reach spots inside pottery or ceramics I tie two Q-tips together tightly with thick sewing thread and I can get right in there to clean edges I can't get to.  It also helps for pieces you can't reach your hand into to use thread and wrap it tightly around a wet cloth rag that is wrapped around a wooden spoon, to get into long vases.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2011, 09:46:07 pm by GreenhornGirl »

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Tip on Cleaning up Ceramics, Pottery, Porcelain
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2011, 10:58:32 am »
I'm not sure I would do that on an antique, as the grundge helps to indicate age. If it looks too clean it wouldn't look old, but great tip for a newer piece. It would also work well on stained porcelain tubs and sinks. I wish I had had that when I restored my 1909 porcelain sink!

Antiqueaholic in recovery

mart

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Re: Tip on Cleaning up Ceramics, Pottery, Porcelain
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2011, 10:58:28 am »
Don`t use that on anything you plan to sell !!  Nothing says repro faster than a perfectly clean bottom on a piece of glass like that !! Great for your keepers though !!