I met the Lowry's at the Utah bottle show in September. I had always wondered about tumbling bottles but it just seemed like too much time and effort to get the equipment. Now the JarDoctor has done all of that for you. What an amazing machine. It has been running continuously since September! I can't believe the difference. The machine comes with a nice PVC cannister with stopples to hold the bottle, copper tumbling medium, polishes, and instructions. It took about 10 minutes to place the bottle in and then you go away for 2-3 days and you come back and your bottle is shiny and new.
I know there is controversy surrounding the idea "to polish or not to polish". But let me ask you this. If you found a gold ring in your back yard garden and it was dirty, would you have it cleaned?
Of course! Why would you not do the same to restore the perfection of your glass treasures if you can? Sometimes the opalescence adds a nice dimension that you want to preserve, but mostly, it just clouds the glass. Hazy or shiny? There is no question in my mind. It has opened up a whole new excitement for my collection. I am looking at all of it again and restoring it's value.
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This was covered white. I was unable to even see through it. Now I can see the bubbles, flaws and whittle effect of something that was almost a throw away.
Before
Can you honestly say you would rather have this?
After
Instead of this?
These were the worst examples of opalization I could find. Notice the third one on the front row. Under all that stuff was a wonderful swirling flaw and the glass was "whittled". I have decided to keep it in my collection where 3 days before, it was a discard.
