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Monday 11 February 2013

Cleaning White Ironstone

I've made a few mistakes with antiques over the years and one of the biggest was trying to clean ironstone with bleach. With vintage pieces, there's always some crazing (fine crackle) of the glaze and that allows entry into the clay underneath and damages it.  Ironstone is not made with a high fired clay like porcelain and the porous clay is very susceptible to damage.

Although I don't mind some marks on vintage ironstone, this plate is used to serve food and always looked dirty. ~


I could have soaked the plate in straight 3% hydrogen peroxide, found in groceries and pharmacy stores.  It would have taken several bottles to cover the plate and that gets rather expensive.

Instead, I used denture cleaning tablets.  A box of ninety tablets was about $4 at Giant Tiger.  In a 4 X 8" by 1" deep plastic container, I dissolved 3 of the tablets in hot water.  By the time the tablets had dissolved, the water had cooled enough to not open the crazing more and I submerged the plate in the solution. ~


I left it in there for about an hour.  You can see the stuff that came off the plate in the water. ~


I could give the plate a second soaking to see if the last bits will come out, but I think a few marks are charming on a piece that dates back to the early 1800's.

Here she is after her Sunday bath! ~


I've safely used denture tablets on transferware, crocks and porcelain.  It works really well on removing water/foliage marks from the inside of flower vases, too!  I suppose you could actually use it to clean dentures but how much fun would that be?

Don't pass up those badly marked ironstone pieces when you are out thrifting.  They can look almost as lovely as they did when they made their debut in England in 1813!

I'm sharing at these parties:  Monday FundayTweak It TuesdayMake It Pretty MondayA Return To LovlinessTransformed TuesdaysNifty Thrifty SundayClever Chicks Blog HopFrom Dream To RealityWow Us WednesdaysLink It Up Thursday What's It WednesdayFeathered Nest Friday

23 comments:

  1. Thanks for this information. Very valuable for us dishaholics. Gorgeous plate and the tomatoes aren't so bad, either.

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  2. I don't have any iron stone but I love the idea for vases. I can never get mine clean enough!

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  3. Wow this is great advice! I have some ironstone I love but it has too many marks to display and I will try this for sure!
    hugs,
    Linda

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  4. Your timing is perfect, Maureen. Thanks for the tips!

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  5. Great tip Maureen. I have used denture tablets for water stains in bottles, but don't remember using it to remove stains in ironstone. Will try it sometime, but I do like a little of the age stains in ironstone. I soaked a bowl in bleach one time and it leached salty/grainy residue for a very long time. Did not like that.
    Thanks for the tip.
    Blessings,
    Audrey Z.

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  6. What a brilliant idea! You've got me wondering if this will work on some other things I have that are stained. It's certainly worth a try! Thanks Maureen...you're a genius!

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  7. I love old ironstone and have some that need this.. Thanks for dropping by my blog.. So nice to meet fellow Canadians..

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  8. You are a smart cookie. It looks beautiful. I use ammonia mixed with water for water and flower film in vases.

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  9. That a great tip! I will need this for some vases I have :)

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  10. This is a great tip..........Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope you’ll join us again!


    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino

    The Chicken Chick

    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  11. Very clever, I'll have to give this a try. Can't get enough ironstone!
    Karee

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  12. Great to know, thanks so much for sharing!
    So nice for you to visit...thank you!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  13. Thanks so much for sharing, I've never heard of it!

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  14. You are so clever! What a great idea dear Maureen!!!

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  15. So are one smart cookie! Thanks for sharing with us this week at Monday Funday!

    Take care,

    Trish

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  16. This is almost as good as candle school...my mom uses this method for her silver jewelry

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  17. such a great tip, maureen--thanks:)

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  18. Hi Maureen! Thanks so much for sharing this. I can't tell you how many times this info would have come in handy. Thanks for linking up at Transformed Tuesday. Hugs, Peggy

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  19. What a great tip... I'm going to remember this! :-) Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!

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  20. I have to give this a try! To think all the lovely pieces that I missed out on :( Thanks so much for sharing this great tip with us.
    Hugs,
    Patti

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  21. Thanks for the tip, Maureen. I certainly need to clean some of my ironstone.

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  22. Do you think this will work on our white corion sink? I love this non-abrasive idea for dishes and think this tip is excellent! xo wendy

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