Pharmacy bottles

In the summer, we purchased a couple of old pharmaceutical bottles at a vide grenier. We like these kinds of things, as they bring an immediate period feel to wherever they are put. However, they were looking a bit grubby and too much of their age, and really not great for displaying, so Brian set about cleaning them up and mending any fragile areas of the labels.

First things first, they needed flushing through with a lot of very soapy water. During their wash Brian dealt with the cork that had got pushed through into one of the bottles. He did this by stabbing it with a sturdy kebab rod, which broke it into two parts, which then made it easier to pull it out.

Next were the labels. Parts of them were torn or coming away. The trick was simply to softly clean the surfaces, then apply a PVA based glue with a tiny brush and push the edges back into place. Both bottles needed work, but a little care meant nothing was lost or damaged further.

Hey presto! The two bottles are looking much better, and I can’t wait to see how they’ll look when we choose their final home.