Best way to clean antiques and cast iron?

Going through all the stuff in my mother in law's basement. She has a lot of cast iron shoe form things, old glass milk quarts, antique fans etc. Everything has a lot of built up dust and then some things are rusted out. What's the best/safest way to clean these things so they're still worth something??

 

Welcome!
It's late so many may not see your post until tomorrow.
You should post some photos of what you have.
10 per post max.
Make them 480x640 and use the full image button. Thank you.

 

Separate your items by group, glass in one, pottery in another. 10 items is too many. 5 is better.

There are a lot of different ways to clean items. It will depend on what the material is.
Some things can only be dusted off. Like the fans, you want to avoid water.

 

Very good advice.

Debora

 

Wash the glass bottles with washing up liquid and warm water, that will do no harm. The cast iron, I'd simply use a stiff bristle brush on.

 

I saw somewhere someone tell another to soak an item in Coke... I know I've heard of that with coins but is it a real thing to do??

 

Don't do it. It removes patina which is not always desirable.

 

Hi,
If you have a painted iron lamp base etc, Use vaseline on it. Rub it on and wipe it off, it will remove dust, dirt and other things without harming the paint or the gilding.
greg

 

I wouldn't do too much cleaning until you know what you have inherited that might have resale value (if that's your concern) and, if then. In many instances, (too) aggressive cleaning damages an item and affects its value. Also, you'll be giving yourself a lot of work and likely incurring some cost in cleaning supplies. Best to post photographs of small groupings of items, starting perhaps with a category you think has greater value (e.g. antique fans), and wait for input. Of course, dust or shake before photographing.

Debora

 

Be careful not to wet items with labels or possibly cold painted designs. Cold painting is not under glaze so it will wash off very easily.

 

If she left you pottery, whatever you do, do not soak it in bleach (newbies sometimes think this is a good idea)! Warm, soapy water is your friend

 

How about old wheel casters? Most have porcelain wheels. All this stuff makes me nervous! Also, there's a box of old chair legs and lots of old chairs down there. And then a HUGE trunk that's on casters. Probably 4' wide, 3' tall and 2.5' deep. Plus a few more trunks. There's so so so much. Red Wing crocks. It's getting to the point where I feel I need to meet a local antiquer to come through the house and just point me in the direction of everything.

 

There can be some money in old crocks. Condition is important. Cracks and chips lower value.
http://www.redwingcollectors.org/category/ask_the_experts/stoneware

These would be the people to contact if you think you have something really wonderful or unusual.
http://www.crockerfarm.com/

 

I see you have started a couple of threads.
Maybe you mentioned this and I missed it.

I am assuming you have inherited a house full of items.
Are you under a time frame to clear all of this, or can you take your time and do research and sell as you go?

 

I do not mean to sully the name or the reputation of any body or their profession, however I would be extremely careful about allowing anyone to come in & buy the items before you know what you have there. Not everyone has the person who is selling their items best interests at heart. JMHO

As far as the Red Wings crocks are concerned you need to check with this auction house before you do anything with them. I have worked with them personally on the recommendation of a member of this forum who has sadly left us about a year & half ago. I found them extremely easy to work with & very helpful at every step of the way. They also pay very promptly.

https://www.crockerfarm.com/

 

Yes, my mother in law passed and my husband and his sister inherited everything. His sister is too busy with work, and my husband wouldn't have any idea how to do any research on anything, so it's really been left up to me to find out what everything is in the best way to get things cleaned up and sold, minus a few pieces that we all want to keep between each other. It's just such a vast array of things. Like I said, Red Wing crocks and other branded crocks, vintage Tupperware that's still brand-new in the box, antique cash registers, antique and vintage type writers, antique furniture, large antique chests, and a lot of old phone stuff. The overwhelming part is that we do need to get the house sold. I don't have nearly enough room in my house to bring the stuff in, as we have five kids and we wouldn't want them to ruin anything. So my best suggestion was that we at least try to get everything boxed up and put into a storage unit and then we could sort through it from there. There's also an antique market in our area that I've considered renting a table at. I've just never done anything like this at all, so I don't want to go in there not knowing at all what I'm doing. And for now I'm really just taking a few pieces like you've seen here to try to find out what they are and what to do with them and the best way to get things sold.

 

What part of the country do you live in Angelina? I was wondering because one of our regulars might live close by you. There is nothing we junkies love more than digging through a mountain of stuff.

 

We're in the Chicago area.

 

Flea Market? Or Antique Mall?

You can use ebay to help determine if items are selling.
When you do a search, over in the left column down near the bottom is "completed sales". Click that and you will see what sold and what didn't and at what prices. Remember the buyer also paid shipping on top of the price paid

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...0&_nkw=lot+antique+furniture+casters&_sacat=0

Can you take a picture of the old chairs and the trunk on casters?

 

Let's see a lot of old phone stuff