I know you don't want to hear this....but glass can get 'sick"....just become cloudy....and there is no cure.
But the fact that you could clean the part you could reach is encouraging.
I have a "vase cleaner" like a giant pipe cleaner...fuzzy stuff on a wire that you can bend. I got it at a Mikasa store.
But....be aware it may be "sick" and have to be relegated to use only as a flower holder.
Linda C

One thing to try is to crush egg shells and pour in some water and swirl it all about. The egg shells are slightly abrasive and may do the trick.
I also use a weak bleach solution for vases sometimes.

I just read these tips at:
http://www.tellmehowto.net/read.php?ref=199
I think I'd try the denture tables first. Good luck.

--Alice
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By: Mary - Date: 2004-07-15

You know how that awful green residue remains on the bottom of your pretty glass vase and the neck isn't wide enough to get a brush down there?

Fill the vase with a solution of water and biological washing powder or liquid, and let it soak. Rinse well. If you can add a few drops of ammonia to the rinsing water the glass will really shine.

Tina Carter

Reply:

Pour half a handful of rice grains down the vase, with some white vinegar and shake lots! It should get rid of all that gunk - even if it's dried up..

Reply:

Denture tablets for cleaning vases and carafe's Pop in a tablet you can break it in half for narrow bottle necks, add hot water and leave it to soak a few hours, better still over night. Works wonders.

Can you try putting it in the dishwasher but TAKE IT OUT BEFORE the dry cycle? otherwise, I'd try effervescent tablets, alkaseltzer or a denture cleaner.

also just read to fill vase up with water and add toliet bowl cleaner, let it sit for a while then empty and rinse.

If you have a fine lead glass vase...or one made of antique glass.....don't use toilet bowl cleaner! If it wasn't sick glass before....it will be after you clean it with toilet bowl cleaner!
If your glass is cloudy because of mineral deposits, Poli-dent or vinegar will remove the film. If it's cloudy because of etching....notthing short of repolishing the glass will remove the cloudiness.
Linda C

Oopsie, don't do what I posted then. I read it on a household hints page online somewhere...Oh well. Carry on.

thanx, guys--i DO appreciate the thoughts! as i said, since i could clean the top inch or so of the vase, i doubt the glass is etched. and i have soaked it in vinegar before...

the next time i run the dishwasher when i'm here to monitor it, i will try that! and the denture tablets if that doesn't work. now i'm wondering why the toilet bowl cleaner would hurt crystal? you put it onto a vitreous china surface and let that sit...not that i know exactly what vitreous china is but both that and crystal are pretty hard surfaces formed in a heat process. i got tired of looking at it and a little bit ago i put in a combo of water, vinegar, ammonia and baking soda. i'll check on it in an hour if see if anything has changed. thanx again--i'll keep checking and if something does "the" trick, i'll let you know!

And if you can't get it cleaned out, just use colored water with your flowers and you won't see the discoloration of the vase! haha!

Lead crystal is very different from vitrious china...and it's the lead crystal that gets "sick".....if you know it's not a fine crystal....go ahead with the toilet bowl cleaner.
I have a very lovely brilliant period cut glass vase that is decidedly sick....It looks fine with flowers....but I hide it in the closet otherwise. believe me I have tried everything but a wheel with jewelers rough and toilet bowl cleaner.
Linda C

no luck yet. i laid it down on it's side (so that the spray would go in the vase) and ran the dishwasher. i turned the vase 4 times during the wash cycle and took it out before the dry cycle came on. either the cloudiness got a little lighter or that was hope on my part. and after the glass cooled (dishwashers, even on a low energy cycle get REALLY hot!), i refilled it with hot water into which i had dissolved more dishwasher detergent and let that sit for an hour or so. srubbed with a brush and washed and rinsed. yeah--so what?

as i said in my original posting, i don't understand why this has suddenly become or problem but even more odd to me, if why i've been able to mechanically clean the top part of the neck of the vase. i know that i can't apply as much pressure further down the vase as i can at the top but still, it should look a whole lot better than it does!

in any case, tablet denture cleaners are next. and if that doesn't work, i really just may haul it off to a local jeweler who repairs old jewelry and see if he can do a little maguc with a jeweler's rouge or something... the vase isn't a museum piece but it is beautiful, an early gift from my husband when we didn't have 2 nickels to rub together, and i've never seen another vase that is anything like it. of course i can use it as is, but...

it's getting there. i'm on my 3rd denture cleaner tablet with alot of scrubbing in between. because of the pattern of the milkiness that is still visible, i really think the mechanical action of the scrubbing is more the reason for the success than the tablets, but the tablet HAS to be helping as i hadn't had much progress until then. so i don't think i'll need the services of the jeweler afterall! and i do appreciate the suggestions you've all made.

I'm glad it's coming clean for you. Without going back and re-reading the posts, have you already tried a baby bottle brush on it?

I have a vase like that. I can clean it and rid it of the film but after awhile it comes back. Good luck!

Straight ammonia, let it set awhile (overnight, whatever) and then use a baby bottle brush.

After trying the suggested remedies to no avail, i decided to try the jewelry cleaning solution that comes in those little red containers thinking if it cleaned tarnish why not stains. i poured about a half inch in and swirled it around, then went over the surface with a toothbrush. my vase which had been very discolored, became crystal clear. i hope it wasn't a fluke, but try it.

Plain old rubbing alcohol will do the trick!