Pampering and Protecting your Fenton
(Continued)
by John Gager
Thanks to Sharon Bragg & Susan Aufderhaar

About the time I was getting ready to write the article about Sharon's lamp story, I received a message from Susan with more excellent tips on taking care of your Fenton. The first two are closely related to what Sharon mentioned on the first page.

 

1. Always let your glass received from shipment stay indoors for a couple of hours before opening the box..... else the change in temperature can make sand out of your beautiful glass!

2. When your glass is being cleaned, stored, or handled it is important to keep a steady temperature. Glass can shatter totally unexpectedly if subjected to wide varying temp changes.

3. Never use newsprint to pack any glass...the ink is a bear to get off Satin finishes.

4. If you are at a flea market, never buy a piece that has been priced with a magic marker on a Satin finish....it most likely WON'T come off.

5. Only wash your Fenton in neutral PH gentle soap. Anything harsher may damage the decoration or glass itself.

6. If your satin glass needs sprucing up a bit, Armour All car protectorant will renew the Satin finish.....that recommendation comes from Mr. Fenton himself.

And finally, Susan passed along her procedure for washing her beautiful Burmese, something we should all heed:

When I wash my glass:

The glass is at room temperature.

Put bubble (the fat bubbles) wrap in the bottom of the sink.

Put a piece of bubble wrap around the sink faucet--- and tape into place--IMPORTANT!
(Those of you who have lost pieces to the dreaded faucet know why!)

Use a plastic dish pan on top of the bubble wrap and then put bubble wrap in the bottom of the pan.

Fill the pan with tepid water, add the soap sparingly and mix thoroughly into the water. For the soap, I recommend Amway Dish Drops or Amway LOC for the neutral pH cleaner.

GENTLY place the piece into the pan.

Use a plastic bristle brush or a soft CLEAN sponge used for nothing other than washing your precious glass. You can  use a toothbrush for the crevices, a dish sponge or brush for the larger spots, and a baby bottle brush for those really tricky spots.

GENTLY brush the piece. If newsprint is on the piece, good luck. Multiple sessions of gentle washing are far superior to one session of hard scrubbing. NOTE one must be very careful of older pieces as sometimes the gold leaf is NOT glazed into he piece and will rub off!!!!!.

Drying is also tricky as the piece will be slippery - use a SOFT CLEAN lintless cloth to dab dry---do not rub. if you tend to leave greasy fingerprints you might want to invest in some rubber gloves which will solve both the fingerprint problem as well as some slipperiness.

Spread out a towel on the counter and place the piece gently onto the towel to finish drying by room temperature air - make sure the family cat cannot jump onto the counter and knock the pieces over! Along the same lines make sure that a toddler cannot grab one of your lovely pieces.