Monday, April 16, 2012

CAN THIS FRIDGIE BE SAVED?!? (plus, a bonus tale of Pyrex woe)

I'm going to tell this story in backwards order. The second thing that happened was that I found a yellow fridgie from the primary set ($4.29 at St. Vincent de Paul). I think it's an older one, but I'm not that familiar with fridgies. And behold--it was well loved:




I was reading on www.pyrexlove.com about cleaning methods for Pyrex, so I'm hoping that Magic Eraser will work on this (the soapy soakings haven't yielded much). Has anyone used Magic Eraser on primaries with good results? I'm worried about taking off the color.

The first half of my story is sort of whiny. As I've complained several times over on this site, Pyrex is disappearing from the thrift stores around here (in Seattle and Shoreline). So I did something I've never done before: I looked up "Pyrex" on Craigslist and found a sale. None of the prices were listed but the seller was shutting down his booth at an antique mall, and he took a picture of a huge glass case filled top to toe with Pyrex and Fire King.

Excited at the thought of seeing that much Pyrex at once, I kissed my family good-bye and hit the road around 8:35am (the sale started at 9am and it was about 27 minutes away). Between stopping for cash and (oops--empty tank) stopping for gas, I got to the sale about 9:30ish. There was still a ton of Pyrex and only one other person there. The sole customer and the seller were talking near a shelf full of gorgeous pieces--pink daisy divided dishes with lids, charcoal snowflake divided dish, Butterprint fridgies, a set of salt and pepper shakers, and a ton of other stuff that I was itching to touch. I knelt down and picked one up. Then--DUN DUN DUN--the seller gave an embarrassed laugh and said, "Oh, [the other customer] is buying all of that--that bottom shelf-full." In other words, ALL THE GOOD STUFF. BOO. The customer showed up at 8am (an hour before the sale started) and snagged it all.

I walked around the rest of the sale for a while, trying to cool down. I was (and am) kind of embarrassed by how irritated I was. I mean, it's just Pyrex! But the fun of the sale sort of disappeared along with all the really cute pieces. Eventually, I pulled myself out of my funk and bought these four little items:

The Autumn Harvest and Spring Blossom 401s were $2 each. The Spring Blossom is a little worse for the wear but I'm planning on using them for cereal or ice cream bowls as the kids get older.

The Shenandoah 472-B and the orange mug were $2 apiece as well. A bit too much for a mug, in my opinion, but I get kind of shy about bargaining.

Thus ends the tale of whiny Pyrex woe. That's a lot of complaining from someone who ended up with five pieces of Pyrex at the end of the day, so I'm sort of worried that my priorities are slightly out of whack.

Margaret Ann

12 comments:

  1. Oven cleaner will get that off. So will Bar Keepers friend. I just wrote a blog post (at Treasures my Husband Hates) about a green dish that was nasty, but looks awesome now.

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    1. Thanks! Heading over to your blog to see the transformation.

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  2. Yes, using Magic Eraser on the insides & undersides of your Pyrex works so well...but DON'T use it on any of the colored bits!!! I have also used oven cleaner (with a LOT of hesitation) on a few gunked up pieces, & it worked so much better than anything else-that's what I would use on your fridgie! (Also, I'm in Seattle & am getting ready to sell off some of my Pyrex...wink wink!)

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    1. Ooohh...what are you selling? And, um, if you were the one at the sale who got all the good stuff, I hope I didn't hurt your feelings ;).

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    2. Ha! No no, it wasn't me! I pretty much stick to the thrifts. I'm selling a bunch of things, Mod/Dot Snowflake, Butterfly Gold, a random mishmosh! I just haven't listed anything on CL yet!

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    3. Very cool--I'll keep my eye out for your ad. Beautiful blog, by the way.

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    4. Oh goodness, thank you! If you want to shoot me an email, I'll give you a shout when I finally get everything cataloged & ready to list! ;) (Anna@VictoryGardenYarn.com)

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    5. I get worked up over Pyrex, too. I feel your pain!

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  3. I've had great luck with Bar Keepers's Friend with no color loss.

    I would soak it in warm soapy water for the better part of a day and then go at it with Bar Keeper's and a toothpick (it's great for getting into the grooves).

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    1. Thanks, Ana. Since I'm a combination of lazy and busy, it's on its third day of soaking. I'm hoping to try the toothpick and Bar Keeper's Friend tonight.

      By the way, my husband bought me one of your prints (of the Daisy stacking bowls) for Christmas and we love it--it's hanging in our kitchen and so many people comment on how pretty it is. Thanks!

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  4. Thrift stores have been seriously low on pyrex in my area too (Indianapolis). So I searched craigslist for pyrex and also found a dealer wanting to get rid of his stash. We talked about buying it all. Before seeing it, he quoted me a really low price. I said sold and told him I'd be there the next day to pick it up. I called him before driving the hour to his house and suddenly his price for the whole lot (he had 148 pieces) jumped up $500. WAS HE CRAZY? I told him good luck finding someone to pay retail for his pieces.

    With the cleaning - that black baked on grimey stuff - I have literally had to chip it off with a razor blade. Shouldn't hurt the white part, but I wouldn't try it on the colored part. I have had success with the magic eraser, unless it is a scratch - then that puppy is there to stay.

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    1. Ugh. That's lame. Craigslist can be so messed up.

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