What's Wrong With My Perfume Bottle?

[Penny Dreadful]

The other night I went to my dad's house for supper, and he told me he had been meaning to give me some things that belonged to my grandmother in the 50s. He gave me a silver serving set from 1957 and one of those awesome vintage perfume bottles with the pump coming out the side. Amazing since I had been trying to find one for months. The serving set just needs a really good polish, but the perfume bottle doesn't seem to work. Nothing wants to come out of it but air, and it leaks badly out of the cap even though it's closed tight. My grandma noticed that the pump seemed a little floppy so maybe it's a bit loose and needs to be sealed around its base? But I also don't want to do anything that could ruin it. What should I do?

 

[ZombieGirl]

Maybe there is a faulty seal inside. A little rubber washer type of thing that is cracked and old would allow air through as well as let perfume leak out. No idea how they're put together.... just a guess.

 

[Puzzicato]

I think Zombie girl is right - the rubber of the pump and seal has probably perished a bit.

 

[cooncatbob]

Sounds like you need a handy/person to take it apart, it might be repairable with common plumbing parts from the hardware store.

 

[cooncatbob]

I just repaired an old one that I have, on mine the air bulb attaches to a tube that screws into the cap, I unscrewed this tube and inside is a separate jet that blow air across the vertical tube, siphoning the perfume and blowing it out the front.
I remove the jet, rinsed everything out and put it back together and now it works fine, there must have been a bit of something causing an obstruction.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

I'm not sure of precisely how to fix your bottle, but I'd suggest you check the threads at Now Smell This nstperfume.com, and Makeup Alley http://www.makeupalley.com/ for suggestions. I know I've seen similar questions at NST several times, I'm just not sure which fix applies in your case.