Removal of guano from bells

[Brian Meldon]

Yes indeed water is the way to go.

One trick we used back in the early 1980's when, for the first time since 1939 we cleaned the old Canewdon bell chamber was to make the bells wet all over with a sponge and then wrap them in old towels soaked in water. We left these for an hour or more to let the water fully penetrate the guano then when the towels were removed it all came off quite easily without having to use copious amounts of water, or that much elbow grease.
Obviously how long you leave the old towels on is dependant on the amount of guano and the temperature in the bell chamber.
The same process was applied to the frame and other woodwork as well.

Having said that as no work was done on the bells or the bird protection at that time they looked bad again 20 years later when we did have all the work done.

Brian Meldon