- Line the bottom of our sink with a dish towel or paper towels to buffer the crystal, then fill with warm water and Ivory dishwashing liquid (or any favorite mild detergent).
- Rinse with a method of 3 parts warm water and 1 part vinegar.
- Dry with a soft cotton cloth or lint free towel while warm
- Wash one piece of crystal at a time as most damage trend to occur while we cleaning and moving crystal.
- When wash wine crystal glasses, remember to hold by their bowl instead of the stem.
- To avoid crystal jewelry become dirty, always wear crystal jewelry like pendants, necklaces and earrings after we applied our hair products or make-up
- Temperature changes can cause breakage
- Hot water can fade hand-painted pieces
The most important thing to know about cleaning crystal is to always wash it by hand and never ever put it in the dishwasher. Because of the delicate nature of crystal, dramatic changes in temperature, such as those caused by extremely hot jets of dishwasher water, can cause the crystal to expand and crack. Aside from that, those water jets have more than enough force to cause lightweight crystal stemware to jostle around, bump against each other, and chip, break, or scratch. Finally, most dishwasher detergent is pretty abrasive and can cause crystal to become cloudy. So, if you’ve finally convinced yourself to break it out for use and now need to know how to clean crystal, read on. If it’s not crystal glassware that you’re looking to clean, the bottom section of this article covers cleaning crystal chandeliers, and the right sidebar will cover the cleaning of a few other crystal products.
Steps for Cleaning Crystal Glassware
1. Gather all supplies. Before it actually becomes time to clean crystal, it’s best if you have all your gear out and readily accessible. This way there will be no rushing about and confusion while you’re trying to do the deed and will therefore lessen your chances of breaking things. Luckily, you don’t need much. Gather together the following: white vinegar, mild dish detergent, 3 or 4 soft towels, a thin microfiber wash rag, a large plastic mixing bowl, a gallon of room temperature distilled water, and several thin, lint-free cotton towels.2. Prepare your sink for washing crystal. Since crystal is so delicate, it’s important to protect it even from your sink. First, put the plug in the sink and fill it with about five inches of tap water that is as close to room temperature as possible. Next, squirt in about two tablespoons of your mild dish detergent (I recommend using either Seventh Generation or Method), pour in about two cups of white vinegar, and stir it all around with your hand. Now, line the bottom of your sink with a couple of those soft cotton towels you gathered earlier. If you have a divided sink, you’ll also want to drape a towel over the divider and down into your crystal cleaning water.
3. Start washing crystal. Now that your sink resembles a padded room, it’s time to wash crystal. Toss your microfiber cloth in the sink and grab your first piece of dirty crystal. Fully submerge it and allow it to sit in the soapy water for about a minute. Pick it up and gently wipe it down with the same method you would use to wash any other glass. The only difference is that you will need to be at least 837 times more careful. It is safest to wash crystal one piece at a time. That being said, ignore the other dirty pieces for now and continue on with the piece of crystal you just washed.
4. Rinsing your crystal. In the previous step, I mentioned soaking your crystal for a minute. While your first piece is soaking, you’ll want to prepare your rinse water before returning to finish washing. This is done by taking a large stable bowl (preferably a plastic mixing bowl) and lining it with a large cotton towel. Fill the bowl with a gallon or two of room temperature distilled water and very carefully dip the crystal in and out of it a of couple times. Using distilled water for rinsing crystal makes water spotting far less likely.
5. Now to dry crystal. Sorry to say it, but there’s no spectacular or magical way to dry crystal. There are, however, a few things you should know. First of all, make sure that you hand dry it and put it away right away. This is because, unless you used distilled water for rinsing, crystal will water spot something vicious if left to air dry. Not only that, but by air drying you will end up leaving your crystal out for extended periods of time. This will drastically increase the chances of something bad happening to your crystal. Finally, you should always use a clean, lint-free cotton or microfiber towel for drying crystal.
6. Proper crystal storage. Always store crystal stemware upright. The edges are very delicate and you don’t want to apply any undue stress to them. Also, make sure to give them a little room (at least a centimeter all they way around) so they won’t rub up against each other and get scratched when someone stomps through the house. Giving them extra room also allows them to expand during periods of warmer weather without pressing against each other. Finally, I strongly recommend that you pick up a wine glass storage box. Not only do they add some protection from physical damage, they also help to keep dust from collecting on your crystal.