How to Clean Baccarat Crystal
Baccarat crystal, named for the French town in which it was first created in the mid 1700s, is famous for its variety of high-quality crystal items. Though they are particularly beautiful, these items get dirty over time with dust, grime, fingerprints and residue from wines and hard water. It is important to know how to clean Baccarat glasses, decanters, chandeliers and art objects safely so that their value remains intact and their beauty preserved. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
-
-
1
Wash Baccarat wine glasses and other small items with warm water and a mild dish detergent. Crystal Classics suggests adding a quarter cup of ammonia to the water in the sink to prevent water spots.
-
2
Call in professional help for large crystal chandeliers whenever possible, since the pros are practiced in keeping track of the many detachable pieces. When cleaning smaller chandeliers yourself, make a chandelier map on paper to determine where your parts need to be returned after cleaning. Clean the crystals with dish detergent and rinse well with very warm water. Return the crystals to the chandelier.
-
-
3
Run very warm water into vases and decanters that are too narrow in the neck for the hand to fit. Add a little detergent and ammonia and then swirl raw rice in the decanter. The rice coaxes foreign matter from the inside of the crystal.
-
4
Run very warm water into a narrow-neck crystal container until it is full and add a denture tablet. Rinse the crystal item well.
-
5
Use your dishwasher if there is a special cycle for crystal. Follow the manufacturer's directions for loading the crystal pieces and for using the special cycle.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
When washing crystal items, take special care not to let them clink against each other and break. Rather than load the sink with them, wash and rinse them one at a time.
Pour off any wine left in a decanter and either wash it immediately or rinse it thoroughly with clear water to make sure the wine does not react with the crystal and damage it.
Don't attempt to remove stubborn stains with abrasive cleaners or scratchy cleaning pads. This could ruin the finish on your Baccarat.
For safety's sake, turn off the electricity to chandeliers before washing the parts, whether they are detachable or not.
