How to Wash Wine Glasses

Use a crystal cleaner or gentle detergent to clean your wine glasses.

It's you versus the wine glasses. It's late, you're tired, and the last thing you want is to see empty or semi-empty wine glasses with red or white residue. But red wine stains crystal when it's left overnight. So, just before going off to bed or heading out, clean the glasses carefully and calmly to avoid any breakage. You'll thank yourself in the morning when no fruit flies are camping out in the kitchen and the glasses are sparkling clean.

Things You'll Need

• Crystal glass cleaner (optional)
• Gentle dishwashing detergent
• Brush, scrubber or sponge

Instructions

1. 

   Detergent gets rid of germs but can leave a film.

   Select a soft crystal detergent soap if you are washing a lot of crystal glasses. Pick a gentle dishwashing soap if you only have a few glasses to clean each night. Ask a restaurant you like what kind of detergent they use on their glasses. Restaurants use a variety of soap concoctions to avoid soap residue on their guests' glasses.

2. 

   Attach a sponge to stick for safer wine bowl cleaning.

   Find a cheap wine glass brush or cotton scrubber. Or, buy a sponge on a plastic stick---available at kitchen stores for $3 (at 2010 prices)---or make your own. Use this brush only for your wine glasses, as residue and other gunk could transfer from other dishes and kitchen utensils.

3. 

   Hold the glass by the stem to avoid accidental slipping and breakage.

   Grip the wineglass by the stem. Squeeze one drop of gentle dish-washing soap or crystal cleaner inside the bowl of the glass. Crystal cleaners are not typically antibacterial. For erasing germs, squirt only a single drop of detergent into the bowl to avoid residue. Note: Not using detergent will get you a spotless glass, but germs could still linger on the rim.

4. Fill the bowl of the glass with hot water from the tap. According to The Mill River Company's Restaurant Crystal Clean website, offering gentle soap solutions, commercial glass washers use 181 degree Fahrenheit (83 degree Celsius) water and above to sterilize glassware. For domestic dishwashers when you are just tidying up after a dinner party, test the tap water temperature with your hand; the temperature should be endurable to the touch but very hot. Do not use boiling water, as it could shatter the glass and will definitely burn your hands.

5. Cup the wine-bowl in your hand and insert the scrubber or sponge. Gently scrub the inside of the bowl, from the base of the bowl to the rim. Carefully clean the stem from the base to where your fingers hold the glass. To clean the outside, hold the glass by the stem. Softly scrub the base. Avoid leaving fingerprints--if you spot one on the bowl, rinse the bowl again in hot water as a last step.

6. 

   Dry glasses upside down so no water pools in the bowl.

   Do not wipe the glasses. Immediately after rinsing the glasses one last time in hot water, place them upside down on a cloth, slatted wine glass dryer, or other sturdy surface. Let them air dry. Wiping them with a cloth or cotton towellete could leave fibers that will get into that next sip of wine.

Tips & Warnings

• Erase a white or grey scum-look in a glass by soaking it in a weak vinegar and water solution for an hour or two before washing. Vinegar, a strong acid, dissolves wine build-up.

• For lipstick prints, scrub the wine glass rim with the sponge before rinsing the rest of the glass.

References

• The Mill River Company: Restaurant Crystal Clean: Wine Glass

Resources

• All About Wine
• Wine Spectator