Washing your wine glasses and decanters
Wash with hot water and just a little detergent. Be very careful when washing the rim as they are usually thin and can break easily. Use a specialized wine glass cleaning brush if possible (see section below on cleaning brushes). Rinse thoroughly and dry upside down on a flat piece of cloth. If you want to further protect your investments, you can buy a drying rack for your wine glasses as well as decanters. That’s it. If you have a decanter that’s hard to clean (like a ship decanter), you can fill it with water for a couple of hours (or overnight) to soften the wine residue. Then, pour most of the water out and put in anything small and round that WON’T scratch the glass.
Things like marbles, beads and even rice and beans will work too!
Cleaning Beads
Cleaning Beads
These work great for cleaning out decanters. I personally just use uncooked rice grains…
Brushes for Decanters, Stemware
Cleaning Kits for Crystal Ware
Good wine glasses are fragile, especially at the rim. I highly recommend you get a cleaning brush/sponge that is shaped specially to clean wineglasses and decanters. The risk of breaking a wine glass will grow exponentially the more glasses you have to wash.
Stain Removers
Wine Away Stain Remover
Spilling red wine is inevitable. Really. Especially if you have a light colored carpet or couch. One great product is Wine Away which does the job really well. Wine Away has been tested and recommended by the Good Housekeeping Institute, and other national magazines such as Food & Wine, Gourmet, First for Women, InStyle, and Modern Bride.
For the most up-to-date version of this guide, check out the WineGuppy Guide to Cleaning Accessories.
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