Crystal Wine Glass Cleaning Tips

Here it is the last day of the month, and I realized that I haven’t had a chance to get to my last part of my ‘new year resolutions’ series – how to care for those premium wine glasses you might own.  But since it’s not February yet, I can still sneak this in!

If you have spent the money for crystal stemware like those pictured above, you might want to take the extra time to clean them up properly after using your glasses.  Although cleaning the glasses isn’t difficult, there are a few key points you’ll want to take into account.

First of all, you can certainly wash them in your dishwasher.  Just be careful where you place them so that you can avoid breaking the delicate rims and stems of the glasses.

Hand washing is another great option.  Use the hottest water temperature you can stand, and be sure to rinse the glasses well so there is no dish detergent residue left behind.

The big caveat to hand washing is actually in the drying process.  Air drying is really best, but if you want to dry them right away use a lint-free towel which you haven’t used fabric softener on.  The crystal wine glasses have a microscopic texture to the glass which can hold on to residual fabric softener and can affect the aroma & flavor of the wine.

The upside to that texture in the glass is that it helps bring out the aroma in the wine, so don’t hate it for making your laundry a bit of a hassle!

And one note on storage of these glasses.  If you put them in a cabinet or closed space, store them upright so that any aromas from the wood/shelf paper/plastic don’t build up inside the bowl of the glass.  Again, those aromas might affect what you experience from the wine you pour in.

So there are my tips to caring for your high-dollar wine glasses.  Do you own any crystal stemware?  How do you take care of your own wine glasses?  If you are interested in learning more about wine glasses, check out my guide to wine glasses here.

I hope you found this series useful. Here are the previous posts in this series:

Wine & Health

Wine Organization Part One

Wine Organization Part Two

Ways to Use Up Leftover Wine

My New Year Resolution

Check your inboxes tomorrow for our February newsletter.  I’ve changed the format pretty drastically so it will (hopefully!) be much easier to read through.  Cheers!