For years I have cleaned and dried my stems and decanters by hand to make sure I am preventing any dishwasher soap residue and water spots. I let them accumulate on the kitchen counter for a few days then do them in a batch or two. I confess it is becoming more of a chore. I know I’m more hesitant to use decanters because they are especially a pain to clean by hand. What are the prevailing views of board members on this topic?
I’m with you, Brian. I never machine wash, but I hate drying decanters.
I use Bottle Bright to clean my decanters. It bubbles away the stains. Works great. No affiliation.
I always use the dishwasher and run a dedicated load with just my stems. I find a quick pre clean with a washcloth to get visible residue off works best (e.g. Lipstick, fingerprints etc), then a cycle through the dishwasher using stem shine yields the best results.
I’ve never had any problem with the dishwasher. I avoid soaps with strong perfumes.
Thanks guys, I’m going to try those!
Dishwasher works great for stems. Key is to run a cloth inside the rim before it completely dries to remove potential watermarks. I’ve used denture cleaning tablets in decanters to remove pesky residue from time to time. Works like a charm.
I always hand wash.
Dishwasher. Never an issue
I always hand wash my stems. Decanters I usually just rinse with the hottest water I can get out of my tap, although I’m going to give this a shot next time:
Always hand wash. I find it therapeutic. But then again, with two small kids at home, our dishwasher would never really be available for my stems anyway.
I always use the dishwasher. They come out nice and clean. Right in the general load. The horror stories from other threads of people getting serious injuries when stems break while being hand washed adds to my resolve to use the dishwasher as much as possible.
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My dishwasher has a crystal setting and I use it. Gentle but works well. Finish drying with microfiber cloth.
I think the dishwasher does a better job than I would by hand - uses hotter water, and a different detergent with longer exposure - with less chance of harming the glasses or me. Easy choice. One we were dishwashing stems nightly I started buying mostly scent-free DW detergent like Method’s “Smarty Dish” tablets, but the Biokleen citrus powder is quite restrained (a real AFDE contender) and has never left anything with a noticeable scent.
I mostly use the dishwasher. Before I put the stems away I sometime rinse them with water and dry them with a linen to get rid of streaks and water spots. Decanters I mostly rinse with hot water while still moist. Sometimes I use the stainless steel BBs to help clean. I think I need to try the denture cleaner approach to see how that works.
Do you guys use the dishwasher even for lead crystal? I was told that lead crystal should never go in the dishwasher, but I admit I don’t know the reason, and I haven’t actually tried it…
At home, stems are hand washed and decanters cleaned with decanter beads. At the store, we run everything through the dishwasher, (commercial), twice and polish with microfiber towels. There is no comparison. Glasses at the store look new by comparison. The dish washing soap we use at home leaves the glasses with a chemical smell, hence, hand washing.
I use fox fur to clean my glasses.
Hey hairball, (cough cough) step away from my pet. 