I actually did used to hand wash glasses and switched to using the dishwasher after Chris told me that it decreased the risk of breakage, and he was right.
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Ditto.
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I fail at it and I don’t even wash my own!
What was the “Bordeaux” glass used 20 years ago? Anybody know what Parker used?
What sort of brush, sponge, etc. do u use to accommodate the delicacy of the really nice stems?
I like the soft puff-up yellow ones from Sur la Table, which I use only for glassware. My hand fits inside many of my glasses, which helps. The main reason I sometimes put Grassl Crus in the dishwasher is because my hand doesn’t fit inside and I can’t reach down to the bottom. But I don’t use those often.
Maybe I’m a barbarian but I never feel the need to actually brush/sponge the inside if the glass. Just a nice stream of scalding hot water. Swish. Repeat, repeat. Only brush/soponge the outside that’s been touched by hands and mouth.
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I’m particularly sensitive to residual fragrance in certain dishwashing products. All of the newer Finish tablets have a particularly persistent smell, whereas the older Finish ‘Classic’ tablets seem fine. The newer Dawn dish soaps are similarly awful, but at least they now make a fragrance-free product (and charge twice as much for it).
I handwash as my dishwasher (Bosch) doesn’t have a dry cycle, and for me that’s the most time intensive part of washing glasses. Things that have worked well for me handwashing:
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Absolute ban on washing glasses the night of drinking in our house…glasses are washed the next morning. This has solved virtually all of our breakage issues.
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Soaking glasses in very hot soapy water for a few minutes. You don’t need a full sink - just enough for the water to reach above the mid-point of the glass when it’s on its side…then you can roll them a bit to reach all areas. This basically does all the cleaning for you…just a light sponging of the bottom interior and rim after that ensures they are completely clean.
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Upside down on a soft surface to shed water for a couple minutes, then a soft cloth to finish the job.
Easy to avoid the dishwasher and breakage by drinking straight from the bottle.
I haven’t needed new stemware in decades.
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Since this is morphed into a discussion about how to wash glasses, I swear I can’t get the glasses looking good when I hand wash.
When I try to clean by hand and polish, swirling the wine leaves unsightly streaks and drops on the side. This might be OCD, but I don’t care. I can’t stand it. I want the glass to remain “clean” after swirling. No idea if you all know what I’m talking about, so I attached pics
Hand wash:
Dish wash
Your thoughts and procedure are virtually identical to mine; the only difference is Step 2 — I fill the glasses to the brim with water on the night of drinking as opposed to soaking them in very hot soapy water for a few minutes the next day. The ban on “night of” washing is crucial.
I don’t know what’s going on there, but I would worry the dishwashered glass looks better because a film was left behind on the glass. Of course, it could be the opposite, and maybe the hand-washed glass is the one with the film! Have you tried comparing hand wash vs. dishwasher with the exact same stem — not same model, but the exact same unit? That would eliminate any potential differences in manufacturing that may be causative or contributory to whatever is going on here.
Yes! I have. Those were just photos I had handy that happened to be of different glasses. I can’t taste any difference - like soap or evidence a film has been left behind. I just hate the way the spots look on the glass lol. It’s purely OCD. For whatever reason, I assumed (probably incorrectly) that I wasn’t cleaning them well enough. As a result, I was leaving residue on the glass and that’s why the wine was creating those spots
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AI has the answer 
Why hand washing is best
Protects delicate crystal
• Fine wine glasses (Riedel, Zalto, Spiegelau, Baccarat, etc.) have very thin bowls and stems that can chip, crack, or snap in a dishwasher.
Prevents clouding & etching
• Dishwasher detergent is abrasive and alkaline, which can permanently dull or etch crystal over time.
• Heat accelerates this damage.
Preserves shape & balance
• High water pressure can cause glasses to knock together or flex at the stem.
Better aroma retention
• Hand washing avoids detergent residue that can interfere with wine aromas.
I think it was a Riedel Bordeaux, which remains an excellent glass. I’ve tried to do tests to see which wine glass I really enjoy most from an aromatics perspective and In the few tests I’ve run the classic Riedel Bordeaux is always near the very top. It makes a great universal. It’s just not a refined glass.
FWIW Glasvin recommends the dishwasher. We wash ours in the dishwasher with no problems.
Hmmmm … interesting. I’m flummoxed, but the reasonable conclusion is that one method is leaving behind a film, whereas the other is not. or, BOTH methods are leaving behind a film, but they are of different composition, leading to the dynamic at issue – one films promotes the “clean” look and the other film promotes the “spotty” look.
in a similar vein, I really wish one could find a hand-blown glass that has the shape of the Riedel Ouverture red bowl — it’s a simple and classic shape, and I love how it presents a wine. But I do wish I could have that shape in a more elegant glass. The Riedel Bordeaux (vinum) always felt a bit too open at the top for me, and the Riedel Sommelier’s are just stupid-big, imo.
I use my fingers to clean the rims of the Josephines coz they are too delicate for sponges, and very fine toothbrush to clean the bowl. Use the spray mode on the faucet to powerwash the divots that the toothbrush can’t reach. Only hold the glass by its bowl when cleaning too. Borderline boiling hot water. Then I run a quick cycle in the dishwasher with extended drying and sanitizing. Zero breakage and pristine glasses. My parents and bf gave up calling me neurotic whenever I clean my stems.