Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Get Your Glasses Glistening

We've recently run into a problem that slowly creeped up on us: we realized that all of our glasses had a white milky film on them. We tried scrubbing, soaking, and running the dishwasher multiple times at high heat with more dishwashing detergent, in futile attempts to get the film off. Every time we tried something new, the film seemed to get even worse! It seemed like nothing could be done for our poor glasses.

Just when we thought the glasses were a lost cause (and even purchased new ones!), we hopped online and read a household tip that vinegar might do the trick. So, we decided to give it a shot!

We bought white wine vinegar at the grocery store  for $3 (but we're sure you could use regular vinegar), and grabbed our worst filmy glass for the test run.


Look at all that nasty white film! Gross, huh?


Then we grabbed a large mixing bowl and poured enough vinegar to fill it up and completely submerge the glass. We only ended up using about 1/4 of the bottle.


Then we just set the glass in the bowl of vinegar, making sure every part of the glass was covered.


Then we waited about 30 minutes before removing the glass and rinsing it off with water.

And I must say, we were impressed!


That glass hasn't looked that good since the day we bought it! The vinegar completely removed all the soap scum and filmy stuff that even a good ole' scrub-down from Tom couldn't remove. And I gotta say - letting the glass soak in the vinegar was boatloads easier than scrubbing it!

Over the course of a few days, we managed to soak all of our glasses in the vinegar, and each and every one came out sparkling. Then we just tossed them in the dishwasher to get the vinegar remnants off, and they were good to go. We've read that you can even pour a little vinegar in your dishwasher before it runs to achieve the same effect, but we figured since our glasses were in pretty bad shape they probably needed a good soaking. Plus, seeing the before and after in action was incredibly satisfying, as well!

Of course, now that our glasses are back to their like-new status, we'll be careful to take precautions to avoid this mishap in the future. A little research revealed that there are several ways that this problem can occur: not using a drying aid in the dishwasher, using too much detergent, having hard water, the water temperature is too hot/cold for the dishwasher cycle, and many others. We figured ours happened because of a combination of all three of the first reasons, and we've since loaded up on drying aid and been careful with the amount of detergent we place in the dishwasher, and so far we thankfully haven't run into a repeat - all our glasses have stayed crystal clear.

What do you do to get your glasses sparkling?  Have you ever had this same problem? Do you have any other household tips to keep a casa tidy? Let's swap cleaning tips (we could always use some!).

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11 comments:

  1. Neat trick, and we do have the same problem due to hard water, so thanks!

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  2. That is so strange, as we have just recently been having the same problem. Good advice on the vinegar.It is amazing what all vinegar can do around the house, isn't it? But I also bought 2 different items that have solved our problem quite easily. First, is Finish Jet-Dry, which is a rinse agent and you just clip the little basket on the top rack in the corner and replace it when empty. Secondly, I changed our detergent from Cascade to Finish Powerball. The capsules have 3 stages-bleach for tough stains, i.e. coffee, etc- enzyme for burnt-on food, and jet-dry gel for shine. I may be able to stop buying the jet-dry rinse agent, if the Powerball does it all. But for now, am using both and really like the difference in the appearance of all the dishes. Even though you know your glassware is clean, the film and spots make it hard to tell.

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  3. Glad you posted this Chelsea since we recently ran into this same problem. I think I use too much Cascade each time. So I will try your vinegar fix! Also gonna try that Finish Powerball Debbie mentioned. We have a new dishwasher and I was surpirised when all of a sudden the glasses had that milky film! Good job Detective Chels!

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  4. This is a good tip! I've heard it, but never used it. I also have really hard water, but I use a drying agent in the dishwasher. It works pretty well, but mostly it just delays the spots- they still appear slowly. When it gets bad enough, I suppose I'll do the vinegar trick.Great tip! No go get some Jet Dry! (Or Kroger equivalent, if you're like me.)

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  5. I'll keep this in mind. We have far too many brewing glasses as it is, but should they ever need polishing, I know what to do! Thanks.

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  6. a friend just told me today that she takes a Tbsp of red wine vinegar for hiccups--that its a sure fire cure.

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  7. Nice! Simple and easy, just the way I like cleaning (and life) to be. I'll have to use this if I run into this problem down the road.

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  8. Thanks for commenting, guys! And thanks for all the tips.

    We've since refreshed our supply of dry-aid in our dishwasher, and have cut down on our laundry detergent we use with each load. Currently we use Seventh Generation organic and all-natural detergent to help preserve the life of our silverware and dishes (detergent with citrus in it eats away at the silverware). So far, though, so good!

    We figure that if we start to notice the spot begin to reappear in the future, we'll run a cycle with vinegar before a normal cycle, and that should do the trick.

    Thanks for dropping by!
    ~Chelsea

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  9. @Alison - No way! What a great tip! I'll have to try that one next time I'm immobilized by the hiccups (I hate them!).

    Thanks for stopping by,
    ~Chelsea

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  10. 30 minutes per glass? Did you ever take a look earlier to see how they looked?

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