Cleaning an Antique Crystal Decanter

Love the wasp solution!

Rice, dishwasher tablet crushed up in two cups of warm water. Amazing! We have struggled with cleaning our stubborn port stains from our decanters for years - fantastic, thank you!

I have tried white vinegar and rice but had no results. I just tried the method of dishwasher detergent, rice and water. Bingo! The wine stains disappeared almost immediately. I then rinsed with warm distilled water and suspended the decanter upside down to let it drain.

Thank you count_zero! Your method (rice, dishwasher detergent, and water) worked perfectly for me.

How many tablets should I use? Will just one suffice for cleaning off stains that have sat in it for possibly decades? I've tried vinegar, dish soap, and denture cleaner so far and it's not giving up yet.

Can anyone help?

Combinatio: I used a couple tablespoons of rice with a tablespoon of dishwasher detergent andabout a cup of water. A couple minutes of shaking and the dried port stains were gone from a fine heavy leaded decanter... thanks

You should superglue a small piece of very fine grade sandpaper to the back of a wasp. Drop the wasp into the decanter and shake a couple of times. In its angry and disoriented state, the wasp is sure to rub against your stain, thereby providing a gentle abrasive action.

Editor's Note: Good luck gluing the sandpaper to the wasp ; )

Put crushed ice and salt in the decanter and swirl around...this will act as a scrubber and take care if it all! This also works well for coffee pots with a narrow opening!
Good Luck!

try filling the decanter with white vinegar. let set overnight and flush with cool water. If it is mineral or hard water spot it should be gone.

Try putting some rice or a good amount of salt with a little bit of water. Shake it really good. That should give you a good scrubbing action.

Try automatic dishwasher detergent.
If that doen't work, push a dryer sheet into the neck and soak in water.

Use Efferdent or Polident tablets in lukewarm water. Fill the decanter to 1/2" above the stained area and plop a tablet in. Let it sit overnight. Repeat again the next morning if necessary. Be sure the water is not above lukewarm so that any defects in the glass itself won't result in breakage.

try dropping a denture cleaning tablet in water in the decanter. It always works well for me. Just leave it for awhile(I leave it overnight) Hope this helps you.

Have your tried denture cleaning tablets? Iuse them to clean my vases.