The Steam Technique For Spotless Wine Glasses In A Flash

Any wine connoisseur (or even casual wine enthusiast) will tell you that a wine's glass is important. Each part of a glass and its design will affect your encounter with the wine, how it meets your tongue, and how its flavors express themselves. But even if you have the right glass in place, an oenophile's experience can be ruined by something as simple as water spots. You look down to swirl or sniff, and the water spots leap to the eye, distracting from the taste and bouquet. These spots are usually the result of the minerals in hard water drying on the glass and it doesn't mean that it isn't clean — but it does need a bit of a shine.

Put away those commercial-grade cleaning and polishing products, though, because there's really no need to scrub to get things spick and span. The solution is much more simple. While wiping with a cloth alone usually doesn't remove stubborn water spots, a little steam will make the polishing process quick and easy. So leave the scrub brush behind, break out your kettle or a pot, and get some water heating up. If you douse your wine glasses with steam and give them a quick polish, soon water stains will be a thing of the past.

The steam technique isn't complicated, so it'll become essential to your cleaning arsenal (if you aren't already cleaning your microwave with steam). Start by heating some water in a tea kettle or a pot on the stove until it comes to a boil and starts steaming heavily. Then turn off the heat and gently take the wine glass by the stem or hold with a towel if it's stemless — you don't want to add any unnecessary extra fingerprints to the mix. Hold it over the water at an angle and allow the wine glass to become clouded with steam — but don't get it dripping wet. Then begin to carefully polish. As you rub, the steam works to remove the spots and acts as an easy visual indicator of where you've polished, ensuring that you get every part of the glass crystal clear.

There's one more crucial element to this simple steam-cleaning technique, though. As the steam coats the glass you don't want to wipe those spots away with just any hand towel. Microfiber or a polishing cloth will ensure the most shine, as these types of towels won't leave any extra residue or cloth fibers behind (thus defeating the purpose of this whole exercise).

Steam is a simple, everyday solution for wine glasses that are less than shiny, but you might be looking for some backup cleaning methods to guarantee wine glass perfection — enter vinegar. A staple of household cleaning, vinegar will help cleanse cloudy drinking glasses. Hot water is still essential here, though, so heat up some water and put it in a container, then add some vinegar to the water. Submerge the wine glass in the mixture to evenly coat it, then dry it with a microfiber towel to reveal streak-free shine.

That microfiber towel will be your best friend when it comes to wine glasses, but you aren't out of luck if you don't have one on hand. Just raid the cupboards for a coffee filter. A coffee filter can polish without leaving behind lint or even streaks, and you can typically use them for five to 10 glasses. And while a paper towel can be an emergency coffee filter, in this case, you'll want to avoid that substitution since a paper towel will usually leave fibers on the glass. Sans coffee filters, though, newspaper can also work in a pinch.