Tips on how to wash a decanter

The dirty decanter is the cleaning world's brain teaser. The puzzle is how to reach the cavernous space that lies beyond a decanter's narrow neck in order to scrub away stubborn stains such as lime deposits and red wine rings. And after you clean it, there's the challenge of drying it. But the puzzle can be solved, so read on.

• Wash your decanter by hand. Never put a decanter in a dishwasher, as the heat and vibration can easily break its delicate glass neck.
• If the decanter is an antique or made of fine crystal or cut glass, wash it in a plastic basin rather than in a hard sink to reduce the chances of breakage.
• Or, you can line the bottom of your sink with a rubber mat or a doubled-over towel. Then just use a sponge or soft-bristled brush, warm water and mild dishwashing liquid to wash the outer surface.

• Depending on how dirty or stained the decanter is, there are several approaches.
• The simplest is to fill it halfway with soapy, warm water, hold your hand over the top and gently shake.
• Still stained? Swirl a mixture of rock salt and vinegar around inside the decanter. The salt will gently scour the surface while the vinegar helps remove stains, especially lime deposits.
• If rock salt and vinegar do not remove wine stains, try swishing a small amount of warm water, baking soda and rock salt in the bottle.
• Another approach is to put water in the decanter, drop in a denture cleaner tablet and let it stand overnight.
• No matter which method you use, rinse with clean, warm water.

• You don’t want it to fog up after you replace the stopper. Worse than being unsightly, that moisture could harbour dangerous micro-organisms.
• Instead of drying your decanter by inverting it in your dish drainer, which increases the chance of breakage and takes forever, try this trick: drain most of the water out of the decanter by holding it upside down.
• To remove any final moisture, wrap a paper towel around the handle of a long-handled wooden spoon so that the towel extends slightly beyond the end.
• Stick the towel-wrapped spoon or stick into the decanter and let it rest on the bottom overnight to allow the towel to remove most of the condensation.
• If you can't wait until morning, gently blow warm air into the decanter with a hair dryer. Be careful, though: too much heat can crack delicate glass.