Often times once we've gone to the trouble of buying flowers and arranging them in a beautiful vase, we'll let them die there, becoming a different kind of bouquet. The only issue is that this can often mean that our vase has a residue left inside that can be hard to clean.
The same goes for vintage glass containers we find in thrift stores that have residue or mineral deposits left behind. Here are our go-to ways for making them sparkle.
1. Salt and Vinegar. Make a paste starting with a 1/2 tablespoon of salt and add in enough white vinegar to create a paste. Rub this on the residue left behind by the scummy water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then wipe off with sponge or bottle brush.
2. Alka Seltzer. This is our go-to for cleaning a vase that we can't fit our hand or a sponge into. Fill the vase with hot water and then drop in one or two tablets and let them do the dirty work.
3. Baking Soda and Vinegar. This is a similar approach to number 2, but fill the vase with warm water, pour in a tablespoon of baking soda (more if it's a larger vase) and pour in white vinegar. It should fizz and eat away at the residue that's built up. This is especially good for mineral deposits that don't come off with scrubbing.
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Comments (12)
Uncooked rice and a bit of water, put your hand over the top, and then shake it up. Works really well for oogies at the bottom of bottles/vases.
Fill with the hottest water from your faucet, drop in a denture cleaning tablet and a few drops of dishwashing soap. Let sit. Also works on baked on grease in roasting pans.
For bottles and vases that have caked/dried stuff, grease, or some other film, put a small sprinkle of powdered dishwasher detergent inside, add water, then cover the top and shake it up. It works instantly. I just got a dishwasher, but even before that, I kept a small container of the detergent under my sink just for that use.
alcohol, rice and salt.
same as a bong.
I spray a little clorox beach into the vase and add hot water, swish it around a bit and voila! Clean vase.
Don't forget a rinse with rubbing alcohol at the end if the vase is too narrow for you to get inside and dry.
Don't forget rice! Uncooked rice and some water. I've also heard of people adding baking soda or vinegar to that. Cover the top and work out your arm shaking it up.
i just use crushed up eggshell from my breakfast (rinsed first of course!) with a little bit of liquid dish soap. that works perfect especially with the little vanilla bottles that have such small necks. Just make sure that you crush up the egg shells for those extra small.
I pour dishwasher detergent in the bottle or vase add hot water, let stand and rinse. This works on baking pans also, cuts the grease real fast
Rice and rubbing alcohol... I'm surprised only two other person on this list knows this ole bong cleaning trick from college.
annkb is right! i've used denture cleaner....sparkles like new!
this is so helpful, thanks!!