Face up in a cabinet where the glasses are protected from dust and other nasty bits. Face down on an open shelf.

upside down (no dust?)

I keep mine face down because I feel like when I stack them they're more stable face down.

I checkerboard them up and down. It takes the least space. It's not a big savings, but it is the only way I can fit them all in one cabinet shelf in my apartment.

Face up in my closed cabinet, coz I dont want the rim touching anything, and then stacked if necessary.

Glass up. For cleanliness.

Face up, to avoid chipping the rim. And always in a closed cabinet - no dust.

I have been taught to put glasses face down, even if in a closed cupboard. My Mom said it's to prevent dust and now I do it out of habit. But face up doesn't bother me or anything.

I have too many glasses, so I alternate up and down, it's more efficient use of space.

They look nicer face up, but I always store them face down, even in the cupboard. It's very dusty here and I hate taking the extra step of rinsing them out every time before I use them, if they're face up.

Up and down alternated, as olthers have said it is the only way to fit them all in the little cabinet.

Yep. Alternating. (If they're tapered, anyway. Cylindrical obviously doesn't matter.)

Face down. Keeps the dust and cat hair out. No one wants cat hair in their glass of milk!

Face down - and the primary logic is about dust! :)

For crystal or fragile glasses, I always store them face-up. It seems like the small vibrations create tiny cracks in the rims of glasses that are stored upside down. I noticed small cracks in glasses coming from a grand-mother who stored them like that, and none in the glasses from another grand-mother who stored them face up. But it's just my experience.

For everyday glasses, I don't think dust is a real problem, since I use all my stock. I don't think the way I store them will change anything.

ditto silverfire4200. rim down. even in a closed cabinet, cat hair is pervasive and I hate having to wash my glasses every time I bring them out to use them. To keep the rims from touching the cabinet, I have a cabinet liner that I replace periodically.

OMG ALTERNATING UP AND DOWN!! *mind explodes*

I think I got in the habit of storing them upside down from working in the restaurant biz as well...Not sure if it really makes a difference to me either way really as long as they are clean when I want to use them. It's always interesting to me to see everyone else's point of view (as with the question recently of proper toilet paper roll mounting haha). There's a little OCD in all of us I guess. ;)

face up: less hand movement involved. no dust issue here.

i'm with LOORA on fine glassware... face up!

O.o How did I not realize that glasses face up vs. face down is a thing?! In my mom's house, the glasses were face down. So, in my house, the glasses are face down. Coffee mugs go face up. I don't know why. In my aunt's house, all the glasses are face up. It took me 30 years to notice this. I don't really put much thought into it, obviously; I put the glasses how I'm used to seeing them. At home, that's face down. At my aunt's, face up.

I never understood the face down thing. For me, it's about keeping the lip of the glass clean, since that is what will touch mouths unless a straw is used. I've always felt that the bottom of any cabinet is not the cleanest place, no matter how ocd a person can be (you never know what is in there when the cabinet is closed even with a fabulous exterminator), so I've always stored glasses lip side up.

Is this another toilet paper type question (over or under) up or down. I can't wait for the results.

Both - with no rhyme or reason...

I hate to see glasses rim down in a cupboard with a door because I always doubt the cleanliness of the shelf. For those worried about cat hair and dust - if it can get into the cabinet then it can get onto the shelf, and if you are storing your glasses rim down on that shelf then the weight of the glass will just be pressing said dust and cat hair onto the rim of your glasses.

Having said that, on an open shelf I think rim down is more hygienic. But you must clean the shelf frequently. (not just regularly, frequently!)

When living in a small space where every inch counts. We alternate one up and one down left to right and front to back. It could possibly give you an extra row of storage!

Face up. Dang soda, Milwaukee getting some love!

Holiday glasses hang top-down to keep out dust and protect them from the shelf. Everyday glasses sit on the shelf face up, ready to use.

I put them face down. I have more an issue with particulates in my glass than I do with the rim touching the cabinet.

Amusing thread. Face down (cuz that's the way mom did it?) on a cushioned shelf liner that protects the rims and that gets washed frequently. I'm thinkin any vermin that manages to escape my awesome exterminator can crawl up & in :)

I bought pretty vintage glasses that had a cloudiness in them that I thought I could clean off, but in google reading I found that storing them upside down over time makes the glass cloudy. Some of them improved with soaking in vinegar and some are permanently damaged.

Ditto on ANINHAS: "Face up in a cabinet where the glasses are protected from dust and other nasty bits. Face down on an open shelf."

I prefer face down because I stack them, 3 to 4 glasses up. Stackable glasses have wide top and narrow base. It's a lot more stable keeping them face down. I suspect that's also why restaurants do it, Ikea as well.

down

An additional comment on people citing "dust" as the reason. I don't suspect you keep all your plates and bowls upside down?

In the bar we stacked them top down, in order to let them drain/dry properly. Glasses have such a quick turn-over there, there is no chance for them to get dusty. Each glass will be used 5-10 times over the course of a day.

I've never seen them stacked. There is way more space than glasses available. Even at the end of the night after all have been washed, they just fill the space.

in our china cabinet, they are on display face up singles. in our glass cupboard, they are face down, and only the plastic ones are stacked.

if space were not a concern, i wouldn't stack any of them, but that's just me.

Face up.. I like how they look that way, and we have so few of them that they are in constant rotation, so dust isn't a problem.

I red somewhere that wine glasses should be stored face up to prevent humidity and odors that could alter the taste.

Glasses were not designed to be stored standing on their lips, which are thin and fragile in comparison to their bases.

Gifted my mother in law with Moser gold-lipped Lady Hamiltion crystal high ball tumblers, and practically passed out when I saw that she stores them on their golden lips. Needless to say, she has chipped one of the lips...

Face up. Because I've never had open shelving and there isn't a major dust problem inside the cabinets that I've noticed. Thinking about it, I would also prefer the rim not touch the shelf.

face up, because who cares about dust, when there is a possibility of mice or bugs that could walk along the edge of your glass if its face down...ewwww

Rim up for hygiene.

Upside down in a cabinet. Dust still gets in as you have to open it to get things out.

Me, i zig zag them, one up one down. they fit into each other that way, saves tons of space...

Face up! I hate the thought of the rim where my mouth will touch just sitting on the cabinet shelf. Maybe that is just a thing from living in old NYC apartments?

Either way, I think it's cleaner especially when you actually use the glasses you have, instead of displaying them.

Face down. I don't really know why. I don't have to worry about dust because they're in a closed cabinet. And I'm not worried about the rims getting dirty from the cabinet because my cabinet is clean... So I guess it's just out of habit. I probably picked it up from one of my college roommates.

face down. Even with closed cabinets dust and dog fur will still get around.

Face up.

Up. The shelf is seldom cleaned, why put the lip in the dirt then in your mouth?
Restaurants face down so wet glasses will drip dry. Plus they (are supposed to) clean surfaces daily.

I grew up (in the Midwest) storing them rim up. And then I moved to Texas, with its giant Texas-sized cockroaches. One dead bug curled up in a glass was enough horror for one lifetime...rim down now, always. *shudder*

Yeah I'm with EnglishDaffodil, because here in Texas all the cups and bowls have to be face down on a shelf liner. The plates in my house are in racks to prevent chipping from stacking. Wine glass are faced up in their own hutch while the tea cups are alternating handles for more storage. It's a habit to towel dry the dishes before putting them away.

The whole notion of putting glasses down comes from the restaurant industry, in order to allow them to drip dry on a mat that allows the water to dissipate and then remain stored clean without risk of something falling into them because they're stored in the open. Most people at home have wood or particle board cabinets with doors. Ask yourselves how much dust is getting into those closed cabinets? What does water to to wood, or worse particle board? Am I really worried about dust in glasses and not plates or bowls inside of cabinets? Unless you live in a restaurant kitchen, stop being silly dorks and store your glasses upright inside your cabinets.

What does water do* to wood...

The face of a glass would be the part decorated, so with the "face" up or down it would still roll off the shelf...

But the *mouth* up or down? I would say up.

Face down. Partially to prevent dust and other things from falling in, but also because I've had glasses get stuck together when face up that doesn't seem to happen when face down (place for water to run out probably).

Fine crystal manufacturers instruct owners of their products to store them rim up to protect the fragile rim. I'm very old-fashioned; my mother used her crystal almost daily, and so do I. Out of habit I store all my non-crystal glassware rim up as well.

Face up. Unless you live in a place with a serious bug problem (or a serious dust problem? How are you getting that much dust in your cabinets?!), there's no reason to damage the rim of your glasses by placing them face down.

Most glasses aren't meant to sit face down and I find they're off balance and tend to get broken more often that way.

ah, my boyfriend and I just had a whole argument about this! i say face down, he says face up.

My mother has always stored her glasses face down. I remember it bothering me as a child and when we moved to a new house, I helped her unpack the kitchen boxes and specifically asked if we could "put the glasses right side up now." She gave in, but I'm sure she thought it was odd.

Now, in my own home, my glasses are right side up, but like a commenter before me, it's only because they're in a glass-fronted cabinet with little to no dust-exposure. If I had them on open shelving I'd seriously reconsider.

Oh, and the glasses are upside down again at my parents' house: )

Face up. Also, my mom has those glasses in the photo! The green one is my favorite for putting my coffee drink in in the morning.

Rim UP. I live in Texas and roaches get in the house sometimes no matter how clean you are. Once I watched one run into the kitchen cabinet among the glasses. I managed to get it out and squash it. But really, how gross to think of it running its little legs against the rim of a glass as it scurries about. I'll take dust over that any day.

My pints are rim down on a lined shelf. My wine and other "fine" glasses are stored rim up to reduce the possibility of damage. My coffee mugs are stacked however they are most stable (some are short and squat, others are tall and narrow, some have feet). And anything else is squeezed into the space left over however they fit, rim up or rim down...storage space is at a premium :P

Rim up in my mom's kitchen, but when I get my own place I'll put rails on the top so I can slide the wine glasses into them and put the other glasses (rim-up) on the bottom.

Dust? Really?

But what do you do about the germs on the shelf, whether lined or not?

Just kidding. Both beliefs are equally ridiculous.

wow

I'm with those who store however she can most easily fit things in the cabinet.

For those who are anti-face-down b/c they don't like the rims touching the cabinet where creepy-crawlies might have been, I feel obliged to point out that bugs are perfectly capable of crawling on the face-up rims as well as the shelf of the cabinet. Just sayin'.

In my home (owned) face down but now in the rented one face up because I never feel like enough clean inside of kitchen cupboards. Me, obsessive? Naaa :)

Face down! I live in Mexico and with all out open windows/doors, we get a lot of dust.

I think my mom used to have them face up in our cabinets, though.

Face up. The glasses are narrower at the bottom so keeping them face up takes up less space.

If you've ever had rodent or bug problems, you know upside down is the way to go. Otherwise they could crawl into the open area and die. I learned that lesson the hard way when I set down poison to kill the roach problem we had. It's so icky and frustrating, esp if you just wanted a quick drink. It gets dangerous if the bug or rodent dies of poison, too, because if you don't check it could potentially cause serious health issues.