Lemons are not only delicious in many beverages and meals, but the citric acid in them boasts antibacterial properties and is excellent at breaking down residue to remove stains. This makes lemons great for naturally cleaning your kitchen. The tart, highly acidic fruit will effectively clean grimy ovens, degrease microwaves, and help freshen garbage disposals covered in gunk. Lemons also serve as a great hack for maintaining streak-free wine glasses.
Many wine lovers know the struggle of keeping delicate glassware clean, as glass is prone to picking up fingerprints, smudges, and residue from minerals found in hard water. Any old leftover lemon you have in the kitchen will help make your streaky wine glasses sparkle, though. Try swiping a slice of the sour fruit all over your glass and let the juice’s acid do its work. Then, simply wipe the glass down with a clean paper towel or lint-free microfiber cloth. You could also spray a mixture of lemon and warm water on your glasses and let the solution sit for a few minutes before drying properly.
Keeping your wine glasses pristine
If you’re having last-minute guests over but don’t have a lemon on hand, you might consider steaming your glassware to achieve that crystal-clear appearance. You can do this two ways — by boiling a pot of hot water or using an actual garment steamer. Like the lemon hack, this method is super straightforward — just hold a glass up to the water vapor, let it get all steamy, and then go in with a polishing or microfiber cloth to make it shine. A mixture of vinegar and water will also remove hard water stains from cloudy glasses.
It’s also worth noting that, no matter if you use lemon juice to remove smudges or not, you should avoid letting your glassware air dry — whether upside down or right side up — as this can lead to those pesky water spots. Instead, manually dry your glasses by hand and consider using a separate cloth just to hold the glass to prevent fingerprints. Moreover, when handling stemware during cleaning and in general, it’s always best to hold the bowl instead of the base or stem. This is because you’re more likely to snap the stem or fumble and drop a glass when awkwardly clasping it at the base. And the only thing worse than a streaky wine glass is a broken one.
