Correctly caring for your glassware can prolong the lifetime of your glasses and reduce the number of glass-related accidents in your establishment. Therefore, following some simple rules can save you money in glassware replacements and legal costs. It will also ensure that your glassware looks in pristine condition at all times – giving the best impression possible to your customers.
Using Your Glassware:
- Do not put cold liquids straight into a warm or hot glass and always preheat glasses for hot drinks by running them under a warm or hot tap. This helps to avoid thermal shock which can cause cracks in your glassware. Even the smallest of cracks can dramatically reduce the strength of a glass.
- Try to avoid picking up glasses in bunches. Even though this may seem like an effective way to collect glasses, repeated impacts can cause damage to the glasses and may result in breakages. Specially designed glass carriers are an effective way to collect glasses safely.
- Check your glassware regularly for chips and cracks and discard damaged glasses immediately. This is very important for the safety of your customers and staff because even the smallest of cracks and significantly reduce the strength of the glass meaning that it is much more susceptible to sudden breakage.
- Be careful to avoid contact with the beer tap. Repeated small knocks can cause chips and cracks.
- Do not put cutlery into glasses.
Storing Your Glassware:
- Do not stack glasses unless they are advertised as stackable. Even stackable glasses should not be stacked whilst they are still warm / hot. As the glasses begin to cool, the trapped air between the two glasses will try to equalise with the air pressure outside which can result in the glass exploding. Glass storage containers are a great way to store excess glasses or to transport glasses from one place to another with minimal impact:
- If storing glasses upside down, make sure you use shelf liners to allow air to circulate. This helps to avoid unwanted odours within the glasses and allows glasses to dry out properly:
- Stemware shouldn’t be stored upside down as the rim isn’t designed to take the weight of the glass. Glass hangers are a popular solution.
Washing Your Glassware:
- Always wash new glasses before use.
- Avoid caustic detergents as these can reduce head retention, can etch the glass and can give the glass a cloudy tinge. Using a specialist Glasswash will do the best job:
- Wash glassware at 60°C or less as anything higher can bake debris onto the glass. It may also cause thermal shock if the glasses are heated up to a high temperature and then cooled too quickly. Using a glasswasher will ensure that the correct temperatures are met:
- Coffee dregs (and drinks that contain cream) can taint washing up water and stain your glassware, whether it’s in a glasswasher or washing up bowl. Therefore, we would advise that you rinse coffee cups or glasses first or wash them separately.
- Delicate glassware (i.e. crystal glasses) should normally be washed by hand.
- Using a glass renovator every four weeks can help prevent your glassware from becoming cloudy and scratched (etched). This also helps to avoid the build-up of rinse aid on your glasses and keeps nucleated glasses in good order.
- Make use of glass racks to avoid your glasses knocking or vibrating together while they’re in the glasswasher / dishwasher.
