
    _        _      __  __      _        _____ _ _ _
   / \   ___| | __ |  \/  | ___| |_ __ _|  ___(_) | |_ ___ _ __
  / _ \ / __| |/ / | |\/| |/ _ \ __/ _` | |_  | | | __/ _ \ '__|
 / ___ \\__ \   <  | |  | |  __/ || (_| |  _| | | | ||  __/ |   
/_/   \_\___/_|\_\ |_|  |_|\___|\__\__,_|_|   |_|_|\__\___|_|   
querying the hive mind

Making glassware look new again?

Here's a photo of my 10 year old Duralex glass next to one I bought last week. Is there any way to make the old one look new again? By the thin scratches my guess is that years of scrubbing with a too-strong brush have dulled the surface. It's possible that some of the cloudiness is due to hard water but I don't see that level on my other glasses.
posted by gwint on May 06, 2024 at 7:02 AM

---------------------------

You're going to need an ethoxylate/sulfonic acid cleaner, but it should do the job well.

There's one called CRL (NB: this is *not* the CLR stuff you might see advertised on television. This is CRL...like the Carson Daly show, with a "c"). I'm linking to the company that makes it, but you don't have to buy it from them. If you look up CRL Water Spot Remover, you should be able to find another source.
posted by yellowcandy at 7:49 AM

---------------------------

I see scratches and watermarks For the scratches try a dab of toothpaste on a soft cloth...rub in direction of scratches...Should help for most of the problem...
posted by Czjewel at 9:39 AM

---------------------------

In general the scrubber sponges with green scrubby parts are abrasive enough to mar glass, wood, and metals. The blue or white scrubbers, sometimes marked as "safe for non-stick" are usually gentler.

If you want to save/restore it, glass polishes well, and if the toothpaste trick doesn't do it, a buffing cloth, a medium and a fine grit buffing compound, and a lot of elbow grease (maybe while watching TV) will get the job done. (And once you get some practice, you can use the fine grit compound to buff out and clear up your car's headlight covers!)
posted by xedrik at 12:18 PM

---------------------------

I had cloudiness on some old glass mixing bowls that I figured couldn't get much worse, so I used Barkeeper's Friend on them. Cleared it right up.
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 1:07 PM

---------------------------

Do "magic eraser"-type scrubbies help or hurt?
posted by wenestvedt at 6:33 PM

---------------------------

I use pint glasses almost exclusively and after years of having to get new ones every so many years because they were practically frosted with damage I was starting to notice the repetition. I was hand-washing with green-pad sponges at the time and I noticed the blue ones in the store for the first time and tried them out. They work for my purpose just as well as the green ones, and my glasses look just as clear as they did back when I bought them at Crate & Barrel, back when they stocked tons of cheap (and not so-) glassware, which they stopped selling at least 10 years ago. Suffice it to say I'm sold on the blues.
posted by rhizome at 1:21 AM

---------------------------

Warm vinegar bath, and nylon or plastic scrubber. If replacement is necessary, compare Duralex pricing at local and online restaurant supply houses.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:23 AM

---------------------------