July 05, 2005

Inebriated George: Decanter Resurrection Mrs. Tool and I bought a sweet vintage mahogany mini-bar, complete with (nearly) complete glassware set a few months ago at an estate sale. Got it for a song. I've spruced up the cabinet's finish and cleaned all the glassware. The decanter, however, has some light moldy spots on the inside. I wish to fill it with Kentucky's finest, and am eager to get it done.

What is the best way to clean a decanter, particularly to ensure all the mold is gone, without leaving some kind of chemical residue that'll fuck up the flavor of my bourbon? So far all we've figured out is to cut off a piece of a scrubby sponge and put it on the end of a coathanger, but it's hard to really do much scrubbing on the inside with it. Is there some magic method that eludes me? One caveat: there's a painted design around the outside, so harshness like putting it in the dishwasher is out of the question. Please help this drunken monkey, and I will praise you to Cthulhu.

posted by middleclasstool 19 years ago
  • Fill with sea salt, ice and a very small amout of water. Swirl around until clean.
  • get a bottle brush and some soapy water. Or, alternately, put some kosher salt in the decanter (it acts as an abrasive) and add some water and swirl around until clean.
  • What about a bottle brush like you buy for scrubbing inside babies' bottles?
  • wow, scary...
  • There are decanter cleaning brushes which are flexible to reach those otherwise hard-to-reach areas of decanters. Normal bottle brushes often can't bend to reach them. You could also try decanter cleaning balls. Small, clean ball bearings might even work as a substitute. Another option is to try filling the decanter with white vinegar, let it sit overnight, and then flush it with multiple rinses of cool water. Or you could try a small amount of white rice in water, then swirl so the rice scrubs the interior (though you get the same sort of result with Argh's method above.) I've also seen denture cleaning tablets recommended. Put water in the decanter, add the denture cleaning tablet, and let it sit overnight.
  • Not having a good html day, obviously. This would be an actual clickable link to the decanter cleaning balls.
  • Instead of coarse salt (as Argh suggested) you could try washing soda. Just be sure to rinse really thoroughly. The idea of using ice is basically to provide something that will scrub the inside of the flask when you swirl it around. You could use small pebbles or marbles - anything that will fit through the opening in the decanter.
  • You might try some kind of bong cleaner. They are made to remove tar and other residues from glass, and work without removing decorative finished. This one is supposedly eco-friendly. The things one can learn from a stoner ex-bf.
  • I know that when I was a kid my grandma had some glasses stained with tea and she washed them with some watered down bleach which made them look brand new. She then washed them thoroughly to get rid of the bleach. Neither I nor my 17 cousins died or got sick from it, so I guess Grandma knew what she was doing.
  • When I used to brew my own beer, I believe we were reccomended to use TSP (tri sodium phosphate) to do general cleaning which would supposedly rinse free and leave no aftertaste. I imagine it would work here with a bottle brush as others have reccomended.
  • A word of warning: whatever cleaning method you try, rinse the decanter out with alcohol afterwards (high proof vodka, for example) or water will condense on the sloping insides and get moldy again. My guess is that this step was skipped by whoever packed it up for storage in the first place.
  • Fill the container with owl semen. Let sit for four days. Drink.
  • Is this decanter leaded? I've been accused of being an uptight dork about this, but if it is, are you sure you want to store liquid in it? I'd have to search it out, but a professor once showed us the results of tests he had done on a non-random sample of brandy decanters (including his own) and the lead levels were amazingly high on most of them. /uptight public health warning It it's not leaded, a nice 3 parts hydrochloric 1 part sulfuric (hmm, I may not remember that correctly) solution always did the trick for cleaning nasty glassware in the lab. If you know someone with the chemical hook up, google aquaregia for the precise proportions. You would have to be really careful about not getting it on the metal detailing on the outside, though. So maybe not such a hot idea. In general, acid cleans glass nicely.
  • Pee works wonders.
  • Lasers!!!
  • Decant, heretic!
  • Beware the lead. Honey, I love the new decanter but why are my gums bleeding?
  • Lead-poisoning-inspired story unrelated to the post: Several years ago, my wife (a teacher) received as a gift from a student a handmade pottery coffee cup - quite beautiful, and unique. She, being used to her capped vacuum thingee, had little use for it, but I am a devotee of unusual coffee cups (my current one is the plastic head of a white tiger), so I snatched the thing and took it to my office, where is served as my primary vessel for several years. Several years later, my wife had the little sister of her original student, and similarly, received as a gift a handmade coffee cup, very much like the first. This one, however, contains a small piece of paper that says "DO NOT USE FOR DRINKING - LEAD-BASED GLAZE" along with a brief but evocative paragraph about the potential issues associated with lead poisoning, which are evidently legion. I'm saving this information in case I am ever brought to trial for something really heinous. *small but thorough full body twitch*
  • Upon review: the Fes Word of the Day (FWoD, pronounced "Fwad!") is "several."
  • Romans used lead powder as a sweetener.
  • It is delicious, I'll grant you.
  • *looks above* *snickers* *eats paint* Seriously, though. My vote is for white vinegar - a superior glass cleaner that is also known for its mold-killing abilities. Soak overnight, wipe out with that sponge contraption you've made, or a bottle brush. After that, rinse it (and the sponge!) out and try the bleach solution and similar wiping, if you need to. Then rinse that out and try the thing with vodka as Cali recommended, to retard future mold growth. Or, if worried about the lead issue (is it crystal or glass? can you see "press lines" on the side of it the way you can with most glassware - from where it was molded?), you can always try to find a new glass decanter in a similar style, something that would fit with what you already have. This would save you all the worries discussed above: no need to clean out the mold, no need to watch for excessive hair loss and abdominal pain... everyone's a winner!
  • Thanks for posting the question, mct! I have a nice decanter that I hardly ever use because it's so hard to clean out. Mostly, I just put mint juleps in it for summer parties. Now I may use it more.
  • How about that stuff the beardie-weirdy on the infomercials is always about to pop an artery about? OCR, or some such? Of course you could fill it with bourbon and drink the stains away.
  • Vinegar's best for glass, usually use half vinegar, half water. Flush well afterwards.
  • Automatic dishwasher detergent - the powdered stuff - has bleach, and is grainy. Put in about 2 Tablespoons, add water, swish vigorously. Rinse very well with very hot water. All of the abrasive methods may etch the glass a bit, causing it to look cloudy. I'm fond of Knob Creek bottles as decanters. Getting it emptied is the best part.
  • Knob Creek is mother's milk to me. It'll warm you to your toes. I'm currently on Bulleit Bourbon, as it's cheaper -- almost as cheap as Jack Daniel's, and roughly fourteen times better. Also comes in an old-timey looking bottle. Thanks for all your advice, monkeys. I hope to have it clean and ready to drain in no time.