comparing-glasses

I’ve been experimenting with laundry detergent around here. The main reason we needed a laundry boost is the incredibly hard water in our new house. We don’t have a water softener, and we don’t plan to buy one.

hard water stains

Unfortunately, laundry isn’t the only victim of the hard water. Our drinking glasses have been taking a beating, too. Every time I pull a cloudy glass from the dishwasher, I inwardly groan.

Today, thanks to a little experimenting with two of my favorite natural cleaners, vinegar and baking soda, I am happy to share with you how to remove hard water stains from drinking glasses. Even better, no harsh chemicals were involved in the cleaning of these dishes. 🙂

comparison-of-glasses

As you can see, the difference is pretty amazing!

Here’s what I did.

soaking-in-vinegar

Step 1 – Soak the glasses in a bowl of white vinegar. At first, I soaked the glasses overnight, rotating them occasionally to make sure each side was exposed to the vinegar. Since I could only fit a few glasses in the bowl at a time, I experimented with shorter and shorter soaking times. I found that I could get the same results with just 30 minutes of soaking as I could from the overnight treatment.

rubbing-with-baking-soda

Step 2 – Rub the glasses with a washcloth coated in baking soda. The white vinegar did a great job of breaking through the mineral deposits (can you say, “lime?”). I used the baking soda to remove all traces of the minerals and give the glasses a good shine.

Step 3 – Wash as usual. I didn’t even rinse the glasses before putting them in the dishwasher, figuring that a little extra baking soda could only help remove the cloudy mess.

comparison-of-glasses

And viola! Look at the difference. We’re all pretty excited about the shiny clean glasses around here, and I’m especially glad that we got such great results with fairly minimal effort. And that’s how to remove hard water stains from drinking glasses, no harsh chemicals required!