How do you clean your glass?

[Anonymous]

Just curious – how are folks cleaning their glass these days – and how often/under what circumstances (that you’ve noticed) are you getting devitrification?

– Paul

[Kay T]

I use distilled water and vinegar.  I have well water with LOTS of minerals in it, so use the above.  I also use old cloth diapers (they make great rags) to wipe off. Don’t leave lint. 

Haven’t been able to play much with my glass lately, so haven’t had a problem with devit lately.

Kay T.

[MissyM]

I use warm water and a very tiny amount of dish soap. After I am sure it is clean, I wipe it down with rubbing alcohol and let it sit to dry before putting it in the kiln. I  had trouble early on with not getting the glass completely dry. I ended up with some pretty neat "mistakes". I am not certain what devitrification is. I am also a lampworker and tend to spend most of my free time doing that. I haven’t fused in quite a while.

[glassmomma]

I also use alcohol and have had no problem with devit.  I like the alcohol because it cleans off any oily residue and seems to leave the glass perfectly clean.

[Cathy Crain]

I use alcohol, then I wash it is very hot water & Dawn dishwashing soap.  Rise & dry immediately with some lint free cloths I bought at Target in the automotive section.  I LOVE THEM!!!   The trick is to keep my grubby finger prints off after I wash it (-:

[NancyG]

I rinse my large frit glass in a colandar with a very small amount of dish soap.  Rinse thoroghly and then dry with paper towels. 

[glassartguy]

 I recently attended a workshop at Bullseye and they use a mixture of 50% white vinegar and 50% denatured Alcohol. I tried it and it leaves nothing on the glass. It doesn’t always clean heavy grime super well, so I cleaned with regular glass cleaner and then used to mix and got great results. Dries fast as well. Costco has a really good buy on lint free cloths that are great. When you dry them don’t use the antistatic dryer sheets.

[valerie_adams]

I use Costco’s lint free cloths or the blue paper shop towels with Sprayway glass cleaner. 

I’m super careful with a few opals like gold purple or neolavender which tend to devit now and then for me if I don’t clean them well enough.

 

[Wendy coleman]

Nothing fancy, just hot water and a very little amount of soap. I think the key is in the drying – I always us the lent free cloth but find that old t-shirts make great drying clothes.

[katkramer]

I used to work at a Chili’s restaurant, and we were told to clean glass at the restaurant with coffee filters because they were lint free.

I hate to admit, but lately I’ve been a lot lazier about cleaning my glass.  The last few pieces I haven’t cleaned at all, and they turned out fine.  I know this is going to bite me in the butt later, though!

Hmmmm….maybe this is why we were getting GIANT bubbles in our pieces awhile back.  No, I think we cleaned those.

: )

Kat

 

[Binky]

I am constantly trying to find the ultimate product (chemical) with which to clean, so I use a variety of things depending on the project.  What I can be specific about is using a paper coffee filter to get a nice lintfree surface.  The generics are very cheap also!

[LauraJo]

I had always cleaned my glass with dish soap and water, wiped down with a lint free towel.  I took a class in June of this year with a prominent teacher and she told us that cleaning was NOT necessary since the firing would burn everything off…  Another student in the class had a small spray bottle with alcohol in it which he was using to clean his glass.  I have incorporated that idea into my regime.  Somehow the idea of not cleaning at all didn’t sit well with me… what if it didn’t burn off and I just wasted all that glass and time?  So, I use dish soap and water and now have a small spray bottle of alcohol for the stubborn oily prints.

[glassmomma]

YIKES!   NOT cleaning your glass before firing will come back to haunt you one of these days.  Even your finger prints will be permanently imbedded if left on glass before firing…….of course, that can also make for an interesting piece of artwork, I suppose.   Marker may or may not burn off.  Dirt and grime may cause glass to crack or create devit.  

I took classes from a " prominent teacher " who also gave incorrect information….lots of it actually.  Forums such as these are an excellent source of information and have taught me MORE than the prominent teacher.

Cleaning glass is pretty simple to do and well worth the effort in the end. 

[ruralmama]

I do the same as Kay since I have well water and found that a mixture of vinegar and water works best.

Dawn C.

[Joann N.]

I use 90% isopropyl alcohol to cleam glass. So far, no problems.

[Author]

Posts