How to Wash Out and Clean a Decanter

Decanters are beautiful.

They can also get dirty.

Anytime you have glassware that has a narrow neck and a wide bottom, it be tricky to clean because you can’t get your standard brush in there. If you have some gunk in your decanter, whether from dried whiskey or something else, swishing it with hot water and soap (after soaking) might not do the job.

How do you up your cleaning game? How do you get some scrubbing action in the decanter through the narrow neck?

Try a different cleaning solution. If soap and hot water isn’t working, you can try a 50-50 mixture of white distilled vinegar and water. This is a time tested cleaning solution that you can use anywhere. Vinegar is a fantastic cleaning agent and easy to rinse out. If that’s not working, you can also try baking soda and water because it acts as a mild abrasive.

Use a scrubbing agent. By scrubbing agent, I am referring to something that will fit through the narrow neck and act as your brush. The best ones to use are rice, salt, and crushed ice. Some places have suggested ball bearings and sand, but I don’t recommend those because they can (thought unlikely) scratch your decanter.

As a last resort, buy a bottle brush. These are inexpensive and they will fit into the decanter so you can scrub any nooks and crannies that defy other methods.

Once all the residue is gone, put in a small amount of bleach and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to sanitize it. Then rinse out your brand new decanter and air dry.

That’s it! Dirty decanter is now clean!

2 thoughts on “How to Wash Out and Clean a Decanter

  1. Hello Jim.
    Happen to find out more about Whisky on Google n I saw ur name.
    Whether u can answer my question?
    Can we still drink a bottle of Royal Salute Scotch Whisky which is kept for more than 40years

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.