Over the past few months our condo saw a number of changes. Honey colored parquet floor was replaced by cherry red hardwood, the bathroom got updated, wallpaper made way for paint, the doors got a lick of paint too and window dressing was updated.
In the process picture frames, ornaments and knick knacks were washed until everything was perfectly clean.
All except the chandeliers, they hadn’t been touched.
Last weekend I thought it was high time for them to get cleaned too. I thought this job wouldn’t take too long, but I was wrong – very wrong.
Taking the crystal bells down took well over an hour. Cleaning the crystals didn’t go as expected either.
I tried the following:
· Soaking the crystal bells in warm water with detergent.
· Soaking the bells in hot water with detergent.
· Soaking them in warm water and white vinegar.
· Soaking them in a mixture of warm water, vinegar and baking soda.
Nothing worked, nothing got them clean. I moaned and groaned … me and my bright ideas. Why did I go and buy a crystal chandelier with hundreds of little bells? Why not go for a normal chandelier, one that was no mess no fuss when cleaning.
Eventually I grew desperate and turned to my Facebook friends for help. I got some good suggestions, but none of them worked.
Eventually, someone suggested putting the bells in the dishwasher, or in the absence of a dishwasher, soaking the crystal bells in the dishwasher liquid.
That’s when I got creative. I don’t have a dishwasher, but I do have a washing machine. When I put in a load of sheets, I added one of the crystal bells (just to give this cleaning method a try). This bell came out perfectly clean.
My next step was filling a bucket with warm water, adding laundry detergent and a bit of baking soda, and soaking the crystal bells overnight.
When I check a few moments ago, all the bells were sparkling clean.