Who doesn't love having beautiful flowers on display? However, one less attractive thing is the discolouration of the vase after the water has sat stagnant for a few days. It feels like nothing can clean it properly – until now, thanks to Nancy Birtwhistle's vase cleaning trick.
I have several glass vases that, before now, I have filled with washing-up liquid, multipurpose surface cleaner, and even a small amount of boiling water in a desperate quest for sparkling results – yet there is always a layer of residue that clings to the bottom. As soon as I saw Nancy's cleaning hack, using all-natural products from the kitchen cupboards, I wasted no time trying it.
Similar to Nancy's tip for banishing musty-smelling towels, the results speak for themselves. Until now, I honestly haven't been able to get gleamingly clean glass vases in years.
The tutorial video shared on her Instagram (@nancy.birtwhistle) shows how she uses a homemade concoction of baking soda and uncooked rice to remove the discolouration from her vase after the flowers have faded.
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"Small vases and narrow-necked decanters cleaned without the need for harmful chemicals," Nancy writes as a caption on her post. Highlighting the common problem with so many vases, she asks, "When the neck is as narrow as this, how do I clean it?"
The cleaning expert then proceeds to show us how she does it. Beginning by funnelling in "2 tsbp of bicarbonate of soda" and "2 tsbp of uncooked rice" before adding "6-8 tbsp of warm water" into the vase.
Once all the ingredients are added, she covers the neck of the vase (ensuring no spillage) before giving it a thorough shake. After vigorously shaking, she leaves it to soak for "half an hour."
Trying Nancy Birtwhistle's vase cleaning hack
I immediately tried this simple method to clean my glass vase, which I also use to make banana water for my monstera plant, so it does get fairly mucky-looking.
As previously mentioned, I have tried all sorts of cleaning methods to remove the 'residue' around the bottom - even wrapping a set of tongs in a cleaning cloth by means of scraping the bottom, but even that didn't prove very effective.
I followed the steps as Nancy advised. Even after the first shake, you start to see particles of residue lifting off the glass as the uncooked rice acts as an abrasive material to gently scratch the dirt off. All the bits eventually float around at the bottom.
After leaving it for half an hour, as advised, I used a sieve to catch the rice while I poured the water out, and the glass was left sparkling like new. No scrubbing, no harsh chemicals.
I'm always keen for us to test the DIY cleaning methods before we share them, so we can confidently say they really are the best expert cleaning tips. It's safe to say this is one that I highly recommend and will be using on all my future vase and decanter cleaning tasks.
