Storing wine in a decanter is a fantastic way to allow your wine to breathe, and absorb more oxygen. This can help wine connoisseurs to truly enjoy the full complexity of flavors.
However, to get the best out of your decanter, you will need to wash it after every use. This is so that you don’t ruin the flavor of the next wine you wish to pour into your decanter.
Decanters themselves come in many shapes and sizes, so can be quite difficult to dry once you have washed them.
You can of course leave your decanter to air dry, however, if you have a harder water that is full of minerals, this can leave white spots on your glass once it has dried.
The good news is that there are several ways that you can dry your decanter. Let’s take a look at how to dry a decanter so that you can keep it squeaky clean, ready for the next time you need to use it.
Using a Decanter Drying Stand
One of the easiest methods to use to dry your decanter is to purchase a decanter drying stand. If you were to leave your decanter to air dry on its own, you could risk damaging it.
This is because the decanter is likely too heavy to balance upside down, and you could risk knocking it over and breaking it.
A decanter drying stand will feature a stainless steel body with a rubber end which your decanter will rest on as it dries.
Make sure to use hot water as the last rinse when cleaning your decanter, as this will evaporate more quickly than cold water will. This will mean you’re less likely to have any of those white water spots left on the glass.
There are many different types of decanter drying stands to suit the various styles and shapes of decanters. It will be best to find the style of decanter drying stand that best fits your shape of decanter.
The two main styles are a circle decanter style, which you rest the decanter in, or a line decanter style, which you will place in the decanter.
Hanging your decanter upside down on a decanter drying stand will be much quicker and easier than trying to balance your decanter upside down yourself.
Using a decanter stand will be the best method if you have a crystal decanter. This is because it will prevent the moisture from drawing lead out of the crystal, which is the most common reason for causing cloudiness in crystal decanters.
Using A Decanter Drying Brush
A quicker method for drying your decanter is to use a decanter drying brush. This will help you to dry your decanter instantly, so you will have even less chance of your decanter drying with white spots on it.
There are two different staples of drying brush to choose from: a mop style and a foam brush style.
Both types of decanter drying brushes will work in much the same way. They will feature a long handle so that you can easily reach inside your decanter to dry it. You will need to stand your decanter up as normal on your work surface.
It will be best to dry the outside first. Next, you will place the brush inside your decanter.
You will then need to rub the handle between your two palms so that the brush can dry all the moisture out of the decanter.
The mop style of decanter drying brush features microfiber cloth that has been cut into different strips.
This will be able to absorb the moisture inside your decanter when you rub your palms together along the handle, allowing the strips to fly around the interior of your decanter.
The foam style of brush features a long, thin wire inside the brush, which is then covered with foam. The great thing about this style of decanter drying brush is that the wire can be bent to reach the awkward angles of your decanter.
Using Paper Towels Or Cheesecloth
Don’t have a decanter drying stand or a decanter drying brush? Then you can use this third method to improvise on drying your decanter.
You can create a makeshift decanter brush by using lint free paper towels or a cheesecloth. It will be important to use several sheets of paper towels otherwise they could become too wet and break off inside your decanter.
If the paper towels become very wet, they could also leave unwanted bits of paper inside your decanter.
You can form a wick to insert into your decanter by folding over your cheesecloth or paper towels into a triangle shape, then rolling this together so it forms a long sausage shape.
You can then insert this into your decanter, and dry it inside. Make sure to keep a firm grip on the end of the cheesecloth or paper towel wick, as this could be a nightmare to remove from your decanter should you drop it inside.
In Summary
So there you have it! These are the three main methods that you can use to dry your decanter. Some methods may take longer than others, and some may be more efficient. It will all depend on how quickly you want to dry your decanter.
One of the easiest methods will be to purchase a decanter drying stand. You can leave your decanter to dry on this for however long it takes to air dry.
Remember to use hot water as the final rinse on your decanter, as this will air dry much quicker than cold water.
It is also worth noting that if you have lots of minerals in your water supply, this could leave white spots on your decanter once it has dried.
Arguably the most efficient method will be to purchase a decanter drying brush. This can be inserted into your decanter and can get it dry within several minutes.
You can also purchase a bendable foam drying brush to get to those awkward to reach areas of your decanter.
