Issues with Grassl glasses breaking?

[Josh_Grossman]

We’ve had our Liberte’s for just a few months and one broke in the sponge while hand washing it. We’ve only used them about 10 times.

Just curious if this is a common issue? Defective? Need to go the gym less?

I had issues with Gabriel Glas (not gold) but nothing with Grassl. I almost only use the dishwasher too.

[Pat_Martin]

We use these to wash our grassl’s. Works like a charm.

Dr. Brown's Natural Flow® Baby Bottle Brush | Dr. Brown's Baby

This is honestly the way to go. Had an extra from my son’s bottles and have stuck with it since.

Too funny — this is my go-to as well. I hand wash my stems with this exact brush, and it’s been all good so far (5+ years).

[Arvind_P]

We use these to wash our grassl’s. Works like a charm.

Dr. Brown's Natural Flow® Baby Bottle Brush | Dr. Brown's Baby

This is honestly the way to go. Had an extra from my son’s bottles and have stuck with it since.

Too funny — this is my go-to as well. I hand wash my stems with this sane brush, and it’s been all good so far (5+ years).

I thought I was the only one! The baby bottle brush works perfect for my thin glasses.

[Doug_Uno]

I hand wash my glasses using a brush similar to this product.

Amazon.com: Final Touch Wine Glass Cleaning Brush (WBR2): Cleaning Brushes: Home...

[JonathanG]

Dishwasher all the way.

[Andrew_K]

dishwasher is the best. I tend to rinse mine daily and use the dishwasher a couple of times a week. honestly I think the most important part of cleaning is handled during drying/polishing which is best done by hand with a cloth rag and is removing the fingerprints and water residue.

and yes, Chris has mentioned some of the early the Grassl glasses can break because they were too light with glass. personally I have a couple of those and I love them for the light weight while drinking, so I’m super careful not to break them when washing because I don’t want to lose them!

[Bdklein]

I’ve had 3 break-one I dropped, 1 broke because of poor placement of a plastic cutting board in the dishwasher, and one because a neighbor kid took a bite out of a Cru because it was so thin and she wanted to see what would happen.

So what happened ?

[David_Bu3ker]

1 broken to date after about 2 years of full time use. The one that broke got knocked off the table by the cat.

[J_Migone]

A grassl cru had a wobbly stem and broke within a month. No issues since…(knock on wood). They were really good to deal with and they have the best guarantee.

[Anthony_C]

I get them 90% of the way clean with scalding hot water and a drop of soap (unless we let a red wine dry in the bottom). Then it’s just a matter of cleaning the outside, rim, and base and for that we use the white foam champagne flute brush. Has worked pretty well with no breakage. I have some citric acid I use to dissolve more stubborn stains.

Dishwasher is rarely empty enough to do just a glass load so I haven’t tried that.

[MChang]

Smaller glasses; ZW, G Mineralité; are very durable. Large bowls and fancy designs are less so. It’s that simple.

Remember; these glasses are blown in wooden molds. The first glass in a mold and the last glass before a mold is retired will be different sizes and weights.

You can make a steel mold and then line it with cork but we aren’t confident the feel of the glass is as good.

Besides; you Zalto fans won’t need to worry about the cost of your glasses. Spieglau just threw some shade at them and has launched a machine made version that is identical (to me). That should be a fun Teutonic legal battle.

Definition series, it looks like. Doesn’t seem like you can buy it though.

[Ron_Slye]

Dishwasher for everything and its never broken a thing. Grassl, Zalto, Sensory all go thru the dishwasher.

Snapped a Zalto Bordeaux one time hand washing and have been dishwasher ever since.

This. Riedel Somm Bdx and Burgundy; Sensory; and Grassl all go in the dishwasher. Only broke one glass – because I forgot to raise the rack to provide enough clearance for the stem. Dishwasher gets them cleaner than I can by hand; takes less effort; and except for the one mistake on my part, has never resulted in breakage. I have had a number break with handwashing in the past.

[Chris_Freemott]

Definition series, it looks like. Doesn’t seem like you can buy it though.

Ye of little faith…

[JBrochu]

You guys must be super gentle. I just compared my purchasing with what we have left. We’ve broken 3 Cru and 2 Liberte in a little more than 14 months. I don’t care though they are the best and we’ll keep buying them, and hopefully be more careful.

[Adam_Noble]

I’ve had 3 break-one I dropped, 1 broke because of poor placement of a plastic cutting board in the dishwasher, and one because a neighbor kid took a bite out of a Cru because it was so thin and she wanted to see what would happen.

So what happened ?

Did you know that glass tastes like blood?

[brigcampbell]

I hand wash ours every day-I’ve never broken one washing or drying.

I have broken 2 or 3 in other ways that were completely my fault. Generally involves trying to balance a decanter upside down on a soft drying mat. I wouldn’t suggest doing this.

Pro tip:

[bradkaplan]

This is so funny - I have major distrust issues with my dishwasher, which has broken mugs and normal drinking glasses, can’t even imagine tempting fate by putting a Cru in there!

[J_Rock]

I’ve never had a Grassl break on me and I’ve had some for over a year. Dishwasher every time.

[HoosJustinG]

I bounced a Zalto Bordeaux off the table thanks to our toddler. She drilled it with a foam ball (had probably 2-3oz of wine in it) and it fell over and bounced up off the table (so it actually hit the table twice) and didn’t break. Bought a lotto ticket same day, but only got lucky the once.

[K_John_Joseph]

I’ve had more Grassl, Zaltos, and GGGs broken by handwashing than by dishwasher and it isn’t even close. I’ve had one dishwasher break that I couldn’t rationalize as user error in like 4 years across those glasses. Any other breaks were placement issues (standing up too tall on top rack and snapped neck when closing drawer; place too loosely so two glasses whack into each other; place stem near silverware and have knife handle whack into base). I had, after numerous warnings, have to threaten to start charging both our nanny and maid for broken stems because despite me telling them to just put them in the dishwasher, they’d try to wash by hand and break the bowl or torque the stem causing a break. It’s like a 7:1 ratio of stemware breaks hand:dishwasher.

That’s consistent with my experiences working a wine bar, by the way. We had an industrial steam/wash for stems. You’d inevitably have the only breaks towel drying…