How often do you replace your wine glasses?

We just got to our beach house and noticing the wine glasses are looking a bit “beat up”..... my wife frequently puts them in the dishwasher so I know that is not great. They are kind of looking the same in our Boston house. I would say very broadly they are 10-20 years older and kind of thinking I might just reload.... but wondering how often if ever you guys have this issue/thought?

First of all, I put wine glasses in dishwasher, I have Spiegelaus that are 20+ years old that look fine. If it's is crud/discoloration you might try OXiclean, I don't usually use it for glasses, but does wonders to "resparkle" decanters.

If you have really hard water that might make glass discoloration worse, no experience.

I don't replace wine glasses, as they look perfect, but I do occasionally break (never in dishwasher though). I have way too many stems- I have lots of Spiegelau, Reidels, and Schott Zweisels in various sizes that I've had for years. In last few years I'm more likely to use the Zaltos and Gabriel Glass stems (and I have one Grassi that gets rotation when I'm solo).

Some cheap ones got thrown out when they got very cloudy from dishwashing. Otherwise glasses get thrown out only when they break.

We usually use Schott Zwiesels and some of them have small marks, perhaps from rubbing against something in the dishwasher, but in use you hardly notice them.

[Jenise]

Dale, I marvel at your Spieglaus. We dumped ours as they got etched inside (from the dishwasher, we presume) and they started retaining water droplets. Riedels purchased around the same time have never etched, so there's some kind of qualitative difference.

But John, we have replaced wine glasses simply because time went on and new things came along that we liked better than what we had before. We were very happy with Riedel until Zalto and GG came along. And too, our tastes continue to evolve in terms of what we enjoy drinking out of. For instance, we have abandoned flutes for champagne, preferring to drink out of a larger glass to more expansively experience the aromatics. Used to think we needed all these different sizes and shapes--now, could honestly get rid of everything but two--the GG tasting glass and burgundy bowls. Those would fit every need I have.

I wash my wine glasses by hand. I started doing that years ago after one broke in the dishwasher. I only replace them when they break.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

I don’t replace. I just buy more. I think I could set for a dinner party of 200 by now.

[Jenise]

David I have a 42" tall by ten feet wide set of cabinets that contain nothing but wine glasses. And that's just the stuff we only get into when we have company. Another shelf in the kitchen holds our daily drinkers, and there are three cases of glasses we get out for large parties. I feel your pain.

Deleted.

Dale, I marvel at your Spieglaus. We dumped ours as they got etched inside (from the dishwasher, we presume) and they started retaining water droplets. Riedels purchased around the same time have never etched, so there's some kind of qualitative difference.

Jenise, we too have a collection of Spiegelau glasses that I've been running through the dishwasher for 10 or 15 years, with no clouding at all. The first few in the cabinet, which get used 3-5 times a week look just like the ones at the back that get used 2 or 3 times a year. The few Riedels we have also go in the dishwasher, but we only use them once every week or two.

The Spiegelaus were a ridiculous price, too. Supposedly they were regularly $65CDN(~$48US) for four (I don't really believe that), but I got them on sale for $30/4 for the first four, $25/4 if you bought four more, and $20/4 for yet another four.

When I was first married, we got a second cat from a local shelter. Sasha was an amazing jumper and acrobat. We once saw her jump from a second floor balcony to a bookcase the floor below. We lost a wine glass a day due to her. She would jump on top of the wine cart holding the glasses and inevitably one would fall. We moved the glasses to more "cat friendly" storage.

Now I still use use Riedel glasses. Everyday the stemless ones and grape specific when having company. The stemless go in the dishwasher, the others are hand washed. Occasionally one will break in the dishwasher, but I have not had to replace any due to old age, discoloring, or other reasons.

You often hear about the risk of breaking glasses in dishwashers, and reports here and elsewhere seem to confirm that, but I wonder how much of that is based on people using dishwashers a lot more than handwashing. Would dishwashers turn out to be safer if the comparison were done per glass-wash?

This occurred to me as I heard somewhere that dishwashers were not sold initially on claims of convenience, but on breakage-reduction.

The issue is further complicated by the fact that there is a tendency to wash different types of glasses by hand and machine, and with different levels of care

You often hear about the risk of breaking glasses in dishwashers, and reports here and elsewhere seem to confirm that. ...

This occurred to me as I heard somewhere that dishwashers were not sold initially on claims of convenience, but on breakage-reduction.

The latter makes sense to me: I've broken 8 or 10 wine glasses over the years, but the only one that broke in the dishwasher was one I dropped a plate on. I think I've broken more hand washing them.

Ditto for when they get broken.

I wash all glasses in the dishwasher except the big ones we use on Sundays as they're too tall to fit in dishwasher.

I put glasses all that will fit into dishwasher, I don't like hand washing.

I am prepared to replace glasses when they go cloudy. The dishwasher has never broken a glass. I have when hand washing or by dropping the glass, or dropping something on one. When I see a suitable wine glass at a reasonable price, I buy it for future use with result I have too many glasses.