How to wash a chandelier, simple and complex designs

General cleaning is a major stress for the fragile female body. Wipe off the dust, wash the baseboards, get into every crack with the product. And the apotheosis of the whole action becomes SHE - the chandelier. A huge hanging thing, crystal, with a good hundred glass pendants. A step to the left, a step to the right - and the fragile crystal parts will become irreparably damaged by streaks and stains. How to avoid this? How to wash a chandelier so that it turns from a punishment into fun entertainment? Now we'll tell you.

Preparing to wash the chandelier

Prepare yourself mentally, drink a cup of linden tea, meditate and prepare all the necessary equipment in advance. And don’t forget about safety precautions.

Inventory and auxiliary tools

Visually evaluate the chandelier. If it is simply covered with dust, then there is no need to remove all the decorative elements and boil the water. All you need is a simple duster (aka “duster”) and a stepladder.

If the lamp is thoroughly dirty, prepare:

• a blanket - we put it under the lampshade, because the hangings will have to be removed, and some part will definitely fall;
• basin for washing small parts;
• an old toothbrush - it will come in handy twice: when we clean the frame and wash the pendants;
• clean towels for drying;
• lint-free gloves - rubber or cotton;
• a clean cloth for polishing crystal parts.

Cleaners

As the joke says, “you have two options” - use folk remedies or professional liquids and sprays.

Folk remedies include:

1. Ammonia or ammonia. A 100 ml bottle is diluted in 4 liters of water. The resulting composition is used to wipe all small elements.
2. A mixture of vinegar, salt and water (in the proportion of 45 ml/35g/3l). It is important to use non-iodized salt, otherwise stains will remain.
3. Dishwashing liquid. Diluted in a large amount of water - 45-50 ml of product per 2 liters.
4. A mixture of soap, soda and water in the proportion 35g/35g/1.5l. The mixture must be whisked.

Specialized modern products (the same ones that your mothers and grandmothers contemptuously call “chemistry”) are a more expensive option, but easy to use. This:

• glass cleaner - any, even containing alcohol;
• specialized sprays for cleaning crystal chandeliers (for example, Crystal Clean) - you just need to apply them to the product and let it drain; you don’t have to polish or disassemble the chandelier.

For the laziest and most economical, there is another option - a dishwasher. Most models have a program “for glasses” - this will be the best help. It is worth pouring a gel-like product without large abrasive particles into the detergent compartment. The device itself will wash and dry the parts - all that remains is to polish and hang.

Safety precautions and important nuances

Before cleaning the lamp, turn off the electricity. And don't just flip the switch in the room. Walk to the switchboard and turn off the power to the entire apartment. It’s very good if, until the end of the whole procedure, impatient household members do not run away and click the plugs back.

If you have to disassemble the chandelier, use either a normal stepladder, or make sure that the table and chairs do not wobble. It is also better to choose shoes that are comfortable and non-slip, for example with rubber soles and that are the right size.

Don’t forget about the blanket and gloves - the capricious pendant will not slip out of latex or rubber covered fingers, and if it does slip out, it will fall on the blanket and will not break.

Cleaning the chandelier with pendants

Decide right away whether you will disassemble the lamp. If yes, then lay down a blanket and heat the water. By the way, if the chandelier has a complex configuration, take photos of it on your smartphone. They will help you remember exactly where this or that element should be attached.

Without taking off

And here again there are “two ways”. The first scenario is that you bought an expensive spray for cleaning chandeliers. The algorithm for working with it is simple:

1. Lay old newspapers or a piece of film (preferably film) on the floor.
2. Spray the lamp generously, even the smallest and most distant parts.
3. Wait 10-15 minutes according to the instructions. During this time, the spray will “corrode” the dirt and, along with it, will flow onto the carefully laid film.
4. Let the chandelier dry for 3-4 hours and turn on the light. Beauty guaranteed.

The second scenario is a partial disassembly of the chandelier. The body itself remains in place, but small parts are removed and washed. The algorithm is like this:

1. Take a photo of the location of the pendants on the lampshade. This will make it easier to return them to their original state.
2. Climb onto the stepladder and carefully remove all the hangers. Immerse them in a bowl of diluted detergent (or simply pop them in the dishwasher). For 30 minutes you can forget about them.
3. Wash what's still hanging on the ceiling.To do this, use a cloth soaked in the solution, and for hard-to-reach places, use an old toothbrush. If the frame is metal, after washing, wipe it dry with a clean cloth.
4. Check how the pendants feel in the basin. If they have insect stains on them, don't worry. Pour alcohol into a small spray bottle, spray the stain and wipe it with a rag (by the way, pure alcohol and moonshine perfectly dissolve any organic contaminants on the floor and walls).
5. Place clean pendants on a towel and let dry.
6. Polish them with a cloth and hang them in place.

After the lamp has dried (the same 3 hours), you can turn on the electricity and admire the results of the work.

Taking off

If the lamp is small or you chronically do not like to work on weight, simply dismantle the chandelier before washing! Then you can lay it out on the floor, clean all the elements and return it to its place. And there will be no electricity at home for only half an hour.

If you decide, you need to act like this:

1. Disconnect the apartment.
2. Disconnect the power wires and carefully remove the chandelier from the hook (it is better to recruit free “labor” in the person of your spouse to help).
3. Separate all removable parts and pendants from the lampshade.
4. Wash both the frame itself and the pendants.
5. Let dry. Polish the pendants until they shine.
6. “Assemble” the chandelier and mount it back on the ceiling.

This will make washing much more convenient - at least your hands won’t get numb.

Bonus: how to prevent dust on a chandelier

Is it possible to avoid washing the chandelier at all? Don’t spend money on sprays, don’t cut off the power in your apartment? Yes!

• every week, go over the lampshade with a brush and sweep away the dust, and if a midge is stuck to the crystal, a cotton pad moistened with alcohol will solve the problem;
• Treat the lamp with a specialized antistatic agent at least once every two months - it will prevent the accumulation of dust;
• If you leave home for more than a week, cover the lighting fixture with a fabric cover.

We hope the tips below will help you quickly and easily wash a crystal chandelier of any complexity.