Chandeliers, whether crystal or glass should be regularly cleaned and maintained to ensure that they have their iridescent glow and sparkle. While cleaning these amazing light fixtures can be difficult, it can also be unsafe. You need to know how to clean a chandelier to fully observe the best safety practices when doing so.
Best time to clean your chandelier
The best time to clean a typical chandelier is a minimum of one year or thereabouts. For crystal chandelier, it is ready to be cleaned if you have dull crystals. Newer chandelier designs are usually due for cleaning when the frame or the glass starts looking dusty.
Planning before cleaning your chandelier
A lot of chandeliers come with convoluted and complex hanging patterns. Therefore, it is important to plan on how to clean a chandelier safely and effectively. This is usually done before you commence any cleaning.
What cleaning supplies do I need?
You will be using pretty basic cleaning supplies to clean out the chandeliers. You will have to get a step ladder to get to the fixture, you will need a drop cloth or pads that will be used to clean under. The pad will stop any crystal or glass prisms from breaking. To clean the crystal prisms you will need soft and lint-free clothes and white gloves.
Cleaning your chandeliers safely: Turn it off completely.
Apart from the inherent difficulty involved in cleaning a chandelier, one other difficult aspect of the cleaning/maintenance routine is its power. You need to be careful with its electrical parts. To start, you need to switch it off at its main switch. However, if you want to be safe while cleaning the chandelier, you can turn off the power from its breaker box. Be sure the room/space is bright enough to prevent working in the dark.
Safe chandelier cleaning methods: The glass off method or the glass on the method?
When it comes to safely cleaning out your chandelier, there are two distinct methods, they are the glass off and the glass on methods. The choice you make usually depends on your chandelier.
The glass on method: For you to clean out your chandelier while the glass is still on it, you will need to use a cleaning solution in a spray bottle. Spray a small quantity of the solution onto a lint-free cloth or white cotton gloves. Use the same cloth to wipe off the glass or crystal, you should then get a different cloth to immediately dry it up.
The glass off method: If you are doubtful about your safety or the safety of the light fixture while cleaning, you might want to try the glass method. With this method, you can get greater access to the frame of the chandelier. You can get a similar solution as above and proceed to clean out the chandelier.
If your chandelier lamps are covered with grime and dirt, you could just hand was the crystal or glass pieces with lukewarm water with mildly reactive dish soap. While using this method you will be expected to immediately rinse out the glass or crystal prisms with clean water and dry immediately with a clean and soft cloth.
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