Caring for Handcrafted Glassware the Blenko Way
There’s a certain feeling you get when you hold a piece of handcrafted glass. It has weight - not just in your hands, but in its history. You can see where the molten material paused for a breath, where the glassworker’s tool coaxed it into shape. Every ripple, every soft variation in color, carries a little bit of that moment in time. Caring for a piece like this isn’t about keeping it pristine; it’s about using it and letting it live a long life without losing the story it already tells.
Most of our glass spends its earliest hours in a dance with fire. At over two thousand degrees, it’s liquid and stubborn, resisting even the most experienced hands. By the time it leaves our lehr - a long, hot oven where it slowly cools - it’s stable, but still very much alive. That’s why we encourage you to treat it the way you’d treat any old friend who’s been through a lot: gently, with respect for what it’s been through.
Warm water, soap, and a soft cloth are your best allies. Glass that’s been handmade doesn’t need harsh detergents, ammonia-based cleaners, or scouring pads; it needs patience. Sudden changes in temperature can shock it, the same way a quick dip in cold water can shock your own skin on a winter day. If you wash a pitcher that’s just been used for ice water, let it rest until it reaches room temperature again before giving it a rinse.
And here’s a secret we’ve learned from decades of living with glass: it appreciates being handled. Not dropped, of course - but touched, turned toward the light, admired. The more you notice it, the more you catch those tiny bubbles and swirls that mark it as one of a kind. Those aren’t flaws; they’re proof of its time in the furnace, proof that it was made by a human hand rather than stamped by a machine.
When you dry it, use the same slow approach the lehr gave it. A cotton towel, no rushing. Let your fingers follow the curve of the rim, feel where it narrows at the neck, where it opens wide to hold water or flowers. Caring for handcrafted glass is less about rules and more about noticing it, being present with it. The longer you do, the more it will give back - a window and sunlight that changes with every hour of the day.
Because that’s what Blenko glass has always been about. Not just something to own, but something to live with. And the best care you can give it? Simply loving it enough to let it shine.
