In a busy bar or restaurant, spotless glassware is equally as important as the quality of the drinks you serve.

The condition of your glassware will impact customer’s perceptions of your business and uncleanliness is never a good look in a hospitality environment. 

The speed and efficiency of your glass washing process can significantly impact your operations, customer satisfaction, and bottom line. This means having well-thought out set up for your glass washing is crucial for a successful hospitality business.

Here are our top tips for maximising the efficiency of your glass washing operation:

1. Invest in a Glass Dryer

No one wants their cold drink served in a warm, wet glass straight out of the glasswasher. Larger or beer served in a wet glass will appear flat and lifeless, making it crucial that your glasses are dry if you want to present your customers with the perfect pint. 

Your glasses can take up to 40 minutes to dry after being washed, this often results in the need to dry glasses with a towel or serve drinks in a warm glass, much to your customer’s chagrin. Investing in a glass dryer is a great solution and can reduce drying times drastically.   

A glass dryer works by drawing air in via the base and circulating it around the glasses through a grid plate, before passing cool air at speed over the glasses to bring them back to temperature. This ensures the inside of the glass is completely dry. They’re easy to use and install as they can be installed on top of glasswashers. 

2. Maintain Effective Glass Maintenance

Take measures to preserve your glasses by investing in good quality detergents and rinse aid, implementing water treatment, servicing your machines, and regularly updating your glassware. Every glass sent back or pulled out of the washing/drying process will impact your bar’s efficiency and also cost. 

3. Have a Storage System That Works

Your glass storage needs to work for you and your staff. There’s little point in improving your glass washing efficiency if your glasses are regularly getting damaged or broken due to poor storage. 

It is also important your bar is equipped with enough glasswasher baskets to suit your capacity, allowing you to wash, collect, move, dry, and stack as much as you need.

4. Care for Your Glass Washer

Your glass washer needs some TLC to keep giving you excellent results. Correct care of your glasswasher will ensure your glassware is protected and cleaned to shining.

Give your glasswasher a long life by:
•    Testing your incoming water and adjusting detergent levels as required.
•    Checking that the inside of the machine is completely clean and free of debris.
•    Cleaning out the drain trap and wiping around the doors.
•    Removing and thoroughly cleaning all jets, rinse and wash arms, every 7 days.
•    Avoiding overcrowding the wash trays.
•    Making sure it is operating at the right temperature, get your service engineer to check your wash and rinse temperatures.
•    If you are not using a freshwater glasswasher, then you should empty the wash tank after every 8-10 cycles. A non-freshwater machine recycles the wash water so by the end of the day you will be washing glasses in very dirty water.
•    Draining out and rinsing out the machine after every trading session. 

5. Be Mindful of Chemicals

In order to maximise the cleanliness of your glassware and the longevity of your machine, keep the following tips in mind:
•    Ensure you are using the correct dosage of detergent and rinse aid.
•    Use the correct rinse aid for your detergent, manufacturers design their detergents and rinse aids to work together.
•    Unless a specially formulated powder product with glass protection, always use liquid. Lower quality power detergents can scratch and damage glass.
•    Good quality glass washing detergents will include water softening agents that prevent spotting in hard water areas and help to remove debris. A detergent chemical will remove tannin stains, proteins, and yeast residues.
•    Good quality rinse aids are worth the money, rinse aids are designed to reduce drying time by making water run off the glass and evaporate faster as well as preventing streaks and water spotting.

Along with adhering to best practices with cleaning, proper glass care ensures customer satisfaction with every serve. By putting these best practices in place, you can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and elevate your bar or restaurants presentation.

If you’re in the market for a new glasswasher, get in contact with the knowledgeable team at Dishwashers Direct today.