How Do You Clean a Venetian Glass Chandelier?

A Venetian chandelier is not a metal frame hung with cut crystal drops. Its arms, leaves, flowers and crooks are moulded and applied glass, often assembled on a slender metal frame, and the glass itself is the structure. Individual elements are more vulnerable than cut drops, and many of them are not designed to come off.

So the work divides naturally into what can safely be removed and what has to be cleaned where it hangs.

The area beneath the chandelier is fully protected with dust sheets and large access ladders are positioned carefully. The removable upper and lower glass crooks come down first and are brought to floor level, where each piece can be cleaned individually and thoroughly. The main frames and glass arms are then cleaned by hand while remaining in position. Finally the crooks are refitted and checked, the lighting inspected and bulbs replaced where necessary.

This is exactly how we cleaned two very large Venetian glass chandeliers at a private residence in Lancaster Gate, London. With pieces of that size and complexity, regular cleaning prevents a heavy accumulation of dust and dirt and makes it much easier to maintain the clarity of the glass — we arranged to return annually to clean both. The visit is documented in cleaning two large Venetian chandeliers in Lancaster Gate.

Where a Venetian chandelier has to be dismantled for another reason, every glass element is marked and photographed first so the original arrangement can be reproduced exactly, as in our disassembly and removal of a Venetian chandelier in Central London.

Venetian glass should not be sprayed, soaked or twisted. Applied leaves and flowers snap rather than bend, and a crook that appears to be a fitting is sometimes glass. If a piece is large, high or heavily dressed, it is better assessed in person than cleaned hopefully.