There are certain vessels with nooks and crannies no bottle brush can reach. We’re talking vases, decanters, kids’ sippy cups and yes, even your favorite fancy water bottle. But once the glass turns cloudy or grimy (ahem, flowers left in a bud vase for far, far too long), you start to wonder if your only recourse is to toss the container and start over. Thankfully, there’s another option—one our editors have sworn by for years—and it makes scrubbing awkward glassware borderline enjoyable.

What you’ll need:

• Water

• 3 to 4 drops of dish soap

• 1 teaspoon white vinegar

• 1 cup uncooked rice

What to do:

Pour the rice, dish soap and white vinegar into the glass and fill to the top with water. Place your hand over the mouth of the glass and give it a good shake, letting the rice “scrub” the inside of the vessel. Repeat as necessary until the glass is clean, then rinse it out and let it dry.

Why it works:

Grains of rice are just small enough to scour most surfaces within the container without getting stuck anywhere, and they’re not super abrasive, so they’re not likely to scratch or damage the glass.

The technique itself can vary, depending on your needs. Cleaning and Stain Removal for Dummies recommends swirling uncooked rice by itself in a decanter to remove port and brandy stains, while If I’d Only Listened to My Mom, I’d Know How suggests filling a really grimy vessel with white vinegar and leaving it overnight before adding and swirling the rice. For everyday use, we’ve found the water, dish soap, white vinegar and rice combo works well for us.

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