Glassware & Crockery Sanitisation Guide

Glassware and crockery are sanitised to a commercial standard either by a hot-water dishwasher with a sanitising final rinse or by an approved chemical sanitiser used at the correct concentration and contact time. Every glass and plate is a food contact surface, so a lipstick-smeared glass or a plate with dried sauce is not just a service complaint, it is a hygiene failure. FSANZ Standard 3.2.2 requires these surfaces to be cleaned and, where necessary, sanitised. This guide explains the two recognised methods, how to verify your dishwasher actually works, and how to avoid re-contaminating clean items. The standard for a commercial wash Standard 3.2.2 recognises two ways to sanitise food contact surfaces such as glassware and crockery: Hot water (thermal): a final sanitising rinse hot enough and long enough to sanitise — commonly a commercial dishwasher rinse around 80°C or above. This is the most common method in hospitality. Chemical: an approved sanitiser used at the concentration and contact time stated on the label, then air-dried or rinsed as directed. Whichever method you use, cleaning always comes first. Sanitiser and hot rinses cannot work through food debris, lipstick or grease, so items must be visibly clean before they are sanitised. Using a commercial dishwasher correctly A commercial glasswasher or dishwasher does the heavy lifting, but only if it is working properly and loaded well: Scrape and pre-rinse heavy debris so the machine is not just spreading it around. Load racks so water and heat reach every surface — do not stack or nest items. Run a full cycle and let the machine complete its sanitising rinse. Allow items to air-dry on the rack. Never overload the machine. The most common reason glasses come out dirty is that too many items block the spray arms so water cannot reach every surface. How do you verify the dishwasher reaches temperature? A dishwasher that has drifted out of specification can look like it is working while failing to sanitise. Verify it: Use a thermolabel or maximum-registering thermometer to confirm the final rinse reaches the machine's sanitising temperature. Check the machine's built-in rinse gauge each day it is used. Formally verify at commissioning, after any service, and at a regular interval such as weekly. Keep chemical sanitiser topped up and dosing correctly if the machine uses a low-temperature chemical cycle. Recording these checks proves the machine is doing its job. Digital temperature monitoring and cleaning schedules keep those verification records together and prompt the check when it is due. Drying and polishing without re-contaminating Air-drying is the safest option because a cloth can undo all the work of sanitising. Towels pick up bacteria from hands and surfaces and transfer them straight back onto clean glassware. Where polishing is unavoidable for presentation, use a designated lint-free polishing cloth, handle glasses by the base or stem, and change cloths frequently. Never use a general kitchen cloth to polish glasses. The three-sink method as a backup If the dishwasher breaks down or you have no machine, use the three-sink method: wash in hot detergent water, rinse in clean water, and sanitise in the third sink with hot water or an approved chemical sanitiser at the correct concentration and contact time. Use test strips to confirm sanitiser strength and a thermometer for hot-water sanitising. Our full three-sink wash, rinse, sanitise guide walks through each step, and you can find more state-based resources in our food safety guides . Storing clean glassware and crockery Sanitising is wasted if items are then stored badly. Store glassware inverted on clean, drained racks, keep crockery covered or in a clean, dry area away from splashes and dust, and make sure hands and shelving stay clean. Chipped or cracked items should be removed from service because damaged surfaces harbour bacteria and pose a physical hazard. Cleaning the glasswasher and dishwasher itself The machine that sanitises everything else needs cleaning too, or it simply recirculates grime. At the end of each day, remove and clean the wash and rinse arms so the jets are not blocked, clear the filter or strainer of debris, and wipe out the tank and door seals. Descale the machine on a schedule suited to your water hardness, because scale reduces both cleaning power and heating efficiency. A machine caked with old food soil and scale cannot deliver a genuinely sanitising wash no matter what the gauge says. Building a daily and weekly machine clean into your routine keeps every subsequent load coming out genuinely clean and safe. Detergent, rinse aid and water hardness A dishwasher is only as good as its chemistry. Detergent removes soil, rinse aid helps water sheet off so items dry without spots, and in low-temperature machines a chemical sanitiser does the sanitising. Keep all three dosing correctly and never let a bottle run dry mid-service, because an empty sanitiser line means glasses are being washed but not sanitised. Hard water is the enemy of clear glassware: it leaves a cloudy mineral film that no amount of polishing fixes, and it scales up the machine. A water softener or filter, matched to your local water hardness, keeps glasses bright and protects the machine. If glassware comes out cloudy, check water hardness and rinse-aid dosing before blaming the glasses. Handling glassware to avoid breakage and contamination How staff handle clean glassware matters as much as the wash itself. Always pick up glasses by the base or stem, never by the rim where a customer's mouth goes, and never stack wet glasses inside each other where they can trap moisture and chip. Remove any glass that is chipped or cracked from service immediately, because a damaged rim is both a physical hazard and a place for bacteria to lodge. Keep glass racks off the floor and away from splash zones, and make sure hands are clean and dry before touching sanitised items. Small handlin