Crystal Chandelier or Candle Chandelier?

Crystal Chandelier or Candle Chandelier?

Some choices in life are easy. But the choice to purchase either a crystal chandelier or a candle one isn't one of those easy choices. There are a variety arguments pro and con for purchasing either a crystal chandelier or a candle chandelier. The arguments seem obvious but take a bit of education to decipher them more fully. It essentially can be argued using the "is it live or is it Memorex" commercial of the late 1970s. As you may recall, you didn't know if the opera singer was live of if she was recorded and you were hearing the taped version. So how does this relate to a chandelier. A "live" chandelier is one where there are candles burning on it. You have to pay careful attention to it lest you start a fire unintentionally. The live candle lighting must be attended to throughout an enchanted evening, which is something that is not hard to do once you are mesmerized by its enchantment. A "Memorex" chandelier is one where the jewels are plastic or glass. You can wait and wait and wait for months without worrying a stitch about it catching fire. And that, needless to say, is a good thing.

Of course, the main argument for a candle version t is that it gives off a more powerful glow. The light emanating in the candelabra is romantic and seductive. There's warmth and exquisiteness that you'll never experience from a mere electrical circuit. The only downside is that a when even one candle is lit (and unattended), a candle chandelier is a potential fire hazard. You also have smoke and fumes from 5-12 candles burning solidly in one room. Those obstacles can be overcome with a bit of planning and adequate ventilation.

Of course you can purchase chandeliers now where this doesn't have to be a choice at all. You can choose both the crystal and the candle. In fact, even when the electric lights are spinning your kilowatt meter, the unlit thin candles can accentuate the glow and warmth of the fixture. It really is the best of both worlds.

Whichever you choose, a chandelier will accent any room you hang it in. You won't be sorry you bought one.

Care and Maintenance of Your Chandelier

Care and Maintenance of Your Chandelier

You've been putting it off for weeks, months even. You look up at the masterpiece of a chandelier that adorns your dining room, and the glass crystal jewels in your once elegant, once brilliant chandelier have lost their luster. They no longer sparkle when you flip on the light. The dirt and grease and grime and gunk of the long winter months and hot summer days is starting to show on your beautiful lighting fixture. But you also realize that cleaning it could potentially be a major undertaking. You think about hiring or ordering one of your kids to do it, then realize that he'll break something if he's left with the glass alone for too long. So, then you decide to break down and grab a rag to clean it yourself. Okay, where do you start?

Plan out what you want to do first. You'll need a step ladder, a drop cloth, a bucket of fairly warm water, some mild detergent (what you use for dishes should be fine for the crystal jewels), metal polish and/or an all purpose cleaner, a drying towel, and a rag or two. Perhaps the quickest way of cleaning all of those pieces is to take them off the actual chandelier first and let them soak in the water. For glass crystals, you can use hotter water than if you have plastic crystals. Water is your friend and will take most of the elbow grease out of spending a lot of time cleaning them individually.

Now that the crystal pieces are soaking in the bucket of water, you have more free space to clean the stems and the metal. Be thorough. Clean the metal well. Step back and take a look at your job before you rehang the jewels. Take your time in this step as you don't want some family wise acre to remark, "you missed a spot." Now comes the fun part. With your rag, clean each jewel separately and place them on the towel. After you have a dozen or so, dry them individually so that they'll shine, then hang them (or wait to hang them altogether. You'll get more of a sense of accomplishment if you hang a few at a time.

By the time you're done with all of the pieces and have rehung them, your bucket of water should be thoroughly dirty. So, to prevent that kind of buildup from happening again, you need to spend two minutes a week dusting the chandelier. Do that and you'll keep the brilliance and sparkle of your glass crystals as well as the metal to the fixture. It'll look fresh and clean, like you have slaved over each individual jewel weekly. No one has to know your secret.