pickling glass....

[Steampunkglass]

In the article she mentions wiping down the glass with alcohol before using them to remove any extra finger prints/dirt. I'd have thought that alone would be enough to clean the glass alone without pickling? It would be interesting to see one bead that was done with just wiping down with meths and not pickled then compare it to one that has been pickled?  I've used meths on occasion to clean glass (I dip gilson opals in it before using to make sure they are super clean, when I don't it causes no end of scum and bubbles to form) and that seems more than enough

[Redkite]

Well, in another parallel life, where the days are long, the shed is warm and I have nothing better to do,  I would certainly pickle everything (right before labelling every rod and brushing down my work surface after every session)
But for now, wot Shirley said:

I thought that was why you wear long sleeves at the torch - to wipe the glass