Baking soda and water to clean teaware
I’m pretty good about keeping my teaware clean, and I don’t mind stains here and there that are signs of normal daily use, but when my gaiwan (white ruyao) reached the 1 year mark, the build up was starting to look pretty bad. A generous sprinkling of baking soda with a few drops of water worked wonders! You want the mixture to be really thick like a big moist glob of sand and just rub it all over with your fingers (toothbrush or other soft brush could be useful in tight spots) until the stains are gone. You’ll be able to feel the grit but it’s very fine and the baking soda will start turning brown the more the stains get removed. It’s just enough grit to get the stains off but it doesn’t damage the surface or affect the crackling in the ruyao glaze. Rinse thoroughly with water when done.
Thought I’d pass this on here for those who might be interested in trying it out and hadn’t heard about this technique yet. I also had excellent results on my porcelain cup, but would not recommend using this on any items with painted designs/trim. An absolute no no for clay or unglazed items (obviously). I actually tried this out on my own before seeing a post on reddit about it. I’d also recommend skipping the Magic Eraser.
I can affirm, baking soda + a little water works like magic to remove stains from teaware.
Baking soda scratches the coating off porcelain over time. It will do the same to teeth. Once the coating is worn off, the porcelain will retain stains more or less permanently without bleaching. If you just use it to clean maybe once a year, this is likely okay. Otherwise, Barkeeper’s Friend or a diluted vinegar/water or lemon juice/water solution will remove crust build up from hard water and tea staining.
Thanks Cwyn. I only have one piece of porcelain right now, but that’s an important bit of information. Once a year sounds reasonable. I’m not sure what ingredients are in Bar Keepers Friend, so I just stick to straight baking soda. Tho, like you said, maybe for the really nasty stuff. I do know it works great on my stainless steel sink!
Smartsoak by Mandala Tea works great. Their website is not back online yet but there is a thread about ordering from them by email. It lists all the products they are currently selling.
Or you can use OxyClean. It has the same active ingredient as Smart Soak, sodium percarbonate. I’ve restored stained metal filters to new after a 5 minute soak in OxyClean and warm water.
Here is what our chemist (and tea customer) says in regard to the Oxyclean: “Oxyclean and smart soak both do use percarb, but they are processed differently and use very different cleaning packages. Tomato soup and marinara have the same primary ingredient too. It doesn’t mean they are interchangeable.” We have had customers try both and then go on to buy the Smart Soak from there on out. I also like that there are no scents to mess with my air. Just our two cents. Thanks for the mention, Allan!
Vinegar works really well on hard water stains though it is quite hard on metals over time and it smells. Smart Soak is what I use for tea stains. It was developed by a chemist friend of ours (and also a huge tea drinker specifically for the tea stains. You can always shoot me an email and I can tell you more. Our site is still a few weeks out before opening but I’ve been shipping tea and Smart Soak all over the place these last few months with Paypal invoice. [email protected]
I use our kettle cleaner for the hard water stains on kettles and boilers. And sometimes, if one lives in an area with hard water, the kettle cleaner needs to be used on tea wares, too, as it can leave a dull white, sometimes orange-ish hued deposit.
you should definitely filter your water before you use it in your boilers etc. If you are using a kettle cleaner on your boiler and you are using anything besides stainless steel you should get more informed on what they are made of and what you are using to clean them because it sounds like you’re making rust. Please be careful
Sodium Carbonate with a wet paper towel. If you recommend other things and haven’t tried this yet.. you are simply under the illusion of what you don’t know.
https://www.thoughtco.com/make-sodium-carbonate-from-sodium-bicarbonate-608266
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