Cleaning: Awakening & Resetting Unglazed Ceramics / Yixing

[Bok]

Wondering now, does it leave any sour-tasting notes behind, or do those evaporate like with vinegar?

So... I actually had citric acid at home so I tried it first. And it worked pretty well! The most hardcore spots need a prolonged soaking and then careful scrubbing, but it works. Leaves no discernible taste of odour behind as far as I can tell.

[Victoria]

Wondering now, does it leave any sour-tasting notes behind, or do those evaporate like with vinegar?

So... I actually had citric acid at home so I tried it first. And it worked pretty well! The most hardcore spots need a prolonged soaking and then careful scrubbing, but it works. Leaves no discernible taste of odour behind as far as I can tell.

Oh very good to know. How concentrated was your solution, and how long did you soak?

[Bok]

Oh very good to know. How concentrated was your solution, and how long did you soak?

Need to check the packaging, is a household solution. First I soaked it for 30min, was not enough for some parts, but took care of most of the stains. Then overnight for the rest.

[Mark-S]

Hi,

I bought a nice teapot a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, it has white stains on the outside and is nearly black from the inside. After cleaning with baking soda, the outside looks a little better now. However, it has something I would call an uneven patina. On the inside it has not changed much, since I cannot fit my hands in there. When I take a cotton swab and swipe it over the inner surface it gets dirty. It does not look like oil to me. I will use denture cleaning tabs on Monday.

What do you think about the teapot and the stains? I took the photos before the cleaning process.

Thanks,
Mark

[Victoria]

I recommend you try going through the steps outlined at beginning of this topic, but most likely from the looks of it you will need to go all they way to step D. Use Sodium Percarbonate if Discoloration & or Mold remains (If pot is still not clean).

[Mark-S]

I recommend you try going through the steps outlined at beginning of this topic, but most likely from the looks of it you will need to go all they way to step D. Use Sodium Percarbonate if Discoloration & or Mold remains (If pot is still not clean).

Thanks, I will try this later. What do you think about the stains and the teapot? What are these stains? And how old is this teapot? I have never seen such stains or pots online.

[Victoria]

I recommend you try going through the steps outlined at beginning of this topic, but most likely from the looks of it you will need to go all they way to step D. Use Sodium Percarbonate if Discoloration & or Mold remains (If pot is still not clean).

Thanks, I will try this later. What do you think about the stains and the teapot? What are these stains? And how old is this teapot? I have never seen such stains or pots online.

Hard to say from the pictures, the staining on strainer looks like tea stain, the dark interior of pot with those white bits are strange. I recommend after cleaning it thoroughly, let water sit many hours or overnight and taste it to see how you like it.

[.m.]

It looks to be a relatively modern mass produced teapot, perhaps a qinzhou nixing clay, or just some generic red clay, the sort one might find in a chinatown store. I agree with Victoria that the staining on the filter vs. the rest of the pot looks quite strange.

[Mark-S]

It looks to be a relatively modern mass produced teapot, perhaps a qinzhou nixing clay, or just some generic red clay, the sort one might find in a chinatown store. I agree with Victoria that the staining on the filter vs. the rest of the pot looks quite strange.

The darker stains on the strainer and the stains on the inside are in fact the same. It is hard to see on the pictures. After the baking soda, the black residue is flaking off a bit. The black residue on the rim (most likely the same stuff) could be wiped off completely. There is a drop of clay (?) running down on the inside. I do not know what this means for now. I will post more pictures when I managed to clean it properly. Thanks for your opinions so far.

[Mark-S]

I have managed to clean it mostly. However, I do not like the clay. It looks ok, but does not feel nice. The other pots I own are much better in my view. I will stick to normal Yixing teapots for now. It is too hard for newbies like me to find antiques on the market.

[Bok]

I have managed to clean it mostly. However, I do not like the clay. It looks ok, but does not feel nice. The other pots I own are much better in my view. I will stick to normal Yixing teapots for now. It is too hard for newbies like me to find antiques on the market.

Looks indeed like bad clay. At least for tea, as a flower pot it’s probably ideal

Don’t think this pot was even meant to be used, looks like tourist kitsch.

Finding antiques is not so difficult - if you have a good budget. Don’t expect to find anything worthwhile for less than 700$.

[Chadrinkincat]

I have managed to clean it mostly. However, I do not like the clay. It looks ok, but does not feel nice. The other pots I own are much better in my view. I will stick to normal Yixing teapots for now. It is too hard for newbies like me to find antiques on the market.

Looks indeed like bad clay. At least for tea, as a flower pot it’s probably ideal

Don’t think this pot was even meant to be used, looks like tourist kitsch.

Finding antiques is not so difficult - if you have a good budget. Don’t expect to find anything worthwhile for less than 700$.

100%

Similar bad clay as this pot just posted on TC. Flower pot

https://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 47#p303278

[Victoria]

Getting back to this threads topic, @Mark-S what process did you use to clean the pot? Looks very clean.

[Mark-S]

Getting back to this threads topic, Mark-S what process did you use to clean the pot? Looks very clean.

I soaked the teapot in filtered water and baking soda, scrubed it with baking soda (with a cloth and a very soft toothbrush), simmered it with baking soda first and then with (many) dental cleaning tabs.

These are the ingrediants of the dental tabs: Sodium Bicarbonate, Potassium Caroate, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Carbonate Peroxide, Sodium Sulfate, Malic Acid, PEG-150, Citric Acid, Sodium Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, PEG-90, Aroma, TAED, CI 28440, CI 42090

I have got another dirty pot, I want to clean very soon. I will probably soak it in filtered water and baking soda for a couple of days. Then I will simmer it and use sodium percarbonate in the next steps. Unfortunately, sodium percarbonate is not that easy to get. However, I do not like the smell of the dental tabs. I will skip the scrubbing if possible, since I think it may damage the teapot's surface.

[DailyTX]

Getting back to this threads topic, Mark-S what process did you use to clean the pot? Looks very clean.

I soaked the teapot in filtered water and baking soda, scrubed it with baking soda (with a cloth and a very soft toothbrush), simmered it with baking soda first and then with (many) dental cleaning tabs.

These are the ingrediants of the dental tabs: Sodium Bicarbonate, Potassium Caroate, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Carbonate Peroxide, Sodium Sulfate, Malic Acid, PEG-150, Citric Acid, Sodium Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, PEG-90, Aroma, TAED, CI 28440, CI 42090

I have got another dirty pot, I want to clean very soon. I will probably soak it in filtered water and baking soda for a couple of days. Then I will simmer it and use sodium percarbonate in the next steps. Unfortunately, sodium percarbonate is not that easy to get. However, I do not like the smell of the dental tabs. I will skip the scrubbing if possible, since I think it may damage the teapot's surface.

Not sure if you are in the United States, Amazon sells this product: