Cleaning: Awakening & Resetting Unglazed Ceramics / Yixing

[debunix]

Finally got to creating a Flickr set of the images of the before and after of the pots I cleaned with percarbonate. It was very bubbly stuff



and took this pot from this



to this



but this white residue showed up after the pot was rinsed and dried, and took a fair bit of boiling/soaking and gentle scrubbing to remove

[Bok]

but this white residue showed up after the pot was rinsed and dried, and took a fair bit of boiling/soaking and gentle scrubbing to remove

That looks like lime scale from the water to me. I find that often when I clean antiques. after the sod. parcarb. it shows, I then use citric acid to remove those. Just soaking in boiling water with the citric acid in it is enough.

[debunix]

Thanks for the tip.

[Bok]

Thanks for the tip.

You're welcome! For persistent scale, leave longer, or repeat a couple of times.

[RevFreundin]

This post (and all the conversations that follow after it too!) is so helpful, thank you so much for sharing!

[student t]

Hi forum, I am thinking about buying a particular Tokonome shudei kyusu that has some sticker/decal residues. Any opinions on how hard it is to get rid of these and how to best do it without damaging the teaware? (The residues are on the outside, so it's just an aesthetic problem, they wouldn't come in contact with the tea).

[Bok]

Hi forum, I am thinking about buying a particular Tokonome shudei kyusu that has some sticker/decal residues. Any opinions on how hard it is to get rid of these and how to best do it without damaging the teaware? (The residues are on the outside, so it's just an aesthetic problem, they wouldn't come in contact with the tea).

Alcohol will probably be easiest.

[student t]

Many thanks for the reply, Bok. I'm glad to hear that alcohol is something that can be applied to the teapot's surface. So you wouldn't worry with alcohol somehow staining/decolorising the surface or the pot permanently "absorbing" any smells? I guess alcohol evaporates very quickly, so my second concern is a bit silly...

[Victoria]

Hi forum, I am thinking about buying a particular Tokonome shudei kyusu that has some sticker/decal residues. Any opinions on how hard it is to get rid of these and how to best do it without damaging the teaware? (The residues are on the outside, so it's just an aesthetic problem, they wouldn't come in contact with the tea).

Very hot water and a baking soda rub can work as well to remove glue. Alcohol rub with a soft cloth may also work well. Just rinse with very hot water afterwards.

[student t]

Thank you very much for the tips, Victoria!

What I am hearing from you and Bok is that this doesn't seem to be an extraordinarily difficult thing to get rid of, which is encouraging.

This is also in line with my own -very limited- experience. A pot I have came with a sticker (F1 white label) which left a little bit of residue when I took it off. It didn't really bother me, and the residues got away over a short time period just with regular use (I rinse teapots inside and outside with hot water after use), perhaps I also occasionally rubbed off the residues with the finger a bit.

So my belief would be that for the prospective kyusu it should be no different, in principle. But for this item the residues are a bit more numerous and a bit uglier, so, if I buy it, I would probably want to clean it right away. Plus, I'd be pretty disappointed if it turns out that it isn't possible to remove the residues or I somehow ruin the pot in the process.

[Pan]

Finally got to creating a Flickr set of the images of the before and after of the pots I cleaned with percarbonate. It was very bubbly stuff



and took this pot from this



to this



but this white residue showed up after the pot was rinsed and dried, and took a fair bit of boiling/soaking and gentle scrubbing to remove

I had the same thing happen with my yxing yesterday and thought the same. My city water although filtered is quite hard. What do you recommend?

47F7583A-5C19-4CED-A04F-7DFBA205F694.jpeg (92.91 KiB) Viewed 10242 times

[pedant]

probably insoluble carbonates.

dissolve with acetic acid (white vinegar) or citric acid solution. can use hot solution for faster results.

rinse it out with plenty of water in the sink afterwards.

just like descaling a tea kettle or coffee machine.

[debunix]

I used just tap water and scrubbing; I will use vinegar next time.

[OhThatNinja]

I tried baking soda on this pot. Some of the stain came off but looks like the rest is resitsting:

Old Yixing.jpg (144.32 KiB) Viewed 10105 times

What should I try next?

[debunix]

The percarbonate might be a good next step.