How often (if ever) do you find you need to clean your porcelain/glazed teapots with something more than boiling water? Specifically teapots with an inaccessible area inside the spout/filter (not gaiwans, shibori, hohin or similar). What product(s) do you use?
I find my porcelain pots develop undesirable smell & taste relatively quickly. It's curious, because I have no problems with my unglazed sencha pots (tokoname/banko) being cleaned only with boiling water*. The porcelain pots are from different makers & countries, so unlikely to be a specific issue with a pot (though the one I use most does have exposed unglazed areas around the lid & maybe inside the filter). Brewing a variety of teas might have something to do with it, but I think it also happens when brewing only one kind.
I use sodium percarbonate (usually not soaking, just a bit of powder in pot, fill with boiling water, and let sit for a while). Not daily but regularly, perhaps weekly or so (depending also on the teas being brewed). Regular cleaning with washing up liquid (which I do for cups & gaiwans) doesn't work well for me as I can't fully rinse the tea smell out but add some soapy smells as well. Dishwasher detergent (same method as sodium perc.) works OTOH, but a bit more difficult to rinse out and probably more wasteful.
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* The sencha pots do develop a tea smell but it's a very light and inoffensive seaweed smell.
Regular cleaning of porcelain teapots
I wonder if your pot is glazed earthenware, that is more porous, rather than porcelain which is very dense? Are the unglazed areas white clay? I do though have a Japanese white unglazed kettle that still has a slight smell of wet clay, even after boiling rice water in it a few times. Still working on solving for this issue.
My Kyoyaki Japanese porcelain kyusu only need to be cleaned with off boiling water after use. A few times a year I’ll use a rub of baking soda to clean tea stains under the spout, but haven’t needed to do so inside, even after years of using my various Kyoyaki. Similarly, several Setoware glazed kyusu only need an ocasional baking soda rub under the spout.
I use these soft brush cleaners to clean spouts and filters.
You might also search through our Repair & Cleaning forum for additional discussions.
My Kyoyaki Japanese porcelain kyusu only need to be cleaned with off boiling water after use. A few times a year I’ll use a rub of baking soda to clean tea stains under the spout, but haven’t needed to do so inside, even after years of using my various Kyoyaki. Similarly, several Setoware glazed kyusu only need an ocasional baking soda rub under the spout.
I use these soft brush cleaners to clean spouts and filters.
You might also search through our Repair & Cleaning forum for additional discussions.
Thanks, very interesting!
The two I use most are small blue and white pots, one from Seto, the other from Jingdezhen. Fairly different pots, same experience in this regard. Snow white clay at the exposed parts, at least after cleaning. These parts stain really quickly which may be another motivator for the deep clean (but the main reason is smell/taste). I also use one of these long brushes to clean the top end of the spout (the stains there need some help when just filling the pot instead of immersing it in sodium percarbonate).
I wonder what's different on my end. Could it be the water? I use a very clean low-TDS bottled water for tea (Surgiva) but maybe there's some other relevant property apart from cleanliness? A factor I can think of is that, rarely, I may leave an evening tea pot with wet leaves overnight, if I'm too tired (something I'd never do to an unglazed pot). But I doubt it's the main culprit.
You mention you haven't needed to clean the spout inside, does that mean you don't see any staining there after months/years of use? Mine get stained after a few uses (or just 1 hongcha), esp. the Jingdezhen which I suspect may not be glazed inside (the spout is too thin to check).
The two I use most are small blue and white pots, one from Seto, the other from Jingdezhen. Fairly different pots, same experience in this regard. Snow white clay at the exposed parts, at least after cleaning. These parts stain really quickly which may be another motivator for the deep clean (but the main reason is smell/taste). I also use one of these long brushes to clean the top end of the spout (the stains there need some help when just filling the pot instead of immersing it in sodium percarbonate).
I wonder what's different on my end. Could it be the water? I use a very clean low-TDS bottled water for tea (Surgiva) but maybe there's some other relevant property apart from cleanliness? A factor I can think of is that, rarely, I may leave an evening tea pot with wet leaves overnight, if I'm too tired (something I'd never do to an unglazed pot). But I doubt it's the main culprit.
You mention you haven't needed to clean the spout inside, does that mean you don't see any staining there after months/years of use? Mine get stained after a few uses (or just 1 hongcha), esp. the Jingdezhen which I suspect may not be glazed inside (the spout is too thin to check).
Hi there teatray. I also leave tea leaves steeping overnight in all my glazed kyusu and other unglazed pots as well. Still, no internal staining. As far as spout cleaning, if I notice build up with naked eye, I’ll check situation further using a macro lenses or magnifying glass to see what’s going on. Yes, there is staining inside spout, but I’m not concerned about that unless it includes substantial build up. Staining is more of an aesthetic issue for me inside cups, under spout due to drips, but I don’t think it negatively impacts tea steeping.teatray wrote: ↑Fri Nov 25, 2022 5:27 pmA factor I can think of is that, rarely, I may leave an evening tea pot with wet leaves overnight, if I'm too tired (something I'd never do to an unglazed pot). But I doubt it's the main culprit.
You mention you haven't needed to clean the spout inside, does that mean you don't see any staining there after months/years of use? Mine get stained after a few uses (or just 1 hongcha), esp. the Jingdezhen which I suspect may not be glazed inside (the spout is too thin to check).
Do you have porcelain cups, gaiwan -does this smell also occur? Maybe if you can post picture of smelly pots
No, it does not occur on porcelain cups & gaiwans, but I can clean these with washing up liquid (and most also go in the dishwasher occasionally).
These are the pots. I wouldn't insult them as smelly hahah
. They get so after some use under my circumstances.viewtopic.php?p=43472#p43472
viewtopic.php?p=42115#p42115
I clean my porcelain after every use with liquid soap and baking soda (if tea stain is evident). I feel there's no point to seasoning porcelain.
That said there are a few porcelain pieces I own that are muting from first use. With these, I do treat them as if they were unglazed, washing with just boiling water and season them with one type of tea
That said there are a few porcelain pieces I own that are muting from first use. With these, I do treat them as if they were unglazed, washing with just boiling water and season them with one type of tea
Not only cups / gaiwan but also teapots with spout and filter, right? I think this may work for me, if I also do it after every use. But I am lazy and rinse with boiling water (and a good swirl) most of the time. I imagine that a tea film slowly forms inside, and once there is some, washing with soap doesn't completely remove it (esp. as you can't rub the inaccessible parts) but the film absorbs some soap and spoils the next brew. I've tried this a couple of times and cannot get the soap smell out and end up doing a full deep clean with sodium percarbonate / a few drops of dishwasher detergent to make the pot usable again. (Haven't tried adding baking soda though.)
I use scent free liquid soap - and most of the time attack with baking soda as well. I finish with boiling water showerteatray wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 4:26 amNot only cups / gaiwan but also teapots with spout and filter, right? I think this may work for me, if I also do it after every use. But I am lazy and rinse with boiling water (and a good swirl) most of the time. I imagine that a tea film slowly forms inside, and once there is some, washing with soap doesn't completely remove it (esp. as you can't rub the inaccessible parts) but the film absorbs some soap and spoils the next brew. I've tried this a couple of times and cannot get the soap smell out and end up doing a full deep clean with sodium percarbonate / a few drops of dishwasher detergent to make the pot usable again. (Haven't tried adding baking soda though.)
I wash porcelains infrequently, like, once or twice a month. They otherwise get a rinse with hot water.
You may try using a Magic Eraser with the sodium percarbonate. I’ve observed that the sodium percarbonate often bleaches rather than removes the stain film, making the stain reappear much more quickly.
I have successfully used a WaterPick to clean hard to reach places in my teapots.
You may try using a Magic Eraser with the sodium percarbonate. I’ve observed that the sodium percarbonate often bleaches rather than removes the stain film, making the stain reappear much more quickly.
I have successfully used a WaterPick to clean hard to reach places in my teapots.
I usually don't worry about deep cleaning my teaware, but I recently noticed a lot of crud coming out of the spout of my porcelain teapot. I've removed a bunch of it with a toothpick and a flexible plastic twist tie, but I'm sure there are better methods of doing this that don't cost a lot of money. Pipe cleaners? Microfiber brushes? I also wonder why this is happening all of a sudden.
I think a dried/decayed leaf could have been the culprit. (Yes, I'm a bit grossed out by this.) I seem to have removed all the bits and things are good again.
Usually a rinse with water and gentle scrub with fingers after every use is enough to keep porcelain clean. Sometimes I don't bother for weeks and just rinse with water before putting tea leaves in. If the residue gets too dark, thick, or otherwise unaesthetic, or if I forget about the leaves for too long and it gets moldy, I submerge cover it in boiling water (edit: by this I mean just pouring water inside until it overflows, I don't actually boil the pots) and clean it with baking soda and a paper or cotton towel, and then rinse it with water. I never use the dish soap, because the smell annoys me.