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Totally missed reading the wine part in white wine vinegar. So yes, if vinegar is used I’d only recommend what pedant said “distilled vinegar aka white vinegar” to avoid having organic compounds lead to mold. I’ll clarify that by adding to the original post in this topic.

@pedant @Victoria

Essigessenz is available where I live but it's very strong. I'll buy this and mix it with much water. Thanks for the advice My white wine vinegar has 5% acid but you are right it's not synthetic like Essigessenz.

...bought this one today. It's "Essig-Essenz" made from brandy (and not wine). Don't know if this is better, but that's the one my supermarket had in stock. I'm going to try this now.

Just received my first bizen!

viewtopic.php?p=35849#p35849

It looks like it was excavated from some archaeological dig! There is some interesting yellow slime ( ) around the filter and some black deposits that i cant tell is gunk or firing effect. In any case, my cleaning plan is:
1.) Percarbonate soak (1 tablespoon in pot, one tablespoon outside of pot using hot filtered water for 4 hours)
2.) Apply tooth brush to filter and other gunky parts
3.) Second percarbonate soak (same as 1)
4.) if needed, a citric acid soak. If not, just soak in clean water

Pics of step 1

After a good scrubbing, the filter is clear of gunk and I'm onto soak #2. I don't think 3 soaks are necessary. For something so "rough" looking, this pot has a perfect pour. No drips whatsoever!

I did notice that there is an accumulation of black gunk on the lid that turned out to be covering a crack. This is fine.

Soak 2 is shown. Note the black accumulation on the lid

Update: after soak 2, I rinsed it multiple times with boiling water and then left it bathing in a weak infusion of jasmine tea. Before doing that I tasted the water from the pot. Somehow, the pot is adding a minerally aftertaste to water.


Final: after cleaning:
viewtopic.php?p=35967#p35967

sweet hohin, @LeoFox!

Mark-S wrote: ↑

Mon May 03, 2021 8:37 am

It's "Essig-Essenz" made from brandy (and not wine). Don't know if this is better, but that's the one my supermarket had in stock.

nice! and it doesn't matter what the acetic acid's derived from. what's important is that it's acetic acid and water only (a distilled product).
i would buy that in the store if they carried it here. it makes more sense to buy a concentrated product that you can dilute. why ship extra water all over the country for no reason

Shiny!

Do the rings on the sides move freely or are they attached?

debunix wrote: ↑

Sun May 09, 2021 2:48 pm

Shiny!

Do the rings on the sides move freely or are they attached?

They are attached

debunix wrote: ↑

Sun May 09, 2021 2:48 pm

Shiny!

Do the rings on the sides move freely or are they attached?

I see now why you might have asked this
viewtopic.php?p=36061#p36061

The ones on your new hohin look like they can move freely

Yes. That allows them to insulate a little bit.

Recently, I noticed a lot of mineral build up inside my stainless kettles so used distilled white vinegar to clean it up, but now I’m noticing some mineral build up on the lid, rim and filter of several unglazed teapots. Do you think acidic acid is a better choice to remove mineral deposits on unglazed , rather than white vinegar?

100 year 'patina': gone
(a teaspoon of sodium percarbonate in hot water)

.m. wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:48 pm

100 year 'patina': gone
(a teaspoon of sodium percarbonate in hot water)

Care to share what lies beneath the muck?

Bok wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 18, 2021 7:01 pm

.m. wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:48 pm

100 year 'patina': gone
(a teaspoon of sodium percarbonate in hot water)

Care to share what lies beneath the muck?

This
viewtopic.php?p=37220#p37220

I've started to clean my pot with Sodium Percarbonate today and there was much foam in the pot. Is this normal? Before the Sodium Percarbonate bath I put it in water with some Sodium Bicarbonate for about one to two weeks... but I rinsed it afterwards.