Tetsubin cleaning tutorial

.m.
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Sun Feb 28, 2021 12:56 pm

@flo62134 It's hard to tell from the photos what's going on there. But it should not look like this. From the style of the pot and the link you shared it looks like one of those "enameled" cast iron pots for making tea. So if the brown stuff is just a layer of tea residue, you can use baking soda to clean it. If it is rust then follow the instructions Victoria shared, however in this case the pot is not suitable for tea making IMO as the exposed iron would react too strongly with the tea affecting its taste, but could still be used for boiling water (maybe).
Last edited by .m. on Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Robert
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Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:07 pm

Hello, I bought used Tetsubin and its kinda sticky on outside, most probably because it was not used much and it was kept in the kitchen where steam from oil sticked to it after long time. I cant seem to wipe it off with a wet cloth? Any suggestions please? Inside is not sticky
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Last edited by Victoria on Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Mod edit: merged new topic into existing
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Victoria
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Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:57 pm

Robert wrote:
Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:07 pm
Hello, I bought used Tetsubin and its kinda sticky on outside, most probably because it was not used much and it was kept in the kitchen where steam from oil sticked to it after long time. I cant seem to wipe it off with a wet cloth? Any suggestions please? Inside is not sticky
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Welcome to TeaForum @Robert. Moved your new topic into this Tetsubin Cleaning thread which you might take a look at. Have you tried running very hot water over the underside and scrubbing with a soft brush? You could also simmer the whole tetsubin for 15-20min in a big pot with green tea leaves, rinse with hot water and make sure it is completely dry before finishing process. So it completely dries out you might (at the end) put filtered water inside tetsubin and place on heating element to boil water, remove water and allow heated tetsubin to evaporate residual moisture.

p.s. can you show us a close up of the rim of the tetsubin, shown in last image? Is it possible that this is an iron teapot not intended to be placed on a stove.
Robert
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Fri Apr 09, 2021 3:04 am

Thank You Victoria. I will try to follow Your instructions.

Please see the photos. I think this is not enameled teapot therefore it should be ok for boiling water right? Also the marks on the bottom of the pot are in Japanese apparently so It was made in Japan right? Or can chinese fake japanese writing in order for these pots to look japanese? :D maybe a stupid question :D.

I have boiled water in it many times but I havent drink from it yet but there are are tiny particles in the water very very very little pieces, maybe this is lacquer coming off or iron?

Please help me I would be very grateful for this :)
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.m.
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Fri Apr 09, 2021 8:19 am

Robert wrote:
Fri Apr 09, 2021 3:04 am
there are are tiny particles in the water very very very little pieces, maybe this is lacquer coming off or iron?
What kind of particles? If it's white it might be just limescale precipitated from your water, which is completely fine. If it's dark, then it something that shouldn't be there....
Robert
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Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:49 am

very tiny much smaller ten a a needle pin, I think its the lacquer coming off or iron maybe? i scopped a small piece out and broke it very easily it was very soft. I will wait for more expertise until I will drink a water from this.

Thank You :)
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Victoria
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Fri Apr 09, 2021 1:12 pm

Robert wrote:
Fri Apr 09, 2021 3:04 am
Thank You Victoria. I will try to follow Your instructions.

Please see the photos. I think this is not enameled teapot therefore it should be ok for boiling water right? Also the marks on the bottom of the pot are in Japanese apparently so It was made in Japan right? Or can chinese fake japanese writing in order for these pots to look japanese? :D maybe a stupid question :D.

I have boiled water in it many times but I havent drink from it yet but there are are tiny particles in the water very very very little pieces, maybe this is lacquer coming off or iron?

Please help me I would be very grateful for this :)
Robert it’s very hard to tell from your photos what’s going on inside, they’re pretty blurry. Lacquer chips are usually hard and formed pieces, so the bits might just be iron. Thinking the previous owner might have oiled the outside or it is urushi. How does the water taste after boiling? After cleaning the tetsubin, boil some water, if it tastes good then good to go it seems. And yes the Chinese are mass producing Japanese ‘style’ tetsubin.
Robert
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Sat Apr 10, 2021 7:45 am

Sorry Victoria I have a shitty camera but I asked my uncle to take a photo with his camer so here You go :) This is full iron right? my uncle is a woodcraftmen and he says its full iron for sure but still he is not an iron craftman therefore I will wait for Your expertise also.

Tetsubin is quite small so maybe its Kyusu which is made of full iron with no enamel but then still this should be good to use as testubin to boil water right?

I tasted the water from it couple of days ago and it tasted nice actually nicer than the one from the electric kettle
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miig
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Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:34 am

Hi @Robert, I don't know if you're still following.
Anyhow, while the second set of pictures still doesn't give all the details, I think it is very likely that this pot is enamel lined on the inside. It looks very similar to a lined teapot I had and used for boiling water for a while. It is generally not recommended though, because the enamel can crack and flake off during to heat stress.
But for getting rid of the sticky outside, I'd recommend putting the pot in the oven and heating it up - at 250 °C the sticky outside should come off nicely. If you pot has paint on the outside, things might get messy though - it might melt. But it is unlikely. I did that when I used glazed cast iron pots in the past, always with good effects. But without seeing the pot in person, it's always a guess.
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Dogen
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Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:44 am

Victoria wrote:
Mon Mar 04, 2019 10:57 pm
I would be concerned about placing the entire Tetsubin in water as the outside is treated differently than the inside. After a Tetsubin is cast and cleaned up, it is placed inside a +-1000℃ oven and reheated until glowing red with little oxygen inside the oven. This process heat seals the inside of the kettle discouraging rust when it comes in contact with water. It is similar to gun bluing (oxidizing process) done with guns and knives protecting against corrosion because it changes iron into Fe3O4. Some people refer to this process inside the Tetsubin as producing an ‘oxide film’.
The outside of the kettle was traditionally burnished and treated with Urushi and not intended to be submerged in water. The process of making a Tetsubin is nicely described at Artistic Nippon.

No heavy brushing or breaking up of the interior kettle should occur, this will break the original seal. Simply boiling water to remove loose rust, followed by boiling tea leaves a few times inside the kettle is enough to blacken the interior and remove/blacken rust. For exterior rust, just brush tea being boiled on the surface as many times as needed.

In another thread I shared this process, which was recommended to me by another member of TC. I have used it with success;
Victoria wrote:
Mon Apr 09, 2018 3:12 pm
For rust inside your tetsubin, I recommend slow simmering cheap or crappy tea leaves for 30 minutes or so. I have read it is the tannins found in tea leaves that will remove rust (iron oxides/orange rust) and produce a blackened (ferric tannate) seal over the area. Turn off heat source, and let the tea sit inside for a few hours, as tetsubin cools reheat briefly to keep tea warm, at end reheat for +-10 minutes, discard tea leaves and liquid. Rinse with filtered water a few times, then boil with clean water a few times. Test water to see if it is clear in a cup. If the water still tastes rusty, repeat process as needed.

For the outside of the tetsubin, you can heat up the tetsubin, and apply cooked tea using a muslin cloth or tea bags. Do this as many times as needed to remove rust and coat with a blackened seal.

When you are finished using the tetsubin, always make sure to remove all liquid from the pot while it is still hot, this will allow the remaining liquid to steam off, drying the pot completely.
With this Tetsubin I had to boil tea 3 times, followed by 2-3 times boiling filtered water to get clean tasty water.
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This works for my tetsubin. However, I got bashed in Reddit for not scrubbing the inside of tetsubin.
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Dogen
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Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:46 am

I have a question: Is Lipton good for coating the insides of tetsubin?
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Bok
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Thu Nov 18, 2021 5:17 am

Dogen wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 2:46 am
I have a question: Is Lipton good for coating the insides of tetsubin?
Any tea works, except if perfumed.
DailyTX
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Fri Feb 18, 2022 6:31 pm

I picked up a tetsubin cleaning project this week. I have success in restoring the inner of the tetsubin but the lid looks very ugly. It seems the urushi has degraded and rust took over. I tried to boil it with green tea, it doesn't seems to show much improvement. Anyone has idea on how to restore the lid?
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DailyTX
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Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:18 pm

Update on the tetsubin lid. I was debating on using the traditional urushi method or the western method of restoring cast iron cookware. Due to lack of experience and materials here in the west, I decided to use the western method. The lid was heated up on a gas stove for about 30 minutes per side, and scrubbed with iron brush to clean off old urushi finish. The lid was rinsed in water to clean off the burnt particles, and then the whole lid was submerged in pure vinegar for about 2 hours. Fine steel wool was used to clean any uneven color surface, rinsed in water, and dried with a cloth. The outer side of the lid was oiled with grapeseed oil, and then heat it up again for oil to absorb into the iron. Not the best looking lid but it looks much better than the original photo :lol:
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.m.
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Tue Mar 08, 2022 3:03 pm

DailyTX wrote:
Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:18 pm
Update on the tetsubin lid. I was debating on using the traditional urushi method or the western method of restoring cast iron cookware. Due to lack of experience and materials here in the west, I decided to use the western method. The lid was heated up on a gas stove for about 30 minutes per side, and scrubbed with iron brush to clean off old urushi finish. The lid was rinsed in water to clean off the burnt particles, and then the whole lid was submerged in pure vinegar for about 2 hours. Fine steel wool was used to clean any uneven color surface, rinsed in water, and dried with a cloth. The outer side of the lid was oiled with grapeseed oil, and then heat it up again for oil to absorb into the iron. Not the best looking lid but it looks much better than the original photo :lol:
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I like the look of it very much. Well done! I think taking off the residues of the coating was a good idea. This way it can keep developing patina over time.
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