How to clean my Yuzamashi?

[rostost]

Hi!

Since a couple of weeks my Yuzamashi is showing stains and I am not sure how to clean it.

Yuzamashi-Small.jpg (35.12 KiB) Viewed 2591 times

High-resolution images are also available at: http://imgur.com/a/ztzxJ

The Yuzamashi is made of clay and I am 99% sure that the residue is because of minerals/lime in the water. I use tap water for brewing, which in my city is typically of very high quality. Lately it seems that the water is mixed with more "hard" water.

Every few weeks I clean my water cooker from minerals by use of hot water and a shot of vinegar. But I am not sure if I would ruin the taste of my Yuzamashi by doing that?

Thanks for your help!

[chingwa]

You could try a light scrub with baking soda and a bit of water, which possibly would get rid of the deposits. I would be very cautious about using vinegar as well, doesn't sound like a good idea.

[rostost]

You could try a light scrub with baking soda and a bit of water, which possibly would get rid of the deposits. I would be very cautious about using vinegar as well, doesn't sound like a good idea.

Thanks! I'll further research and test with the baking soda.

[theredbaron]

High quality tap water good for drinking does not necessarily mean good water for tea. Where i live the tap water is one of the best and tastiest tap waters in the world, but it is so hard that it kills all tea.
That, as you can see, is why a soft mineral water is preferable.

[rostost]

High quality tap water good for drinking does not necessarily mean good water for tea.

Of course you are right, and I regularly use bottled soft water for my tea. I just haven't managed to buy a proper water filter and I don't want to buy plastic all the time, so I go with tap water from time to time.

Speaking of which: Would you have to recommend a water filter? I don't have much space, so a big machine unfortunately is out of question for me.

[theredbaron]

High quality tap water good for drinking does not necessarily mean good water for tea.

Of course you are right, and I regularly use bottled soft water for my tea. I just haven't managed to buy a proper water filter and I don't want to buy plastic all the time, so I go with tap water from time to time.

Speaking of which: Would you have to recommend a water filter? I don't have much space, so a big machine unfortunately is out of question for me.

Not really.
I know that plastic bottles isn't the best way, however, as most of us do not live next to a fantastic spring there is little we can do. Where i live now i drink tap water, and use bottled water for tea. Fortunately i found an excellent water of a spring not too far from where i live. Sort of local, and bottles get recycled.

[debunix]

Speaking of which: Would you have to recommend a water filter? I don't have much space, so a big machine unfortunately is out of question for me.

At home, I filter my water for tea through a basic filter pitcher, which at times has been Brita, Pur, and now is a Target house brand item--which has been the least prone to leaking when pouring of all of them. Despite putting more water through my home kettle than the ones at work, scale buildup is slower with this, but I've never compared the results to bottled waters, so your mileage may vary.

[theredbaron]

Speaking of which: Would you have to recommend a water filter? I don't have much space, so a big machine unfortunately is out of question for me.

At home, I filter my water for tea through a basic filter pitcher, which at times has been Brita, Pur, and now is a Target house brand item--which has been the least prone to leaking when pouring of all of them. Despite putting more water through my home kettle than the ones at work, scale buildup is slower with this, but I've never compared the results to bottled waters, so your mileage may vary.

With a good soft bottled water there is almost no scale build-up, and the taste of the tea is far improved

[rostost]

Coming back to my original post: I first tried Natron (roughly equivalent to baking soda) with no substantial effect. But when I soaked the Yuzamashi for a night in 1 litre of water and a shot of vinegar I got rid of all the lime stains! Afterwards I rinsed it off with fresh water and there is no smell left.

(The dirt on the picture is on my phone camera )

Yuzamashi-CleanSmall.jpg (41.17 KiB) Viewed 2346 times

[victoria3]

Coming back to my original post: I first tried Natron (roughly equivalent to baking soda) with no substantial effect. But when I soaked the Yuzamashi for a night in 1 litre of water and a shot of vinegar I got rid of all the lime stains! Afterwards I rinsed it off with fresh water and there is no smell left.

(The dirt on the picture is on my phone camera )

Yuzamashi-CleanSmall.jpg

Looks clean, perfect. Afterwards, did you let water sit in vessel to test flavor of water? How long did it take for vinegar taste to leave yuzamashi? I'm thinking of using baking soda/vinegar for an old, very dirty yixing I just got, but hesitate since it is so porous. In the past I've just let the pots soak in water overnight, then simmer in tall pot with trivot 30min., let cool in water, take out rinse, add water and test taste of water after 2hrs. but this time I can see more effort will be needed.
I'm tempted to try baking soda+vinegar for a fizzy cleaning solution. This works perfectly on clogged sinks and similar chemistry is used for cleaning dentures.

[rostost]

Looks clean, perfect. Afterwards, did you let water sit in vessel to test flavor of water? How long did it take for vinegar taste to leave yuzamashi? I'm thinking of using baking soda/vinegar for an old, very dirty yixing I just got, but hesitate since it is so porous

After I removed the vinegar-water I just rinsed it off with fresh water. I couldn't notice any vinegar taste immediately after this, both by smelling and tasting. Do you think of using the baking soda to scrub or to soak? I have no experience with scrubbing, but the soaking solved it for me. You might want to try with a very small dose of vinegar first.

[victoria3]

Looks clean, perfect. Afterwards, did you let water sit in vessel to test flavor of water? How long did it take for vinegar taste to leave yuzamashi? I'm thinking of using baking soda/vinegar for an old, very dirty yixing I just got, but hesitate since it is so porous

After I removed the vinegar-water I just rinsed it off with fresh water. I couldn't notice any vinegar taste immediately after this, both by smelling and tasting. Do you think of using the baking soda to scrub or to soak? I have no experience with scrubbing, but the soaking solved it for me. You might want to try with a very small dose of vinegar first.

I use baking soda to clean my glassware and on the rim of a a Shimizu Ken Nosaka (not polished) kyusu. For some reason this kyusu always gets stained around the rim so I lightly clean with baking soda. Today I am seasoning 3 old pots I just received after an overnight soak in water; 2 that were clean are soaking in tea water, and the dirty yixing I cleaned 1st with baking soda and a lot came off quickly, now I'm simmering it 30min. with some baking soda, very frothy. Next, I'll try hand cleaning some more with soda and if it looks good I'll simmer a few times in filtered water with a trivot and cloth. In my case the dirt is decomposed old tea build up so I'm not sure if vinegar will help, although I'm curious.

File Apr 02, 1 45 33 PM.jpeg (29.35 KiB) Viewed 2302 times

[victoria3]

I'm impressed by baking sodas cleaning ability. After a light hand scrub, then 30 minute simmer with more baking soda, this is what I got and I haven't even simmered in fresh water yet.

File Apr 02, 3 39 55 PM.jpeg (37.49 KiB) Viewed 2292 times