Jun 5th, '10, 03:35
Posts: 203
Joined: Feb 28th, '10, 01:31
Location: Phoenix Arizona
Re: Cleaning Teapots
I just cleaned a Yixing teapot and would like to show before and after pictures.
First a little background.
I bought this teapot in a lot at an antiques auction in Japan. It came as one of many 10s of items in a box on which I bid on the box. As such I didn't attach a price to it and only looked at it after having it for a while. I at first mis-identified it as a water dropper for calligraphy because of all the black hardened ink on it. It was only after I joined this board and actually had a different Yixing teapot come into my hands through the same route I went back and took a second look at this one. After trying to sell it a number of times online unsuccessfully and reading about Yixing teapots here I decided to take a scorched earth approach and try to clean it. It was after all "free" and unusable in its dirty state.
To clean it I put it into a pot with enough water to cover it and then some. I then put in about a 1/2 cup of table vinegar and a couple large table spoons of baking soda. I then lit the burner and brought the whole mess to a boil. After it was boiling I went back to my day job, ceramics, for about 20 minutes, leaving the concoction on low heat, bubbling away. After 20 minutes I came back and using a soft toothbrush I brushed away, holding the piece with chopsticks as it was hot. This I repeated 3 times. Here are the results. It doesn't have a residual taste either.
Before
First a little background.
I bought this teapot in a lot at an antiques auction in Japan. It came as one of many 10s of items in a box on which I bid on the box. As such I didn't attach a price to it and only looked at it after having it for a while. I at first mis-identified it as a water dropper for calligraphy because of all the black hardened ink on it. It was only after I joined this board and actually had a different Yixing teapot come into my hands through the same route I went back and took a second look at this one. After trying to sell it a number of times online unsuccessfully and reading about Yixing teapots here I decided to take a scorched earth approach and try to clean it. It was after all "free" and unusable in its dirty state.
To clean it I put it into a pot with enough water to cover it and then some. I then put in about a 1/2 cup of table vinegar and a couple large table spoons of baking soda. I then lit the burner and brought the whole mess to a boil. After it was boiling I went back to my day job, ceramics, for about 20 minutes, leaving the concoction on low heat, bubbling away. After 20 minutes I came back and using a soft toothbrush I brushed away, holding the piece with chopsticks as it was hot. This I repeated 3 times. Here are the results. It doesn't have a residual taste either.
Before
- 324-342 131.jpg (25.89 KiB) Viewed 817 times
- 324-342 132.jpg (41.39 KiB) Viewed 817 times
- 324-342 134.jpg (44.4 KiB) Viewed 817 times
Re: Cleaning Teapots
Here are pictures of the same pot clean.
- Clean Yixing teapot 002.jpg (24.01 KiB) Viewed 817 times
- Clean Yixing teapot 003.jpg (19.71 KiB) Viewed 817 times
- Clean Yixing teapot 004.jpg (18.88 KiB) Viewed 817 times
Sep 27th, '10, 09:29
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Re: Cleaning Teapots
Great job, Togei! Hard to believe it is the same pot.
I moved this to Teaware and Accessories where I think it will be more at home. (for now I left a "shadow topic" under misc)
I moved this to Teaware and Accessories where I think it will be more at home. (for now I left a "shadow topic" under misc)
Sep 27th, '10, 12:50
Posts: 113
Joined: Sep 10th, '10, 12:21
Location: Hallandale, Florida
Re: Cleaning Teapots
I use a Mr clean magic eraser on some pots. Then dry them with a microfiber towel or shamwow to prevent them from getting that rusty iron smell.
Re: Cleaning Teapots
hyakuraiju wrote:I use a Mr clean magic eraser on some pots.
I guess those things really do clean everything 
Love it!