Is boiling enough to un season a Yixing?

[cryptickoi]

to un/de-season a yixing?i really dont want to scrub if i dont have to....i do understand that im going to probably get mixed opinions on this...thanks

[Ambrose]

Squeeze a lime in your pot with a citrus squeezer. Add boiling water let it sit for 5 min, then rise with boiling Works for me!

[JeiKun4114]

I agree with Ambrose He told me this same method of cleaning and its been working real well for me

[MarshalN]

How much seasoning does the pot have? Generally unless it's been a long long time, it won't matter much

[IPT]

Why are you de-seasoning it? Are you changing teas, or is it a used teapot? Depending on how many years it has been seasoned, you will probably never be able to get all of the tea oils out of it, but Ambrose is right about using citrus to clean it out. Bleach water is another option. Use a very small amount of bleach to a container of water and soak the pot in that. I kow a lot of people will freak when I mention bleach, but every restaurant in the west uses bleach to sanitize their dishes. It is safe as long as it is a small amount and well rinsed out later. I have used it for removing fake seasoning and aging on teapots.

[Rayuela]

@IPT

I'm all for bleach when cleaning porcelain, but the whole point of yixing clay is that it's porous, no? So if you soak the teapot in bleach, it will retain some of the bleach. Such microscopic quantities are, of course, unlikely to do you any harm, but given how people (including you) freak out about using pewter containers for storing practically inert tea when such tiny amounts of lead are not going to harm an adult, it does seem a bit odd.

[betta]

@IPT

I'm all for bleach when cleaning porcelain, but the whole point of yixing clay is that it's porous, no? So if you soak the teapot in bleach, it will retain some of the bleach. Such microscopic quantities are, of course, unlikely to do you any harm, but given how people (including you) freak out about using pewter containers for storing practically inert tea when such tiny amounts of lead are not going to harm an adult, it does seem a bit odd.

Do you know what kind of bleach you use?

if it is hydrogen-peroxide-based bleach then it will be reduced to form water once it reacts. So it left no harmful residue upon minimum usage and it disappears after multiple rinsing.
In fact it is used also in small amount to bleach noodle or bread flour.

if it is chloride base, it will be reduced to hypochloride. This kind of bleach is typical textile bleach. You can however boil the pot several times, because the reaction is reversible; you get the residue evaporates.

I will go one step further by giving them a weak citric acid bath after bleaching. This way you can remove all residue chemically.

[MarshalN]

@IPT

I'm all for bleach when cleaning porcelain, but the whole point of yixing clay is that it's porous, no? So if you soak the teapot in bleach, it will retain some of the bleach. Such microscopic quantities are, of course, unlikely to do you any harm, but given how people (including you) freak out about using pewter containers for storing practically inert tea when such tiny amounts of lead are not going to harm an adult, it does seem a bit odd.

Do you know what kind of bleach you use?

if it is hydrogen-peroxide-based bleach then it will be reduced to form water once it reacts. So it left no harmful residue upon minimum usage and it disappears after multiple rinsing.
In fact it is used also in small amount to bleach noodle dough.

if it is chloride base, it will be reduced to hypochloride. This kind of bleach is typical textile bleach. You can however boil the pot several times, because the reaction is reversible; you get the residue evaporates.

I will go one step further by giving them a weak citric acid bath after bleaching. This way you can remove all residue chemically.

Actually, tea contains enough vitamin C to deal with the bleach, so just soak it in tea.

[cryptickoi]

thanks guys....i would like to switch teas as i feel like i made a mistake in tea choice for the pot...thanks again..

[Alex]

I know nothing of this but the lime idea sounds good.

[Catfur]

Muriatic acid (Hydrochloric acid) will thoroughly clean just about anything, and it doesn't leave a residue, the HCl will just evaporate when the object you are cleaning dries. Be careful, though, and wear rubber gloves.

[wyardley]

If we're talking about a pot that hasn't been used for years and years, and doesn't have a huge amount of build up, all the things people are mentioning in this thread sound like gross overkill to me.

[cryptickoi]

the pot has been used around 100 times if that helps...thanks