Was time to clean a bunch of those Silex cloth strainers. Usually use each two to three times then chuck it into jar until either run out or have enough to bother washing.
Anyway decided on a bit of adventure; used some of that Ecolab solid dish machine detergent. It's mostly washing soda and sodium metasilicate which are both used in commercial laundry when a high pH is wanted to "break" soils from fabrics.
Being one consumes brew made with these strainers am restricted to what can be used. Borax is out, so is anything laden with SLS which is most "delicate" detergents. Usually just soak with a bit of oxygen bleach, then boil in fresh water and same.
Mixed up some of the Ecolab solution and poured it into jar with strainers. Can you say "yuuuuck"! Water turned at once to a deep dark mucky coffee brown. About an half hour later water was even more grossly dark. After rinsing and boiling, then drying figured might as well go for a mortgage and clean the SS vacuum pot.
Made up another Ecolab solution, poured it into lower chamber, topped things off, then placed upper globe (with stainer fitted) into pot, turned on heat.....
Once water began rising to upper chamber it was a gross dark brown. After simmering for five minutes turned off heat and allows solution to "vacuum" down.
Well what a difference in the upper chamber! It the SS was bright and shiny as if it had been polished. Removed that bit and dumped out the mucky water from lower chamber and again interior was bright and clean. A bit of rubbing inside both with a sponge then rinsed and both looked good as new.
Haven't done this sort of deep cleaning since pot first arrived from eBay a few years ago now. Here's me thinking a good scrub after each use took care of coffee residue.
Seem to recall there was a product called "Dipit" that was made for cleaning coffee pots. Haven't seen it in ages though, and IIRC it was mostly sodium percarbonate.
Anyway decided on a bit of adventure; used some of that Ecolab solid dish machine detergent. It's mostly washing soda and sodium metasilicate which are both used in commercial laundry when a high pH is wanted to "break" soils from fabrics.
Being one consumes brew made with these strainers am restricted to what can be used. Borax is out, so is anything laden with SLS which is most "delicate" detergents. Usually just soak with a bit of oxygen bleach, then boil in fresh water and same.
Mixed up some of the Ecolab solution and poured it into jar with strainers. Can you say "yuuuuck"! Water turned at once to a deep dark mucky coffee brown. About an half hour later water was even more grossly dark. After rinsing and boiling, then drying figured might as well go for a mortgage and clean the SS vacuum pot.
Made up another Ecolab solution, poured it into lower chamber, topped things off, then placed upper globe (with stainer fitted) into pot, turned on heat.....
Once water began rising to upper chamber it was a gross dark brown. After simmering for five minutes turned off heat and allows solution to "vacuum" down.
Well what a difference in the upper chamber! It the SS was bright and shiny as if it had been polished. Removed that bit and dumped out the mucky water from lower chamber and again interior was bright and clean. A bit of rubbing inside both with a sponge then rinsed and both looked good as new.
Haven't done this sort of deep cleaning since pot first arrived from eBay a few years ago now. Here's me thinking a good scrub after each use took care of coffee residue.
Seem to recall there was a product called "Dipit" that was made for cleaning coffee pots. Haven't seen it in ages though, and IIRC it was mostly sodium percarbonate.
