I was trying to find some tips about how to clean tea-stained infusers, but to no avail. I decided to test different ways of cleaning infusers myself and coming up with some tips that make it easier.
Not all of us always have the time to properly wash and scrub infusers after every brewing and sometimes we even leave the tea leaves in the infuser for a second and third brewing. That’s when tea stains start creating and a brown crust starts covering the once new and shiny tool. Of course you can scrub it with a sponge and water or detergent, but that usually takes a long time and is kind of tedious. To be honest, it’s not possible to completely avoid the tediousness of it, but you can save time on using other solutions. Here are the things I tested that worked a little better:
- I found that the best way to clean them was to use an old toothbrush and baking soda. You put the brush under water and then dip it in the soda. The crust and stains come off easier and because of the small brush bristles you can even polish the mental net until it’s shiny again. Thanks to the toothbrush you can access and part of the infuser without a problem. Optionally you can try to put the infused into a mixture of water and baking soda overnight, but usually anything that’s soaked even only in water is bound to be easier to clean.
- Alcohol helps as well, although it works much better with the thick crust, then a slight staining. If you pour some vodka or other high-percentage alcohol onto a cotton pad and you can polish the infuser. This pretty much works best for the solid parts, not so much with the straining net.
- Out of curiosity I also tried low-alcohol mouthwash – but no surprises there, it didn’t help at all.
