How to Clean Mineral Deposits from Tea Kettle (6 Methods)
There are many different ways to clean mineral deposits from your tea kettle. First, you have to solve the question of how it came there in the first place. The biggest cause comes from using hard water or well water. Too much calcium or magnesium in the water will leave deposits on everything that touches it, including your tea kettle. And unfortunately, boiling leaves those deposits intact.
If you have an old-fashioned cast iron tea kettle, this method may not work so well because the iron has already absorbed quite a bit of mineral buildup. Sticking with cleaning methods for stainless steel should help prevent any further build up.
In this article, we will present three different methods you must try to clean your tea kettle.
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How to Clean Mineral Deposits from Tea Kettle
Here are some different methods you can try to clean your tea kettle from mineral deposits. Please note that this method does not work for cast iron teapots due to the porous nature of the material.
Method 1: Fill the Tea Kettle with Water and Bring it to a Boil
This is how most people see tea kettles being cleaned, but what they don’t know is this method actually makes the mineral deposits worse by leaving them standing in strong water currents for hours at a time.
This causes all of the minerals sitting on the inside of your tea kettle to be redistributed to other parts. Luckily, our second method will prevent this from happening when you use it along with this one, so bear with us here!
Start off by filling up your tea kettle halfway full with water. If there are any loose bits there that may come out in the boiling process, grab a small spoon or spatula to poke them back down into the water.
Turn up the heat to high and bring it all to a boil. Allow your tea kettle to come to a nice rolling boil for about ten minutes. After this time period has passed, turn off the burner completely and let everything inside cool down before draining it thoroughly.
Method 2: Fill Your Tea Kettle with White Vinegar and Bring it to a Boil
Vinegar is an acid which will help clean any build up of mineral deposits on your tea kettle easily. The most efficient way that vinegar helps break apart deposits is by giving them something they can react with chemically that will aid in their removal process.
All you have to do to get the best results possible with this method is to bring your tea kettle to a boil while filling it with white vinegar. Once everything inside of it boils, you can leave this mixture in there for an hour or so. This will give all of the minerals time to react chemically and break off back into the water.
Make sure not to remove anything from your tea kettle during this time or else you could disturb these reactions before they finish! After an hour has passed, empty out your tea kettle (and rinse it out thoroughly) and then repeat step one again.
Method 3: Boil Your Tea Kettle in Water with Lemon Juice Added
Here’s another little known method that’s useful for cleaning mineral deposits that really works well. All you have to do here is boil your tea kettle in water with lemon juice added. Lemon juice will help clean your tea kettle by breaking down the minerals and allowing for easy removal.
Start out by filling up your tea kettle halfway full with water before adding a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice to it. If there are any loose bits sticking to the inside, use a utensil to get them back into the boiling process.
Bring all of this up to a rolling boil and allow it to stay like that for about thirty minutes or so (the longer you let it sit without doing anything, the better!). After this time period has passed, empty everything out and then begin step one once again while rinsing out your tea kettle thoroughly between each step.
Method 4: Boil Your Tea Kettle in Bleach and Water
This is another widely used method for cleaning tea kettles which should prove to be quite effective when done properly. It’s similar to the method we just mentioned, but there are a few slight differences you should take note of. Here’s what you’ll need: 1/2 Cup of Bleach 3 Pints of Vinegar and A Handy Utensil or Spoon.
If you’ve followed along with everything to this point then your tea kettle should already have three layers on it that consist of grime buildup from water, minerals, and mineral deposits left over from each boiling process you did prior.
There are two ways to go about breaking through these layers effectively. Your first option is to pour the bleach mixture directly onto your tea kettle and allow it to set for about ten minutes before doing anything else.
You can use this time to boil some water in another pot if you want so that you have something clean to drink when everything is finished. This is just a suggestion, however, as you are more than welcome to simply wait it out instead!
After the preferred amount of time has passed, go ahead and dump the vinegar into your tea kettle. Get rid of any leftover bleach with hot running water after this process by rinsing everything out carefully. If there are any stubborn deposits left behind at this point, you can try using an abrasive cleaner or steel wool which will help remove them easily.
Method 5: Use Bar Keepers Friend and Tea Kettle Bleach to Get Rid of Deposits
Try using a combination of bar keepers friend and bleach for your tea kettle cleaning needs. This works because you can purchase these two products at just about any local supermarket, department store, or home improvement center.
Follow the below outlined steps carefully for best results! Simply combine three parts water with one part bleach into a suitable container which then fits into your tea kettle. Get rid of all loose pieces from the surface by stirring things around a bit.
Allow this mixture to sit inside your tea kettle overnight before removing it in the morning and rinsing out everything thoroughly afterwards. During this time, anything left behind should react with these chemicals and be easily removed.
Method 6: Clean Your Tea Kettle With Vinegar and Baking Soda
Here’s one last method for cleaning your tea kettle which will help you to thoroughly remove mineral deposits without much of a hassle at all! These items are inexpensive and can be found just about anywhere, so that makes this an effective option for most people.
We suggest getting started by filling up your tea kettle halfway with vinegar before stirring in two tablespoons of baking soda. Allow the mixture to sit inside the vessel overnight before emptying it out in the morning and rinsing everything carefully afterwards.
Rinse out each item once again after doing this, as well as take a stab at using a utensil or spoon on anything left behind if possible. Because there’s a good amount of oxidation involved here, you’re going to want to repeat this process about two or three times before things are cleaned up properly.
Final Verdict
If you want your tea kettle to come out looking new again, you’ll need to clean it thoroughly on a fairly regular basis. The best way to make this happen is by removing mineral deposits which build up every time you boil some water for tea or coffee purposes. You can use any of these methods listed above in order to get the job done without too much effort involved.
