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Does anyone have any suggestions on getting coffee stains from a stainless steel thermos. I would rather not use scouring powder or steel wool cleaners. I think they scratch and potenitally making the staining worse.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Helen
Hi, Helenchild. I don't know what to use either. I thought of ammonia. I use it to remove the coffee and tea film from glass containers, but I don't know how it would react to aluminum. Sometimes I put baking soda on a washrag and push it down into the narrow opening of my thermos with a long carving fork and rub it around the insides. I have never had a bottlebrush worth a dang, the end bristles disappear.
Fill the thermos with water and add a tablespoon or so of dishwasher soap (not dishwashing liquid - you want the kind meant to be put in dishwashers). Let it soak overnight, and your thermos will be bright and shiny in the morning! That stuff is magic - especially on coffee stains.
Jeannie, it worked like a charm. My thermos this morning is sparkling clean. It went from black to spotless. Chunks of old coffee residue fell of with the bottle brush.
Thanks again. I love Dave's Garden.
Helen
For Helenchild, Have you tried baking soda + white vinegar? My boyfriend can never seem to keep track of his many thermos bottles, with creamer and sugar in them. This has been the best fix I've used of late. Pour baking soda in thermos (1/4 cup? or so) then pour in white vinegar (1/2 cup). MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS IN A SINK AND AT ARMS LENGTH. The chemical reaction is fast, kind of boils/foams. My first time , I used way more than needed, was a large Stanley and had to mop up a mess. When this stops I put the thermos aside over night, sometimes it has taken more than once but has worked to get that gunk out and stain too. Just realize this combo is what we used to fuel our toy rockets when we were kids. WARNING: Do not put any lid on a container, or it may look like those pranks the kids are doing these days with Mentos candy in a plastic soda bottle - They violenty explode!
Second photo is silly, but keeps me trying at things with a smile.
I don't know the chemistry behind this but...put ice cubes in anything that has contained coffee (decanters for the electric coffee maker, etc.) gently slosh around and the coffee comes out.
