Thermos is a practical and useful thing in the household. Hot tea or coffee will be a real salvation on a picnic, on a hike, with a long stay outdoors in cool weather. It is not always possible to warm up lunch at work, so a thermos is indispensable in such situations. For the manufacture of flasks, most manufacturers use stainless steel, which has high consumer characteristics: it does not break, does not deform, and is wear-resistant.
Unlike glass counterparts, containers made of steel become dirty faster - tea plaque forms on the inner surface of the flask, and if a thermos is used for first or second courses, sooner or later an unpleasant smell of food appears. This causes a deterioration in the taste of drinks and dishes. If this happens, effective folk methods will help clean the thermos at home.
Safety Precautions
To avoid undesirable consequences when cleaning a thermos, follow the rules:
- Do not place the container in the dishwasher, either whole or unassembled.
- Do not immerse completely in water so that liquid does not leak into the space between the body and the bulb.
- It is unacceptable to use bleach based on chlorine to clean a stainless steel thermos, so as not to damage the seams of the vessel.
Cleaning stainless steel thermos from tea plaque and odor
Modern housewives managed to try a lot of tools for cleaning flasks. Among them there are both very simple and very original. I propose to get acquainted with the most effective of them.
Rice and pearl barley
Three tablespoons of rice is enough to return the inner surface of the thermos to its original purity. To do this, pour the cereal into the flask, add 100 ml of boiling water, close the lid. In just half an hour, rice will do everything you need. At the end of the process, shake the thermos several times, drain the contents and rinse.
In case of pearl barley will have to work hard. Pour half a glass of cereal into the flask, add 2 tablespoons of soda and 100 ml of cold water. Having closed the vessel tightly, shake it vigorously for 10-15 minutes. After the specified time, open the thermos and, making sure it is clean, remove the contents and rinse the flask.
Table vinegar
Pour vinegar into the flask for 25% of the volume, and fill the remaining 75% with hot water. Within a few hours, under the influence of the substance, the coating will dissolve and the unpleasant odor will disappear. Remember, vinegar itself has a rather sharp aroma, therefore, after use, rinse the container several times with warm water and leave it open until it dries completely.
Coca-Cola carbonated drink
Heat Coca-Cola well (almost to a boil), fill it with a thermos and leave it open overnight. In the morning, drain the liquid and rinse the flask with warm running water. Active chemical compounds contained in the drink guarantee high-quality cleaning of the walls from various kinds of contaminants.
Lemon acid
If the coating layer is uncritical or a faint odor comes out of the flask, use lemons or citric acid. Dice the citrus and place on the bottom of the flask. Bring the water to a boil, fill the thermos to the brim and leave for 12 hours.Wash the flask with ordinary soapy water and rinse thoroughly - the inner walls of the vessel will become like new. The same effect can be achieved by pouring boiling water overnight and a half tablespoons of citric acid.
Baking powder
Pour two bags of the powder mixture into a thermos and fill with warm water. Let the solution brew for 2 hours. Drain and rinse the container.
Baking soda
Dissolve baking soda in water at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 200 ml of liquid, add the solution to a thermos and leave overnight. The next day, drain the contents and rinse the container.
Bleach
Buy any chlorine-free bleach from a hardware store in the form of a powder, paste, or gel. 1/3 fill the flask with the product, and then fill to the top with boiling water. Having closed the container tightly, shake it well. All pollution will disappear without a trace.
Note that bleach is toxic, so wash the flask first with detergent and then rinse several times with warm water.
Ammonia
With the help of this tool with a very pungent odor, the housewives remove contaminants that could not be managed in other ways.
Take an unnecessary plastic cap (which will fit freely on the bottom of the flask), make small holes in the walls, and stretch the threads through them that are much longer than the height of the thermos.
Fill the cap with ammonia and lower it into the flask, securing the ends of the threads with masking tape on the outer wall. Close the thermos loosely and leave it overnight. In the morning, remove the plastic container with alcohol by pulling the strings, wash first with detergent, and then rinse with water.
Professional chemicals
If you are not a fan of applying folk methods, turn to highly effective remedies for help. They are easily applied by means of a spray, can be washed off with ordinary warm water without any difficulty, and most importantly, they completely restore the cleanliness and gloss of the surface. Pay attention to such products as EcoVita, CLINOX, DenkMit, Passion, San Clean cleaning cream, etc.
How to clean plastic and glass thermoses
Glass bulbs, in comparison with steel ones, keep their original cleanliness much longer, but still the time comes when a raid appears on them. There is no point in resorting to aggressive means. The desired effect can be achieved by choosing the most gentle of the methods listed above stainless steel flask cleaning.
As for plastic containers, everything is much more complicated. They are worse washed, absorb harmful substances easier, more quickly accumulate various odors, and are also unstable to aggressive environments. The optimal way to prolong the life of a thermos with a plastic flask is to frequent (so as not to form a stable coating) washing with a neutral taste and smell, for example:
- "Rice + water."
- "Barley + salt + water."
- "Baking powder + water."
Rules for caring for a thermos with a stainless steel flask
For a thermos to last for many years, follow the requirements for caring for it.
- Before first use, clean the flask with a normal dishwashing detergent and water.
- Before filling with hot liquid, flush the walls inside the vessel with warm water. There should not be sharp temperature drops so that microcracks do not appear on the surface.
- Do not place the flask in an oven or freezer to heat or cool it before filling.
- Check that the cover is closed tightly.
- Do not overfill the thermos. Always leave a little space for the cork.
Useful Tips
You can extend the life of the thermos by following simple care rules.
- After each use, thoroughly clean the inside with a brush and ordinary dish detergent. So remove food debris and microparticles of tea, preventing the formation of odor and stable plaque.
- Do not use abrasive cleaners: sand, eggshells, hard wire brushes, so as not to damage the walls of the thermos.
- Sometimes it turns out to wash the inner surface to an ideal state, but an unpleasant odor will remain. Sniff at the cork. Most likely, the problem is in it. To remove odors from the cork, boil it for several minutes in salt water.
Based on the above material, you can choose one or several methods of cleaning thermal capacities for storing chilled or hot drinks and products.
If you have several thermoses, determine what material the flasks are made of. Pay attention to the capacity and diameter of the covers. See which ones are more suitable for certain drinks and food. Decide on the most appropriate cleaning methods in advance. This will help not only extend the service life of the dishes, but also preserve the taste and usefulness of the dishes and drinks placed in them!
