Context: I currently have a back injury and as such my sleep schedule has been destroyed. There are days that I simply cannot get comfortable no matter where I sit/lie.
The other night I was restless and couldn’t get comfortable but was feeling tired. I wanted to brew myself a cup of tea but as luck would have it we had run out of fill-able tea bags. I pulled out the metal tea infusers and found that due to an improper cleaning at last use and who knows how long they had been sitting idle they were absolutely disgusting. Some had mold spots and one appeared to be rusting (how aluminum rusts I don’t know).
I REALLY wanted my tea so I busted out my cleaning tools and got to work. She woke up to use the restroom and heard me in the kitchen and made it a point to call me out for being weird and that no one in their right mind would be doing what I was doing.
Is that a fair assessment? I only spent about 50 minutes cleaning them.
I started with a acid brush, and then moved onto a nylon. The residue was being very stuborn which is why I moved onto the brass brush and dremel.
I finished outt which a fabric wheel in the dremel, the idea being to help wipe away any brass or residue that got left being in the final cleaning steps.
Try drain cleaner (or whatever the proper term for anti-clogging goo is). 10% drain cleaner, 90% cooking water, let it sit until the water is cold, and it will look like new.
Yes, it sounds weird, but it’s almost impossible to properly clean the mineral buildup in the tiny holes otherwise.
Before we move to fillable bags we would soak the infusers in vinager overnight every week or two. They stayed nice and sparkling clean.
That may work with your water and filter. My water is basically a saturated mineral solution and my filter has very very small holes. I’ve got the weird brown tea mineral buildup on everything that comes in contact with them tea.