A copper tea kettle is a beautiful but extremely delicate kitchen utensil. Whether you use it as a showpiece on one of your shelves or to make tea, it is important to clean it from time to time. Copper is a material that may easily get damaged by chemical cleaners, so you might be thinking, “How do I make sure my copper tea kettle doesn’t get ruined then?” and we will explain exactly this in the article below.
What part needs to be cleaned?
The copper tea kettle needs to be cleaned from inside and outside. The inside is simply the part in which you add your milk, water or tea mixture and the outside part is the shiny antique-looking design of the kettle. You need to clean the outer part by using safe materials and not any chemical cleaners as they tend to tarnish the copper. And the inside needs to be cleaned by using any light scrubber.
How can we clean our copper tea kettle?
Now that you know what part needs to be cleaned, you might be wondering about the safe ingredients we talked about previously. These ingredients are available at everyone’s home and are a part of our monthly groceries, so cleaning your copper tea kettle does not have to be expensive at all. You can clean your kettle using the methods explained below.
- Cleaning with soap and water: Fill your sink or a huge pot with lukewarm water and add your dishwashing liquid to it. Then place your copper tea kettle in the water for a few minutes; use a muslin cloth or a microfibre cloth to gently clean your kettle in the direction of the grain of the metal. Make sure to not use any cleaner with excessive amounts of chemicals in it. Wash and dry your kettle with a cloth.
- Using vinegar, salt and lemon juice: Combine equal amounts of vinegar, salt and lemon juice in a small bowl and stir them until salt is dissolved. Then dip a cloth in the mixture until it soaks the mixture properly, squeeze it and start cleaning your copper tea kettle. Clean until the kettle is shiny, do not over rub the kettle, wash and pat dry it.
- Using buttermilk to clean: Fill the kettle with hot water, then grab a cloth dipped in buttermilk and start polishing your kettle from outside. This way, the inside gets cleaned with hot water while you clean the exterior of the copper tea kettle. Polish until clean, wash and pat dry.
- Using ketchup as a cleaner: Ketchup has slight acidity to it, which won’t harm your kettle and will clean it properly. Dip a cloth in ketchup and rub the exterior until clean. Then wash and dry the kettle with a kitchen towel.
What requires special attention when cleaning your copper tea kettle?
As we mentioned earlier, copper is a sensitive metal that requires extra care while cleaning. So, when you pick a method of cleaning your kettle, make sure that it does not have ingredients with a very high pH level, as that might ruin the copper.
As most cleaning methods have some acidic ingredients, make sure to have gloves on so you don’t experience any allergic reactions.