We drink a lot of tea and I clean my tea kettle, the teapot and the glass jug that I keep in the refrigerator for iced tea. Sometimes I'll fill them with boiling water and then drop a couple denture tablets inside. I think it helps to remove the minerals that might build up.

Yes. I give it a good rinse by hand. My teapot is about 37 years old. I use it every day.

I prefer not to. Traditionally you just rinse it. But DH keeps putting it in the dishwasher. I only use the pot for 'proper' tea. Anything else is a bag in a mug.

I do not. It is only used to boil water, so I figure the boiling water and steam sterilizes it enough. There are some hard water deposits inside. I don't think I care. 😄

I only rinse mine out, but I do use a scrubbing brush. If I notice that it needs any more cleaning than that, I add a bit of baking soda and scrub it with that. I would never put it in the dishwasher! I also never use any soap or detergent on it.

I only drink one cup of tea a day (at most) and have that in the morning. I used to drink afternoon tea, but I stopped that quite a few years ago, after I did not have anyone to have it with.

@Ally De, the question isn't about tea kettles, in which the water is boiled, but tea pots, in which tea is made.

I'm not a tea drinker. As tea has oils and oils get rancid, why wouldn't some type of "washing" or "cleaning" involving more than a swish of hot water be required?

Edit to add - if a teapot is made with a glazed ceramic, why would washing it with a dishwashing product cause any more concern or damage than doing the same with the glazed ceramic cups used to drink it? Handwashing instead of a dishwasher if delicate or to protect the design from hasher chemicals and hotter water, fine. But never washed sounds like an archaic poor idea.

I have a tea kettle, which I only use to boil water for hot water bottles on the rare occasion they are needed. I hand wash the outside of it with dawn soap and water, because its a beautiful pink so i leave it on the stove, and it sometimes gets splatters from things I cook.

I always make a big pot of green tea. I use a stainless steel saucepan. I cannot stand hot tea so I make it and chill it to drink during the week. I put it in the dishwasher and have tried to hand scrub it but all the tannins in tea have permanently stained it. I have tried everything. But yes, I wash my tea vessel.

Colleen - oops. Indeed. 😄 That will teach me to read with half an eye while I eat dinner. 😄

I always wash any vessel I make tea or coffee in, otherwise, it leaves a nasty brown film. I don't use a teapot, but glass canning jars and Pyrex carafes. If I did use a teapot, I'd wash it after every use as well.

I have an electric teakettle, and I do clean the outside regularly.

I do drink a lot of tea, but mostly brew it by the cupful.

This reminded me that somewhere, I may still have a set of different sized brushes designed for cleaning teapot spouts 🙂

I use stainless steel electric kettles to boil water for pour over coffee and even with using bottled water, mineral deposits build up. In about a week with one water brand, about three weeks with the other. Easily removed with a white vinegar soak. The build up adversely affects performance (which I understand is only part of what could happen to a pot used to make or contain tea).

To clarify again, as Colleen pointed out, the question isn't about kettles. It's about teapots. A teapot is only used for brewing the tea, not for boiling the water, so it doesn't get the same deposits that a kettle does.

Water that puts mineral deposits in the electric kettle wouldn't do the same when poured into the teapot?

I included kettles in my reply - along with teapots and the glass iced tea pitcher because over time all of them can develop mineral or tannin stains which may affect the taste of tea, especially if using black teas.

There's also an aesthetic aspect - I'd rather not see stains inside my mugs or teapots. One of my favorite teapots is a glass one from Bodum and I enjoy watching the tea brew. especially if I happen to have a blooming tea.

We grew up with our grandparents. Nan was a tea drinker, never coffee. She used a stainless steel pot that was always black on the inside from the tannins. She said not to wash the pot. :-)

I don't put a bag in a mug, and my pot gets washed very seldom. I don't remember the last time I cleaned it thoroughly.

"Water that puts mineral deposits in the electric kettle wouldn't do the same when poured into the teapot?"

No it wouldn't. In the kettle minerals in the water, especially calcium and magnesium, are deposited when the water evaporates through boiling. In the teapot the water does not boil, the water does not evaporate and there is little mineral precipitation. Limescale build up in a kettle is harmless. But it does reduce the efficiency of the heating element and blocks the filtering mesh in the spout. We have very hard water and we do descale the kettle. The teapot doesn't need it. It only needs rinsing.

I guess this is why old English teapots are usually brown, so you don't notice the tanin build-up.

We're using this old pot because we broke the decorative white one, and this was just sitting on the shelf. I had a difference in taste after I'd wash the white pot with soap, so that's not some fable. I suppose I could use baking soda instead of soap, but is it somehow unhealthy to ingest extra tanin by using a teapot that's only rinsed out with hot water after use?

Also: A recent 'health news' story said that black tea removes lead from water. (Only black; not green.)

Sorry , floral, your explanation doesn't sound right to me.

Well, I'm not going expend any more energy on trying to persuade anyone. Your water heater furs up, your bath tub doesn't. Kettles do, teapots don't. I'll just stick with science and experience. I'm about to have a cup of tea. I intend to enjoy it

Toilets do. Sinks do. Pipes do, cold and hot.

Looking at floral’s picture I'm debating with myself whether I've ever tried milk in tea. Part of me thinks no because it just seems so wrong (yes I know it's common) but the other part of me can almost taste it, like I've had it before. I'm not much of a tea drinker but maybe I'll make myself a cup and try it.

FOAS, I always have milk in tea. Milk in tea, cream in coffee.

Milk in British tea. Nothing in coffee. Lemon in tea in Europe and the US.

I usually drink Tetley Orange Pekoe black tea. No other kind. No sugar in tea, nor my coffee.

I have a friend who travels with his own tea.

My favorite tea is Fancy Keemun, and that is what I usually drink. It is a black tea with a flavor that I like a lot.

I used to put milk in my tea when I lived in San Francisco, but now milk - even small quantities - upsets my stomach. Coffee, even without milk, upsets my stomach even more.

I do not put my teapot in the dishwasher because the rinse cycle does not always remove everything. Also, when I used Cascade Platinum Plus in my dishwasher in L.A., it left a slight residue on everything and made the food taste off. Teapots in particular do not get rinsed as well as other dishes because water can easily be left in the pot because the opening is so small.

Ok I tried it. In British tea, I think. (Twinings Earl Grey.) Inoffensive except perhaps the muddied visual. Maybe I prefer it over straight black? Not sure. I used 1% so maybe whole would have affected it more. It wasnt what my ”memory” recalled so maybe this was my first time. Now I’ll go clean the hard water deposits out of my mug.

👍🏻🙂

We just use an electric kettle.

foas, most people don't put milk in Earl Grey tea. Traditional "English" tea (according to my Welsh husband) is Yorkshire tea. Totally different flavor.

I wouldn't add milk to Earl Grey. It conflicts with the citrus flavour of the Bergamot imo. Milk goes into unflavoured black tea only for me. No sugar either.

Figures, I can’t even make tea with milk right. smdh

Speaking of teapots. This is the one my family used all the time I was at home. My mother must have rinsed it out as it is bright white inside.

The bottom has size 6 shape 8 stamped on it. (or the other way around) I’m too lazy to go back downstairs and look.

Had a burst of energy! It’s size 8 shape 6.

No. I'm a woman of principle.

Always had milk or lemon & honey in my tea as a child, but now I like all of them plain.

Then there's cambric tea - IIRC, it's rather like cafe au lait, only with tea instead of coffee. My dad would make that for us, always mostly milk.

We had lots of tea growing up, as my father's side of the family was British.

Oh, dear, I've been leaving off the second 'n' in tannin.

I see that milk reduces the tannins in tea. DH takes milk and sugar substitute; sugar for me. I like Prince of Wales and Lady Grey. We used to use loose tea but now put a teabag in the pot to steep 3 - 5 minutes. Drinking only a cup or two a day doesn't seem to make much difference to your health. (Probably the same regarding tannins in red wine!)

Thanks, all, for your comments.

I am no tea purist, mostly drinking herbal or decaf. One of my favorites is decaf Earl Grey WITH milk!

Grief no (to washing). A rinse under the tap but the tannin build-up definitely adds to the taste. I like a nice Ceylon/Orange Pekoe mix...with milk...and Rich Tea biscuits.