To clean a thermos easily, drop in four Alka Seltzer tablets and let soak 1 hour or more, then rinse.
By Monica from Cortez, CO
This page contains the following solutions.
I contacted the company that makes "Simple Green" and was told that their product will not damage a stainless steel thermos.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a pop top thermos that doesn't come apart, but I need to clean it. I use it everyday and I need to figure out how to clean this. I don't want to buy a new thermos. Can you help me? Thank you.
By Yvonne
You can also add alittle salt & chopped ice & shake, let sit and shake again comes out crystal clean! Also works good for your glass coffee pot.
I purchased a baby bottle brush and have found it to be very useful.
Add some uncooked rice & a little water & shake that should break up any sort of residue that formed. The chipped ice works really well on coffee pots.
Maybe a denture cleaning tablet and warm water placed inside the thermos could clean the inside.
Those denture tablets are not expensive at the dollar-type stores. They can be used to clean a number of items; such a a vase, even to cleaning the toilet bowl. (I learned about these denture tablets right here on Thrifty Fun!)
Here are a couple of ways to clean your thermos
Baking soda and vinegar. Put about 1 of vinegar into the bottom of the Thermos (cider vinegar works best as its the most acidic) and add 1 tablespoon baking soda for every 2 cups that the Thermos holds. Quickly fill the Thermos with boiling water. Itll foam a little but not as much as the denture tablets or dishwashing powder; the rest of the directions are the same as above dont cap, let sit, scrub and rinse.
This is a great fall-back method, as almost everyone has the supplies on hand. It takes more scrubbing than the methods above, but its significantly better than just dishwashing soap.
Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. If you dont have vinegar, you can use hydrogen peroxide in its place; same instructions. Do not use lemon juice as a substitute for vinegar in a stainless Thermos, Ive read that it can damage the welds (but I dont know from personal experience).
Does anyone have some tips on cleaning a dirty (coffee) thermos?
By Sushila
Let it soak in hot water and dish soap in the sink, then scrub.
Get "white magic". Available for a few dollars from supermarkets. With that and just water you'll be amazed at what you can remove without the need for scrubbing.
Put a small amount of soapy water in it. Then add about a teaspoon of dried rice in the thermos. Cover and shake well. This usually gets all the residue out.
Most thermos's come apart. If yours does then take it apart and wash it in hot soapy water. Use sponge on a stick to get down inside to scrub there good.
If it doesn't come apart, then fill the sink with hot soapy water and soak it for a while. You can pour some vinegar inside and shake it up good first if it has built up coffee residue in it. After you get all the residue out of it, put some baking soda in it and let it sit for about an hour. That will get the vinegar smell out. Then wash it good with hot soapy water.
After you get it cleaned good, be sure and wash it after each use. If it can't be washed right away (if you're on a trip) then pour hot water (almost boiling but not quite--like what comes out of a commercial coffee pot at convenience stores or truck stops) in it and shake it up real good, then empty it.
Soap, water, bottle brush. Done.
Denture tablets will clean it up quickly also.
Depending on how dirty it is, fill with hot tap water and add one or two denture tablets. Leave setting in the sink, preferably over night. The next morning put your hand over the now cooled top and shake it up and then pour it down the drain. If it didn't get all the 'crud' out then repeat the same procedure a second time-leaving until the water has cooled so it doesn't burn your hand.
When you rinse it well it should be as clean as when new. I cleaned a stainless steel one this way that looked completely black inside. After two cleanings it sparkled. Now I just periodically clean with one denture tablet and it is good to go for another month or so.
Good luck!
Vinegar; cleans coffee pots
Denture cleaning tablets work the best. They also work good on cleaning jewelry, wedding rings; anything that can get wet. The tablets from the dollar store, work just fine. Also remove tea stains from cups.
My son left a new stainless steel thermos in a friends car for several days with a small amount of hot chocolate in it. I cleaned out the mold by soaking with bleach but some odor still remains. How do I get out the remaining moldy odor?
Try a heavy mixture of boiling water and 1/4 cup dishwasher soap and let it soak overnight, then rinse thoroughly the next day, until all smell of the soap &/Or mold is gone. This may take a few times to completely clean it out.
Kim, from Canada; I use baking soda and water,to get odors out of my thermos, it works everytime. Let it sit, for a while.
Try filling the thermos with plain white vinegar and let it set overnight. Then empty it out in the morning and rinse well.
Thanks for the tips. I'll give them a try and will let you know what works.
What is the best way to remove coffee stains from my thermos?
How do you get the hot chocolate flavor out of a thermos?
If it is a stainless steel thermos, use baking soda and hot water. Otherwise, use diluted white vinegar and let it dry out.
I would use baking soda and let it air out for a few days as well.
Wash with soap and water, and rinse well. Then fill it back up with a water and vinegar mixture and let that sit in it for about 8 hours, then rinse back out and let it air dry.
Baking soda and water, but with lemon juice will do the best job.
How do you remove a metallic taste from a stainless steel thermos?
By ERC
The taste is probably not coming from the stainless steel. It is probably coming from the cap or plug which is lined with plastic or rubber.
I have the same problem with a stainless steel thermos, and it is a stainless steel taste, not plastic or rubber. I'm hoping someone posts a good solution.
I have used a stainless steel thermos for years, and have no problem with metallic taste. I have found that decaf coffee doesn't keep a fresh taste and taste metallic, but that is the nature of the coffee.
I have a new stainless water bottle that I recently used to put iced coffee in. I ended up dumping it out because it tasted so bad, bitter & metallic. This was a new bottle I'd never used either. I washed it & air dried it without the lid on it too. I'm disappointed, hope someone else has an idea on it, I just figured I wasn't going to be able to put coffee in it.
How do you thoroughly clean the pop top (pourable) lid to a stainless steel thermos? I don't see any way to take it apart, but it smells and needs some serious cleansing.
I have tired soaking in dishwater, bleach, and dishwasher detergent. I have wedged it open and put it through the dishwasher. Nothing helps.
By Marnie L.
Have you tried submersing it in hydrogen peroxide for a good, long time? The advantage of hydrogen peroxide is that, in small quantities it is not toxic to people but it can really clean things quite well. So, if there is a trace amount left, you are not going to poison anyone. And works best when it is cold or in room temperature. That would be an important factor when you are dealing with a plastic object to clean. Good luck!
Another good option would be a denture cleanser tablet. Totally safe since it's a product for dentures and used in the mouth. Will bubble up a lot of yucky stuff.
Maybe vinegar will do the trick its an odor eater for rooms and laundry. You may be able to soak it in vinegar, I do know when you mix apple vinegar and baking soda it causes a chemical reaction and foams maybe it will get in the crevasses and eat away the film causing odor. It will eat hair and unclog drains my mom also uses salt and lemon juice to do some cleaning like the garbage disposal try that as well.
I used baking soda and ice cubes to clean the coffee residue from inside my glass lined thermos. Within thirty seconds of swirling it exploded, what did I do to get that?
By TV from Spring Hill, FL
Something in there probably reacted with the baking soda, or it was hot when you put the ice cubes in.
I have never heard of cleaning with ice and baking soda. I use ice (crushed) and sea salt, but the glass has to be at room temp to do it. Then rinse when done.
My thermos has black scale in it and I hope someone out there can help solve my problem. How can I remove this?
By Julie Z. from Kamloops, BC
I just use the denture tablets. Put a couple in the bottom of the thermos and pour boiling water over them and shake the thermos with the cover on. Let sit for an hour or so and repeat this procedure till the water runs clear.
We use dishwasher soap, since we always have it on hand. Just put a little in the thermos and fill with water. After about 10 minutes it will look brand new.
My husband has a flourishing thermos, but somehow the lid with spout now smells and tastes like burnt coffee. How do we get rid of it?
By Suzie D
Let some sudsy dishsoap water sit in it with vinegar added for a day. May have to repeat it a few times.
This is a page about cleaning a stainless steel thermos. Tea and coffee are common beverages kept in a thermos. Both can leave stains inside.
