# Easiest way to clean a Stainless Steel Coffee Thermos
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** coffee
**Created:** [November 17, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039 "2010-11-17T23:59:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/1 "2010-11-17T23:59:21Z")
My coffee Stainless Steel Thermos (Stanley Classic) has built up a lot of oils from several years worth of coffee. I always rinse it out before filling. But, it’s getting nasty looking in there. 😃
I seem to recall the original directions said to clean with boiling vinegar. But, I can’t find them now. Is boiling vinegar a good cleaner? Full strength? Mixed with water? White or Yellow vinegar?
Or is there something that will clean it and won’t stink up the Thermos?
The thermos has such a small neck that I’m afraid even a bottle washer might get stuck and not come out.
How do you clean your Thermos?
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### Author:  [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/2 "2010-11-18T00:32:52Z")
I find that putting a teaspoon of oxyclean in there, filling it up with hot water, and letting it sit for an hour or two seems to due the trick. You want to rinse it out good afterwords.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/3 "2010-11-18T01:53:28Z")
Denture tablets. Let it bubble away.
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### Author:  [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/4 "2010-11-18T02:17:43Z")
A rinse with CLR will work, too. Same stuff is used to clean coffee pots and drip coffee makers.
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### Author:  [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/5 "2010-11-18T03:14:35Z")
there is a product called Dip-It that is specifically for this purpose:
> **[Amazon.com: Dip-It Food and Beverage Stain Cleaner Powder, 5 Ounce (Pack of 8) :...](https://www.amazon.com/Beverage-Stain-Cleaner-Powder-Ounce/dp/B000P9GM58)**
>
> DIP-IT Food and Beverage Stain Remover removes food and beverage stains from metal, porcelain and glass. Use it to remove the oils that build up in your coffee percolator from the coffee beans or remove tea stains from your tea pot. DIP-IT Food and...
a couple of tablespoons in a thermos full of boiling water, and all of the buildup is gone.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/6 "2010-11-18T14:40:06Z")
Thank you. 😉 I’ll give these suggestions a try.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/7 "2010-11-18T15:14:32Z")
A bit of bleach is easiest.
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/8 "2010-11-18T16:50:46Z")
WTF is “yellow vinegar” ?? Is that a Britishism or something? Cider vinegar, maybe?
We recently bought an electric kettle that’s stainless steel, and the instructions say to clean it by boiling a little (cheap, white) vinegar in it. Worked great. I’ve also used denture tablets in the past, to clean small vases of mineral deposits from hard water - works pretty well, too. (Choose one or the other, though - I wouldn’t mix 'em.)
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### Author:  [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/9 "2010-11-18T17:00:32Z")
Hmmm, I haven’t tried the denture tablets or Oxy-Clean, and DipIt looks promising.
Our stainless coffee thermos had fallen between the seats in the car overnight. The warm coffee with cream did not fare too well. I tried many cleansers including dishwasher soap, dish detergent, baking soda, vinegar, heavy salt solution, but \*\*lemon juice \*\*seemed to work the best. I still get a faint whiff of sour milk, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever get it out of the plastic lid/collar.
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/10 "2010-11-18T17:09:54Z")
> [@cantara](#):
>
> …I still get a faint whiff of sour milk, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever get it out of the plastic lid/collar.
OK, _that_ would trigger my backup cleaning plan, where I _buy a new thermos_.
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### Author:  [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/11 "2010-11-18T22:40:00Z")
Another vote for Dip-It, just be sure to get the powered version, which can be hard to find in some stores. (The liquid version is for cleaning drip coffee makers.
I use Dip-It to clean the Farberware Electroperk.
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### Author:  [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)
#### Post date: [November 19, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/12 "2010-11-19T01:25:29Z")
> [@cantara](#):
>
> Hmmm, I haven’t tried the denture tablets or Oxy-Clean, and DipIt looks promising.
>
> Our stainless coffee thermos had fallen between the seats in the car overnight. The warm coffee with cream did not fare too well. I tried many cleansers including dishwasher soap, dish detergent, baking soda, vinegar, heavy salt solution, but \*\*lemon juice \*\*seemed to work the best. I still get a faint whiff of sour milk, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever get it out of the plastic lid/collar.
Check that lid for a removable gasket that looks like a permanent molded piece but really kind of rolls off with some effort. I discovered one of these on my thermos lid and it had years of buildup of funky stuff underneath.
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### Author:  [@dlenef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlenef)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easiest-way-to-clean-a-stainless-steel-coffee-thermos/561039/13 "2011-06-29T15:35:04Z")
> [@Baracus](#):
>
> I find that putting a teaspoon of oxyclean in there, filling it up with hot water, and letting it sit for an hour or two seems to due the trick. You want to rinse it out good afterwords.
I’d like to second Oxyclean as an excellent cleaner of the inside of a glass insulated thermos. I used about a tablespoon with hot water in a 2-liter thermos, soaked for about 30 minutes. Results: The inside and the dispensing tubes are clean as a whistle.
Fanstastic! Thanks Baracus.