How to remove the smell from a thermos using folk methods
Removing the smell from a metal thermos is easy if you know what to use and how. Today there are a large number of folk methods, using which you can effectively remove extraneous aromas. All work must be done in stages, in compliance with all recommendations and taking into account the existing nuances.
How to remove mustard odor from a thermos
As practice shows, the use of mustard is resorted to only in those cases when musty amber is exuded from the thermos. It is in such situations that mustard powder can effectively cope with the problem.
The work process is as follows:
- 2 tbsp are poured into the container. l. mustard powder.
- Pour warm water.
- Allow to stand for 1-2 hours.
- After that, the thermos must be rinsed.
This method is one of the most effective.
How to remove an unpleasant smell from a thermos with lemon juice
Another way to remove extraneous aromas as quickly as possible is lemon juice. In this case, the step-by-step algorithm of actions is as follows:
- Squeeze out 1 tsp. lemon juice.
- Add 1 L of water.
- Mix everything thoroughly.
- The resulting solution is poured into a contaminated container.
- Leave in this form for 2-3 hours.
Thanks to this method, you can not only remove extraneous odor, but also get rid of mold.
Advice! If there is no lemon in the house, then it can be replaced with citric acid or table vinegar.
How to remove odor from a thermos with salt
There are many ways you can take advantage of the fragrance to remove it. If necessary, you can add salt or use it as the main component. The algorithm of actions in this case is as follows:
- Take 1 liter of boiling water.
- Salt - 3-4 tbsp l.
- Mix everything thoroughly.
- Pour the resulting solution into a thermos.
- Leave for 2-3 hours.
In the future, rinse thoroughly.
How to eliminate the smell in a thermos with dry tea
Dry tea is an excellent aroma absorber. In this case, you will need to place a dry tea bag on the bottom of the thermos and close the lid tightly. The tea bag should be replaced after 5 hours. It is recommended to change the sachet at least 5 times, as a result of which the desired effect can be achieved.
How to remove the smell from a thermos with baking soda and vinegar
As already mentioned, you can remove aromas with baking soda and vinegar, which can be replaced with lemon juice or acid if necessary. You can combine two ingredients, baking soda and vinegar, for greater effect. They must be taken in equal proportions and then mixed with a little warm water. The resulting mixture is poured into a thermos and left for 1-1.5 hours. After this time, it is worth rinsing and ventilating the container.
other methods
In addition to the listed methods, there are other methods that cope no less effectively.
Baking soda is an ingredient that is available to everyone and can be found in the kitchen of any housewife. The algorithm of actions is as follows:
- 3 tbsp are poured into a glass flask. l. baking soda.
- Pour hot water to the brim.
- Leave in this form for 2 hours, then rinse thoroughly.
This option perfectly allows you to remove the smell of tea, coffee and other drinks.
You can also remove extraneous aromas with rice:
- 4 tbsp are poured into the container. l. rice.
- Pour 100 ml of boiling water.
- Leave for 30 minutes.
- Rinse thoroughly with running water.
If the product is made of metal or stainless steel, then you can use the well-known Coca-Cola drink or any other soda:
- The drink is poured into a container.
- Close the lid tightly.
- Leave in this form overnight.
Rinse the product thoroughly in the morning. Using these tips, it is quite easy to remove mold and amber from dampness.
How to clean a thermos
There are many varieties of thermos flasks. The large-necked version is ideal for storing cereals, soups, potatoes, dumplings, ice cream and other dishes. It is best to store drinks in a narrow-necked container. As a rule, the inner bulb is made of stainless steel or glass. The lid of a thermo-cookware can also be different in design. It comes with a button, when you press it, you can pour the drink into glasses. In general, this is a very convenient thing, but you need to use it correctly:
• do not heat the thermos to high temperatures;
• do not throw;
• do not expose to pressure;
• wash in a timely manner to avoid unpleasant odors.
This article focuses on how to clean a thermos and remove the smell inside at home. A dirty environment is a great breeding ground for bacteria and microbes, and if you run it, you will be provided with an unpleasant, persistent smell. It is sometimes very difficult to get rid of it, but still, nothing is impossible.
Soda comes to the rescue
Kitchen products have always been and remain faithful helpers in the fight against dirt. They are inexpensive and at the same time safe to use. One of these products is soda.
Pour two large tablespoons of soda into a thermos flask and pour boiling water over it. Close the lid tightly. This infusion should be left in a thermos for a couple of hours, and then rinsed thoroughly under cold water. This will help not only get rid of the pungent odor, but also help clean the inner walls of the vessel from tea plaque.
Acid is another remedy for odor control
If you do not have baking soda, then you can safely use acetic acid, citric acid or thinly sliced lemon to clean the thermos inside from plaque. No difference. Only lemon is more expensive and vinegar has a pungent smell. These two remedies are the same in their action. Citric and acetic acid will perfectly clean the walls of tea plaque, remove an unpleasant odor, as well as food debris. The required amount of cleaning agent is calculated depending on the volume of the thermos. Usually, for one liter, 9% vinegar is used in the amount of one tablespoon or a quarter of one lemon.
Mustard is safe and effective
Regular mustard will help remove the smell from the thermos. For application, it is best to use mustard powder rather than paste. The powder must be poured inside, filled with warm water and shaken well. Leave the resulting liquid in a container for a couple of hours, and then thoroughly wash the thermos from the inside. Mustard does an excellent job with fat residues, while being a completely safe remedy. After using it, the walls of the thermos become shiny, and the unpleasant smell goes away.
Salt will help to clean the thermos
Perhaps this is the simplest, but no less effective method. To use it, you need to fill in a couple of tablespoons of salt and fill it with water. Salt works by absorbing unpleasant odors inside. Then, the thermos must be left to dry. It can also be wiped thoroughly with a clean cotton rag. It is best not to close the flask, and if you plan to remove the thermos and not use it for a long time, then make sure that the thermos is perfectly dry.
What to do if cork smells
Very often the smell of mildew permeates the cork. In this case, you will really get rid of the smell, although it is rather difficult. To do this, you need to boil the cork in water in which the soda was dissolved. Another effective method is to dip the cork into a whiteness solution or wash the cork with a detergent. This method perfectly gets rid of germs, and also cleans out all hard-to-reach places from food debris. An effective way to get rid of an unpleasant odor and flask from a thermos is tea with ginger and cinnamon.This is not difficult. You just need to brew such tea and leave it in a closed flask for half an hour.
Elimination of unpleasant odor in the flask
Despite the fact that the stainless steel flasks are polished on the inside, they can still have microscopic cracks in which food particles or hardness salts get stuck. Glass flasks are safer from this point of view, but much less practical.
Worst of all, if the thermos is affected by mold, emitting a characteristic stench. In such cases, the vessel must be disinfected with hydrogen peroxide or oxygen bleach: mold is the root cause of many serious diseases.
Before removing the odor, the flask and lid are cleaned of food debris and thoroughly washed with a delicate, chlorine-free and strong-smelling dishwashing gel.
Ways to remove bad smell from the flask:
- if the smell has appeared recently, it is enough to fill the flask with hot soapy water or boiling water with a delicate dishwashing gel, close it and shake it several times. After 2-3 hours, the solution must be poured out, and the flask must be rinsed. If it is glass, then the stench will most likely disappear;
- a stronger remedy is vinegar. In a flask with a volume of 1 liter, pour 100-150 g of 9% vinegar, add hot water and leave for several hours or overnight. Then the liquid is poured out, the flask is rinsed;
- for those who cannot stand the smell of vinegar, it is recommended to replace it with citric acid at the rate of 1-2 tablespoons per liter of hot water;
- instead of citric acid, you can crumble lemon into a flask and pour hot water over it. The method is expensive, but it justifies itself if the thermos belongs to the child;
- in the evening, pour the sleeping coffee grounds into a flask, pour hot water and close with a stopper. Wash the flask and stopper in the morning. Coffee removes extraneous odors. But this method is not suitable for thermos with wooden corks;
- absorbs soda odors very well. The solution is prepared at the rate of 3-4 tablespoons per liter of hot water. The thermos is loosely closed and left for 6–8 hours;
- if you need to get rid of the smell in a thermos urgently, use rice. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of rice groats into a clean liter flask, pour boiling water over it, close it with a stopper and shake it several times. In most cases, the smell disappears within 15–20 minutes;
- pearl barley will help eliminate odor and plaque. A liter thermos needs 2-3 tablespoons of pearl barley. It is poured with hot soapy water, the thermos is closed with a lid, shaken and left for several hours. Grains of barley, like grains of rice, have microscopic holes where molecules of stench-producing substances are absorbed. When shaken, pearl barley plays the role of a soft abrasive, destroying plaque on the walls of the flask;
- The most powerful remedy for removing unpleasant odors and dark deposits in a thermos is oxygen bleach. A tablespoon of powder is required per liter of water. It is poured into a thermos and filled with water heated to about +50 ° C (in no case with boiling water!). The solution foams, so the water must be poured carefully so that it does not splash out. After an hour, the liquid is poured out and the flask is washed. Oxygen bleach is a must if the thermos smells like mold.
Basic set of cleaning products
Flask and body materials
The flask is a Dewar vessel, made in a special way. There is an air gap between its two identical walls. It maintains a constant temperature for a long time and prevents the release of heat from the thermos into the environment. In more expensive models, the interlayer is vacuum, they keep heat longer.
The flask is made of glass or stainless steel. The glass heats up less, and therefore conducts less heat, and the drinks remain hot for a long time. However, glass bulbs break, which makes them less attractive. When washing such a vessel, it is necessary to avoid excessive friction, otherwise microcracks may appear.Weak points in the flask will quickly lead to a loss of tightness.
Stainless steel flasks are more durable, they can be used daily, they are not afraid of high temperatures and friction.
For the manufacture of the outer casing, plastic or metal is used. In stainless steel thermoses, the outer layer of the flask is the body.
If mold has formed ...
In order not to think about how to get rid of the mold smell in the thermos, after each use, its inner part must be thoroughly washed with soapy water, and the outer case must be wiped with a damp cloth.
To clean a thermos with a narrow neck, you need to use a bottle brush. If you have a thermos with a glass flask, you need to know that periodically you need to disassemble it and wipe the inside, not forgetting about the case.
Dry upside down without closing the lids until completely dry.
Leaving food or liquid leftovers even for a day will certainly provoke the formation of mold.
If you wash a thermos that has a moldy smell in the usual way, and then pour tea into it, then this tea will absorb the unpleasant smell. Conclusion - you need to use special tools when cleaning the thermos from mold.
To neutralize mold odor, use:
- A steep salt solution (3-4 tablespoons of salt per 1 glass of boiling water) is poured into a thermos and left for 7-8 hours. There will be no trace of the smell.
- Baking soda (2-3 tbsp. L.) Is poured into a thermos tube, poured with boiling water and left for 6-7 hours. Next, rinse the bowl with cold water.
- Use vinegar or citric acid in the same way as soda (1 teaspoon vinegar in 1 glass of water).
- Soda is quenched with vinegar. 3-4 liters. soda is poured into a thermos, then the same amount of tablespoons of vinegar, then pour boiling water to full volume. For the glass flask, use hot water, not boiling water. Withstand 40-50 minutes, pour out the contents and rinse 2-3 times.
- Rice. Three tablespoons of cereal are poured into a flask, poured with boiling water and the lid is tightly closed. After the rice is infused for 30 minutes, shake the thermos, drain the contents, rinse with warm water and dry.
- Lemon slice (1 spoon of lemon juice diluted with water).
- Mustard powder (2-3 tablespoons) is diluted with warm water, filled in a thermos and left overnight. In the morning, pour out, rinse and dry.
- Mint tea can remove even very persistent odors. The bag is thrown into a thermos bowl (water is not poured, this is a dry way to remove odors) and left overnight with the lid closed. Mint tends to absorb unpleasant odors and give yours - pleasant ones.
- Any toothpaste. Squeeze a little paste into a thermos, pour 1/3 warm water, chat for 2-3 minutes, pour out and rid the thermos of the bad smell.
Musty smell in the teapot. How to get rid of
Occasionally, an unpleasant musty smell may develop in the kettle. To prevent it, try not to leave unused water in the dishes (especially overnight), and keep the lid of the device open if possible. If the stench does appear, you can get rid of it with regular sugar. Put a few tablespoons of granulated sugar on the bottom of the flask and leave overnight. In the morning, pour water into the kettle and boil with a little lemon juice.
Causes of an unpleasant odor
Sources vary. If the device is new, it may be the remains of technical oil or the smell of plastic in sealed packaging. After a while, these odors should disappear. If you cannot remove the smell in the kettle for a long time, then the reason is poor-quality plastic. Manufacturers of cheap goods add too much plasticizer to the material, which improves its performance, but is unsafe for human health. Therefore, it is better to take such a device back to the store.
Sometimes an unpleasant "aroma" arises from poor quality dye that is added to the plastic. It is also undesirable to use such a kettle for preparing drinks.
Foreign odors in the flask
In addition to the musty smell, other unpleasant odors may appear in the thermos, which are formed due to the remaining food or liquid in the dishes. Sour food becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. They are the ones that cause the stench. Simple dish detergents won't always solve the problem. But the components at hand will cope with the task pretty quickly. These include:
Baking soda. In addition to helping to remove odors from the thermos, its crystals are detrimental to mold and other microorganisms. You need to apply soda as follows:
- fill the thermos with boiling water and add soda at the rate of 1 tablespoon per liter of water;
- close the lid and shake the thermos so that the soda is completely dissolved;
- leave the dishes in this form for 5 hours;
- rinse the flask thoroughly.
Acid or products containing it. These include vinegar, fresh lemon, or citric acid. Such components will remove the smell of fish, cabbage, natural coffee. For a 1 liter thermos, you need to take 2 tablespoons of vinegar or half a tablespoon of lemon and pour one liter of boiling water. Close tightly with a lid, leave for 2.5-3 hours. Rinse the dishes thoroughly.
An alternative to lemon can be a fresh citrus fruit. It is enough to cut it into slices, place it inside a thermos and also fill it with hot water. This method will also help remove plaque from the walls of the thermos.
Dry mustard (not pasta!). Actively removes musty amber that occurs when the rules for storing an empty thermos are violated. Removing the smell of mustard is very simple:
- pour five tablespoons of brown powder into a thermos. Pour 300 ml of hot water;
- shake well the closed device and leave in this form for exposure to mustard for several hours;
- rinse with running water.
Together with the smell, mustard will remove grease and deposits from the walls of the dishes.
Salt. In the fight against persistent aromas, it is powerless, but an insignificant smell will easily remove. To do this, salt must be poured into a thermos and a little warm water must be added to make a liquid gruel. Chat for a few minutes. Then add hot water to the top and leave the thermos closed for 1-1.5 hours. Rinse with warm water. This method works well as regular cleaning after each use.
The main ways to get rid
When an extraneous smell is detected in a timely manner, then its elimination does not require the use of strong household chemicals. It is enough to use the tools at hand that are in the kitchen of almost every housewife.
Soda
Soda will help get rid of plaque and an unpleasant odor in a glass or ordinary metal flask. It is taken at the rate of 1 teaspoon per glass of boiling water. The mixture is poured into a thermos, shaken several times and left to act overnight. After that, the product is thoroughly rinsed with clean water.
Lemon acid
A small lemon is cut into medium-sized slices, placed in a flask and poured with boiling water. The agent is left overnight for exposure. In the morning, the dishes are thoroughly washed and allowed to dry.
Vinegar
This tool is used to cleanse flasks made of glass or stainless steel. A few tablespoons of vinegar are poured with boiling water and left to act for 8-12 hours, after which the thermos is thoroughly rinsed with water.
Milk
The product perfectly removes musty odors. For the best effect, the milk must be boiled, then poured into a thermos and sent to the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, rinse the flask thoroughly and rinse with detergent.
Denture cleaning tablets
The tool is used to cleanse the flask from plaque, in which pathogenic bacteria can develop. Several tablets are crushed to a powdery state, poured with a small amount of boiling water and the thermos is vigorously shaken several times. The mixture is left to act for a couple of hours, after which the product is thoroughly rinsed with water.
Rice
Rice groats are an excellent absorbent. 2 tablespoons of the product are poured into a flask, poured with boiling water and shaken several times. The mixture is left to act for several hours, after which the dishes are washed in running water.
Mustard
You can wash a bad-smelling thermos with mustard powder. The product is ideal for stainless steel, glass and plastic, does not corrode the walls and quickly removes both unpleasant odors and dirt.
A little means is poured into the flask, poured with boiling water and left to act for several hours. Then the container is thoroughly washed from the remnants of the mixture, since mustard can give food and drinks an unpleasant aftertaste.
Salt
You can clean bad-smelling dishes with ordinary table salt. To do this, take 4 tablespoons of the product per liter of boiling water. The resulting solution is left to act for 3 hours, then the product is thoroughly washed in running water.
Boiling with soda
This method is only suitable for a stainless steel thermos. You need to boil water, add 2 tablespoons of soda to it per 1 liter of liquid and wait until the powder is completely dissolved. The mixture is poured into a flask, the dishes are immersed in a prepared pot of hot water and boiled for 60 minutes. Then the liquids are allowed to cool completely, the thermos is washed in cool water.
Boiling water and soap solution
A simple and effective method. A tablespoon of dishwashing liquid is poured into a flask, poured with boiling water and left to act for several hours. After that, the product is thoroughly washed under running water.
Ginger tea
It is used to eliminate the unpleasant odor from the cork of the product. To do this, cut a little fresh ginger into a prepared container, add a pinch of cinnamon and pour boiling water over it. A cork is immersed in the resulting infusion for half an hour, after which it is washed in cool water.
Dry tea
An unpleasant smell can be easily removed from a thermos with a tea bag with any aroma, for example, bergamot or medicinal herbs. The tea is left in a dry flask overnight, the product is not covered with a lid. In the morning, rinse the thermos with water and wipe dry.
Unconventional methods
Unconventional ways to get rid of an unpleasant odor include:
Carbonated drinks. The best choice is Coca-Cola. It needs to be brought to a boil and poured into a thermos.
It is important, however, that it remains open. After 10 - 12 hours, rinse the inner surface of household heat-insulating utensils with cold water and dry.
Dishwashing liquid
Will only be effective if the bad smell is caused by mold. The thermos should be washed with a special brush until the smells change - the stench should give way to the aroma of the chemicals used. After that, heat treatment of the unit should be carried out. To this end, it must be doused with water several times, first boiling, and then ever colder.
Bleach. Not a bad option to clean the surface from moldy fungi that have appeared. However, it is unacceptable if the material for the manufacture of the thermos is stainless steel. It is necessary to pour some bleaching agent into a vessel, add hot water and leave for at least half an hour. After it, you need to wash it with special care and repeat the operation, reducing the waiting time by 10 minutes. Important! Just a little concentration! Large amounts of bleach are hazardous to health.
Odor absorbers. The easiest way to get rid of a bad scent. You just need to put a thing inside the thermos that has good odor absorption. It can be black bread crumb, activated charcoal, tea bag. Items are usually bookmarked for 3-4 hours. The procedure should be repeated 5 times.
The most effective recipes
For the preparation of household cleaning products, single components or various combinations thereof are used.
How to properly clean the oven at home with plain vinegar
This option is suitable for removing simple fresh dirt, eliminating the unpleasant odor that remains after the food has burned.
To clean the oven, wipe its inner surface with a sponge abundantly soaked in vinegar, leave for 2-3 hours. After this time, the vinegar together with the split fat are removed with a soft, wet sponge.
Vinegar + soda
A mixture of table vinegar and soda does an excellent job with old dirt.
First, the walls and bottom of the oven are treated with vinegar, and then soda is applied to them using a moistened sponge. The oven is left in this form for 1-3 hours (depending on the degree of soiling). You can first apply a slurry of soda, and then sprinkle it abundantly with vinegar solution (it is very convenient in this case to use a spray bottle).
As a result of a chemical reaction with the formation of carbon dioxide, the fatty deposit becomes soft and loose. As such, it can be easily removed from any surface.
After 2-3 hours, wash off the remnants of the cleaning agent and fat, wipe the oven with a soft cloth soaked in clean water.
Vinegar + steam
This method also gives good results, helping to fight both fresh stains and dried deposits on the walls of the oven.
- Before processing, it is required to preheat the oven to 150-200 ° C.
- Without turning off the heating, a deep baking sheet with vinegar solution is placed inside, for the preparation of which 4 tbsp is added to 1 liter of water. tablespoons of vinegar.
- The tray is left in the oven until the liquid boils.
- When the solution boils, the equipment is turned off, the water is allowed to gradually cool down for half an hour. Then remove the baking sheet and wipe the walls with a damp sponge or cloth.
Vinegar + soap
A mixture of laundry soap with baking soda and vinegar will help to effectively clean not only the oven, but also the baking sheets, grate, oven handles. To prepare the cleaning agent you will need:
- ½ bar of soap;
- 200 ml of table vinegar;
- 100 g of soda.
The soap is preliminarily crushed (with a knife or on a grater). Then all components are thoroughly mixed. The resulting composition is rubbed on the surface requiring cleaning and left for 1.5-2 hours.
When the cleaning agents dissolve grease and carbon deposits well, wipe the surface with a soft sponge. To completely remove dirt and residues of vinegar and soap solution, the sponge is thoroughly washed several times in clean water.
Vinegar + salt + soda
To get rid of grease and odor easily, try using a blend consisting of:
- ½ l of water;
- ½ kg of salt;
- 3 tbsp. tablespoons of vinegar;
- 100-150 g of soda.
Soda is rubbed on the inner surfaces. The rest of the ingredients are mixed in a bowl and placed in the very bottom of the oven. The oven is heated for half an hour (a temperature of 50-60 ° C is sufficient), after which the condensate that appears along with impurities is thoroughly washed off.
Vinegar + soda + citric acid
An excellent home remedy for tidying up the oven is a citric acid mixture, which will require:
- 1 pack of citric acid (15-20 g);
- 1 tbsp. a spoonful of soda;
- 1/2 cup table vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Procedure:
- To soften the fatty deposits, the oven is heated to 100 ° C.
- At this time, all components are mixed in the container.
- The oven is cooled down to 50 ° C - 60 ° C, the contaminated surfaces (except for heating elements) are wiped with the resulting composition and left for half an hour.
- The remaining cleaning agent is washed off with a clean, damp sponge.
This composition helps to remove grease and carbon deposits, get rid of unpleasant odors in the oven.
Thermos care rules
Taking care of a thermos is as easy as using a fixture. True, many housewives ignore the basic recommendations, which leads to the rapid deterioration of the product or the appearance of a characteristic swampy smell in it.
- Despite the apparent reliability of the structure, it is rather fragile. Protect the thermos from shock and pressure.Otherwise, the inner surfaces of the product will be covered with cracks, through them food or liquid particles will penetrate under the body, which will lead to their rotting.
- The container should be washed after each use; you should not keep food and liquid in it for longer than the prescribed time. If the product has cooled down, it must be discarded.
- It is strictly forbidden to close and remove the device after cleaning, if it is not dry yet.
The thermos must not be placed on the neck, even if it is dry. Violation of this rule leads to the appearance of a musty smell, which is very difficult to get rid of.
If the item is used regularly, it should be washed using cleaning products every 2-3 weeks. This should be done even if the container is used to store clean hot water.
Causes of the problem
Consider a situation on the road when you want to take a few sips of aromatic tea, but after opening the flask, we understand that there really are aromas, but absolutely not the ones you expected. Sometimes it is tea with a pungent coffee flavor, and sometimes the drink smells musty and mildew.
I would like to pour tea, and the smell of mold comes from the thermos, what should I do?
You wash the flask and it seems that the problem is solved, but next time it reoccurs. After several failures, the inexperienced hostess removes the failed device somewhere far away and looks for other options on how to keep food out of the house.
Proper care of a thermos means the following:
- After each use, the device is thoroughly rinsed. We get rid of everything foreign in it in order to exclude the multiplication of pathogenic bacteria.
- Not only the flask is washed, but also the lid, using a warm soapy solution. Common detergents are used.
- If the flask has a narrow neck, you will definitely need a special bottle brush.
- After washing, all the components must be dried - either we wipe everything with a towel, or we simply turn the flask over and leave it on a dry surface until it dries completely.
- Before reuse, be sure to rinse.
Most often, it is not possible to get rid of the smell in the thermos because it is removed to the shelf unfinished or is stored in a curled form. Even worse is the situation when the washed flask is immediately screwed up and moisture remains in it, and this always leads to a persistent musty odor and the appearance of mold.