How To Clean A Stainless Steel Coffee Pot (7 Ways)

How to clean a stainless steel coffee pot? Jump into our guide and discover safe and effective ways to clean your stainless steel coffee pot.

Does your stainless steel coffee pot doesn’t look so stainless anymore?

Too bad, but that’s not the end of the world. 

You can easily restore it to its former glory (as long as you know how).

I’ve tried a million different cleaners and tools, and I’ve found what works best for this type of metal.

Today, I present to you different methods on how to clean a stainless steel coffee pot.

Let’s dive in.

7 Ways to Clean a Stainless Steel Coffee Pot

Alright, let’s get straight to the point. 

Bleach, harsh abrasives, scouring powders…

Leave them in the pantry. Even though stainless steel is very strong, certain ingredients can scratch or discolor the finish.

Here’s what you can use instead.

Baking Soda

Let’s start with something you surely already have at home – baking soda. On the one hand, baking soda is very gentle and won’t damage your stainless steel coffee pot. But on the other, it’s strong enough to break down those coffee stains from your pot.

This is my ultimate favorite method because baking soda is so affordable and readily available at any local grocery store. What’s more, a little goes a long way.

For this method, you’ll need just a few things:

• 1 cup baking soda
• Water
• Dish brush
• ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide (optional)

And here’s what you should do:

1. Add one cup of baking soda to your stainless steel coffee pot. 
2. Fill the pot with warm water. But don’t pour water all the way to the brim, as you’ll probably spill some of it while cleaning.
3. Grab your dish brush and scrub the inside of your coffee pot while the baking soda-water mixture is still in it.
4. Pour the mixture into the sink.
5. In case the coffee pot stains aren’t budging, it’s time to bring out our secret ingredient – hydrogen peroxide. Add half a cup of hydrogen peroxide and two tablespoons of baking soda to the pot. Swirl the mixture for a minute and let it sit for another 30.
6. Pour the mixture into the sink and rinse it with water.

That should be enough to do the trick.

PRO TIP
You can use demineralized water instead of water from the tap to rinse your coffee pot. That way, you won’t see any water spots forming as the pot dries.

Vinegar

Next, we have vinegar, yet another popular household cleanser. 

Now, I’m talking about white vinegar – but apple cider vinegar works well for the same purpose. However, it’s a bit less effective compared to its white counterpart.

Why does vinegar work, you might ask?

Well, vinegar contains acetic acid, which can break down the structure of dirt, film, and coffee stains. While apple cider vinegar has 5% to 6%, white vinegar has about 5% to 10% of the same acid. 

For today’s purpose, you’ll need:

• 4 ounces vinegar (white or apple cider)
• Water

And here’s what you need to do to clean your coffee pot:

1. Pour water into your pot until you fill it halfway. 
2. Fill the rest of it with the vinegar of your choice.
3. Place the pot on the stove and boil the mixture for a few minutes.
4. Turn off the heat but let the coffee pot sit on the stove until the mixture cools down to room temperature. This can take a while.
5. Once it’s cool enough, take a dish brush and scrub the inside of your coffee pot. 
6. Pour out the mixture and rinse the pot with clean water.

NOTE
Vinegar has a distinctive sour smell. It will dissipate once it evaporates completely, so don’t worry about your coffee smelling like vinegar. If the scent is still too strong for you to handle, you can rinse the pot a few more times to get rid of it.

Dish Soap

I know what you’re thinking – you’ve already tried washing it the regular way…

But I’m not talking about cleaning the pot with hot soapy water.

Well, actually, I am, but the steps are a bit different.

For this method, you’ll need:

• Dishwashing soap 
• Water
• Dish brush

Now, for the detergent, you only need one generous squirt of dishwasher detergent. 

Alternatively, if you have a washing machine, you also have a dishwashing pod or powder at hand. These can work as well. In the case of the latter, a ¼ cup would suffice.

Here’s what you should do:

1. Boil water on the stove.
2. Add dishwashing soap/pod/powder to your stainless steel coffee pot. Fill the rest of it with boiling water.
3. Let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes.
4. Grab the dish brush and start scrubbing the interior of the pot.
5. Pour it into the sink. Rinse the pot with fresh water.

Lemon

When life gives you lemons… use them to clean stainless steel.

Lemons, like vinegar, contain acids that can break down grime and stains.

Adding salt to lemons is great, not just for drinking tequila. When it comes to cleaning, salt gives a bit of scrubbing power, so removing stains is a piece of cake.

For this method, you’ll need only:

• Lemon
• Salt
• Dish brush

And here’s what to do:

1. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze out the juice into the stainless steel coffee pot. Don’t worry about seeds and pulp getting in.
2. Grab salt and pour some into the pot so that it covers the lemon juice in a thin layer. 
3. Swirl the mixture a few times and let it sit in the pot overnight.
4. The next day, grab a dish brush and scrub the life out of your coffee pot. This method requires a bit of manual work to get all the stains and coffee residue out.
5. Once done, rinse the coffee pot with hot water until you get rid of the lemon scent.

Denture Tablets

Interestingly enough, denture tablets contain similar ingredients to many household cleaners, including:

• Baking soda
• Salt
• Hydrogen peroxide 

Therefore, it’s no wonder that these tablets will work well against stainless steel stains. 

What’s also great is that denture tablets will remove any hard water deposits as well. What a miracle cleaning ingredient!

For this method, you need:

• 1 denture tablet
• Water
• Dish brush

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Add one denture tablet to your stainless steel pot. Fill the rest of the vessel with warm water. Don’t fill all the way to the brim, as you’ll need to do some scrubbing later while the mixture is still in the pot.
2. Let the mixture sit for an hour or two. In case of more stubborn stains, you can leave the tablet to work overnight.
3. Grab a dish brush and start scrubbing the stains.
4. Once done, rinse the pot thoroughly.

Stainless Steel Cleaner

Nowadays, you can find commercial products specially designed for cleaning stainless steel.

And to be honest, these are great. They don’t only clean but also polish stainless steel and help it resist dust and fingerprints. In other words, these cleaners breathe new life into stainless steel cookware.

Are they necessary? No. As you can see, there are many ways you can clean this type of metal. But I must admit, stainless steel does look a bit better when you use a designated cleaner.

The things you need for this method are:

• Stainless steel cleaner
• Wipe cloth

As for the instructions, that depends on the product you’re using. But the premise for each product is the same:

1. First, you need to apply the product onto stainless steel coffee pot.
2. Let it sit for a while – the label should tell you how long each product needs to work.
3. Wipe the product down until there are no stains left.

Ice Cubes, Salt, and Vinegar

Homemade chip seasoning? No, this is actually a cool cleaning method that works for everything from your sink to your stainless steel coffee pot.

Again, you’ll need just a few things you probably already have at home:

• 6 ice cubes
• ½ cup of vinegar
• ⅛ cup of table salt

The method itself is pretty straightforward. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Add ice cubes to your stainless steel coffee pot.
2. Pour vinegar and add table salt to the mixture.
3. Swirl until the ice melts, and let the mixture sit for a while. How long should it sit depends on how hard the stains are.
4. Once the stains disappear, rinse the pot with plain water.

There you have it – simple yet very effective.

How Often Should You Clean a Stainless Steel Coffee Pot?

Some of these stainless steel cleaning methods take time. Naturally, you might be wondering – how often should you do this?

Well, to keep your coffee pot in good shape, it’s important that you wash it with hot water and soap after every single use. That way, you might prevent stains from forming at all.

But given that every tap water contains minerals, you can rest assured that build-up will ultimately occur.

And how hard your tap water is will determine how often you should clean your stainless steel coffee pot with one of these methods. Ideally, you want to do it at least once a month.

But if you notice that your coffee is slightly different in flavor, that’s a sign you should do some deep cleaning sooner than later.

To Sum Things Up

There you have it – all the different ways you can clean stainless steel coffee pots.

Most of these methods require a few ingredients you already have at home. And if one of them doesn’t work, go with the next one. In the case of stubborn stains, combining a few methods is the best way to go!

Can you use apple cider vinegar to clean the coffee machine? Here’s our guide on how to do that using this ingredient.