As everyone already knows...
I like my coffee.
Especially in the morning. When not traveling, I use a large thermal carafe (pot) so it's stays hot over a long period of time. The problem is, it has a small neck and is very difficult to clean. I've tried many brushes and sponge attachments, but they just didn't have the strength to really clean out the bottom of the pot. And everyone knows, one of the secrets to great coffee is a clean pot! I was browsing around the other day in a large housewares shop and came across a hybrid sponge/bristle brush that had the right idea. So I bought it. Did it work? Read on!
First off, it's built quite well. It has a large-ish handle for a good grip and stiff bristles. At the bottom is a "sea anemone" shaped sponge doo-hicky. Is that the correct term, doo-hicky? Anyway, it would fit down the tight opening and appeared to be able to take a fair amount of scrubbing force. If you press down vertically, the sponges are compressed enough that the bristles clean the residue off the bottom quite nicely. A good swirl while inside, with hot water and soap of course, will make short work of anything left inside. I haven't seen the inside of my aluminum carafe look this good since it was new! And all for only $3.99.
Once done, it simply rinses off under hot water, though you could put it in the dishwasher as well. So, how about having on on board the RV? I do have some small necked containers that would be a breeze to clean in my galley, so that's a plus. It also works nicely on
tall glasses that you cannot get your hand deep enough to really clean the bottom. You could replace one of your other sink tools with this because it will do pretty much everything a regular brush will. The bristles are nylon and the "stem" is a solid but flexible plastic. No metal to rust in your sink. I leave my tools on one side of the double sink with the cover on when traveling, so that's a bonus.
As always it comes down to space available and personal preference. I absolutely will keep one at home, but the jury is still out about bringing one along. I suppose, after a trip I could always bring stuff home to clean...and everyone knows I hate cleaning!
Be Seeing You...Down The Road,
Rich "
The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com
Another great cleaner for glass, metal and plastic are those denture cleaner tabs. I use them on the coffee pot, and vases. The other day I had trouble cleaning a sauce pan that I didn't want scratched and tried the tabs with great results. And the tabs are so small, easy to store. For the bigger things I use 2.
ReplyDeleteUnknown,
Deletenever thought about that!
Thanks,
Rich "The Wanderman"
You mentioned the non-metal as a rust issue; I've used many brushes like this, but I've only seen them with metal-twist cores. When the tip wears thin, you start gouging your thermos/mug/whatever.
ReplyDeleteAnother solution for narrow neck thermoses (thermi? thermae?) is to only get wide-neck models. As mine have died of attrition (dropping, shattered glass, broken vacuum), I've just replaced them with models that unscrew the whole top with a smaller concentric opening to drink from.
Wolfe,
DeleteHmmm this one has no metal in it and the plastic should be soft enough that it wouldn't scratch anything.
For many destroyed carafe's that's an option...a long as you can find a wide mouth one that fits!
Rich "The Wanderman"