Methods to clean leached minerals from unglazed pots?

spookybonsai

Hi All, Although I haven't posted for a long while, I've certainly been working on my trees. Finally got around to trying to clean some of my unglazed pots in preparation to displaying and just generally to clean up, and used some soapy water followed by rubbing PestOil, which is similar to a white oil / baby oil. (Described here) http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/1997/archives/27/in_the_garden/gardening_tips,_books,_techniques_and_tools/new_products__pestoil_and_glykill

The problem is that, often, as soon as the pot dries, the marks appear again. Repeated cleaning has mixed results, sometimes reduces the mineral deposits, sometimes not.

Is this common? Does anyone have a solution to this, whether it's a change in watering or in cleaning? TIA for good advice.

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Repotter

Try scrubbing with Emory cloth or wet sanding paper, use the grit size 0000. Its very fine but it takes the stains away and does not scratch the pot. Steel wool will also work in the 0000 size.

Good luck, Hector

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spookybonsai

Ok, thanks. Bit skeptical that sandpaper won't affect the pot. Might give it a go on a less expensive pot.

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alkeeba

I've used soapy water first followed by diluted vinegar on a second pass. It has worked well for me.

spookybonsai

Vinegar. Now that sounds more natural. Vinegar is an acetic acid and diluted with water will make it milder. Also easier to use on my pots with designs imprinted in them. Thanks.

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BunjinEnt

Yeah, go with the vinegar and a green scrub pad. Then a VERY light coat of olive oil after it dries.

hope this helps.

-Wm

spookybonsai

Thanks! Vinegar, it seems, is a great solution. Took a while to remember to buy some, but tried it out today and with the olive oil afterwards seems great.

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Glider

I use Limelight or Viacal or any of the commercial kitchen sink/toilet/kettle descaling solutions. These are extrememly effective and harmless to the finish (if any) of the pot.

These days I don't get so much of a buildup as I use only rainwater, but before then, I used to get quite a bad limescale and salts buildup on my pots over a couple of years . This buildup is a lot harder to remove on unglazed pots, even using abrasives (as their surface allows the crust to 'grip' more), and I never liked using abrasives on glazed pots anyway. So, a few years ago I decided to experiment with the above solutions.

Things like Limelight, Viacal and toilet descalers are gels and I just coat the pot with them and work it in with an old plastic nail brush and then leave it to fizz. After 10 minutes, I give it another scrub with the plastic brush and apply another dose. Rinse and repeat for as long as it takes (not long usually). With a final good rinse, the pots come up as new.

For the more badly encrusted pots, I used to make up a solution of kettle descaler in a plastic bowl and simply immerse the pot into it. If your pot is badly encrusted, you can expect quite a reaction. Lots of enthusiastic fizzing, but you can actually watch the scale dissapearing. After a few minutes and a good rinse the pot's like new. This method does release some unpleasant fumes though. You are advised not to breathe them.

In my experience, both methods are 100% effective, completely harmless to the pots and to any subsequent plantings (I'm still using the pots). They leave any glaze completely undamaged. For unglazed pots, as these substances are liquid they get right into the surface texture of unglazed pots (especially if worked in with an old nail brush or something) and really do give them a good clean out. In all cases, every pot I have treated has come out like new and it has never taken more than 10 minutes to clean even the most encrusted old pot, even around the feet and drainage holes (where buildup is always the worst).

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