TOP 12 ways to eliminate the smell of a thermos at home
A thermos is an indispensable tool for transporting hot food and drinks, but if it is improperly used and stored, the product quickly becomes dirty, a musty smell appears in it. All this makes its use unpleasant, because the taste of the dishes in it suffers. In order for a thermos to serve as long as possible, you need to know how to remove extraneous odors from it using inexpensive improvised means.
Reasons for the appearance
A musty and musty aroma appears in a thermos for the following reasons:
- untimely and poor-quality cleaning of the product from the remains of food and drinks;
- stagnation of air inside the balloon due to a constantly clogged neck;
- the habit of completely collecting an incompletely dried product;
- rotting food debris, which they forgot to remove from the thermos in a timely manner.
Housewives often complain that even a well-washed item smells like plastic. In this case, the root cause may be poor quality materials from which the thing is made.
The main ways to get rid
When a foreign odor is detected in time, 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.
A soda
Soda will help get rid of plaque and an unpleasant odor in an ordinary glass or metal bottle. It is taken at the rate of 1 teaspoon per glass of boiling water. The mixture is poured into a thermos, stirred 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 carefully washed and put to dry.
It is recommended to use fruit rather than citric acid powder, as freshly squeezed juice has the best effect on dirt and unpleasant odors.
The vinegar
This tool is used to clean glass or stainless steel vials. 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 eliminates musty odors. For the best effect, the milk should be boiled, then poured into a thermos and sent to the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, rinse the bottle thoroughly and rinse with detergent.
Denture cleaning tablets
The tool is used to clean the flask from plaque, in which pathogenic bacteria can grow. Several tablets are crushed to a powder 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 few hours, after which the product is thoroughly rinsed with water.
Rice
Rice gruel is 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 under running water.
Mustard
You can wash a smelly thermos with mustard powder. The product is ideal for stainless steel, glass and plastic, does not corrode walls and quickly removes 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 smelly dishes with regular 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 washed off with plenty of running water.
Boil 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 left to cool completely, the thermos is washed with cold water.
Boiling water and soapy solution
A simple and effective method. A tablespoon of dishwashing liquid is poured into a flask, poured with boiling water and left for several hours. After that, the product is thoroughly rinsed under running water.
ginger tea
It is used to remove the unpleasant smell of cork from the product. To do this, cut some 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 cold water.
dry tea
An unpleasant smell can be easily removed from a thermos with a tea bag with any flavoring, for example, bergamot or medicinal herbs. The tea is left in a dry bottle overnight, the product is not covered with a lid. In the morning, rinse the thermos with water and wipe it dry.
The aforementioned products effectively deal with unpleasant odors and are inexpensive, which makes it possible to use them regularly to maintain the product in good condition.
How to remove the smell of a new product at home
A freshly purchased thermos always has a slight technical smell. To get rid of it, it's quite simple: you have to rinse the product with boiling water, then wash it with soapy water. If after just one wash the smell does not disappear, the procedure is repeated several times, not forgetting to dry the thermos well.
If the smell does not disappear and diminish even after using soda or citric acid, you should stop using the product, as it may cause health problems. To protect yourself from such a problem, at the stage of choosing a thermos, you need to inspect several models and choose the one from which you feel the least smell.
Features of working with different materials
When cleaning a thermos, it is important to take into account the material of the body and the flask itself, since an incorrectly selected tool will not only not solve the problem, but also make the thing unusable.
Metal
If you need to get rid of the unpleasant smell in a stainless steel thermos, then salt, dill seeds or mustard powder are perfect. Pour a tablespoon of any product into a flask, pour 250 ml of boiling water and shake several times. The mixture is left to act for half an hour, after which the dishes are thoroughly washed with clean water.
It is important to remember that soda cannot be used to clean stainless steel, as it corrodes the seams and leads to irreversible damage to the product.
Plastic
You can remove musty and unpleasant odors from plastic only with a saturated soap solution. In some cases, the procedure will have to be repeated several times for the final cleaning of the product. If the smell does not disappear and does not weaken, it is better to refuse to use such a thermos for safety reasons.
How to get rid of mold odors
When a musty smell appears, the use of potent agents will be required, since its appearance is associated with the activation of the vital activity of pathogenic microorganisms.
It is worth using the following tricks:
- Common household chemicals. You will need to wash the bottle and cap thoroughly with dishwashing liquid using a small, soft brush. The use of pastes or gels with abrasives is prohibited.
- Saturated saline solution. Hot water is poured into a thermos and coarse table salt is poured in to form a saturated solution. The mixture is left to act overnight, after which the flask is rinsed thoroughly with cold water.
- A combination of baking soda and lemon juice. 2-3 tablespoons of soda are poured into the bottom of the thermos, after which freshly squeezed lemon juice is added.When the mixture increases in volume, hot water is poured into the flask and left for some time. After about 30 minutes, the mixture is poured and the thermos is thoroughly rinsed.
If the foreign smell has not completely disappeared, the above procedures can be repeated and overnight put a dry tea bag in a thermos, which will absorb the remnants of an unpleasant smell.
Rules of maintenance and operation
In order for the thermos to serve as long as possible, it is important to use the product correctly and not neglect to take care of it:
- Before first use, the dishes must be washed in clear water and dried.
- Only liquid or soft products can be transported in the thermos, which will not cause its accidental deformation.
- All food to be stored must be fully cooked, otherwise bacteria will grow rapidly in it, resulting in an unpleasant odor.
- You need to eat hot and cold foods 12-24 hours in advance.
- After each use, the product is washed well with water to remove food debris, then the dishes are washed inside and out with a liquid detergent without abrasive particles.
- It is important to dry the thermos well before storing it and not to cover the neck with a lid.
- Store the item in a closed cabinet, away from heat sources, dust and direct sunlight.
The above recommendations will help keep the product in good working order for a long time and prevent the appearance of foreign or musty odors.
Despite the apparent ease of use, the thermos is quite demanding in terms of storage and operation. Failure to follow some important rules will lead to mold or an unpleasant smell.In order for the product to always be in good condition and fully perform its functions, it is important to clean it from food debris in a timely manner and periodically rinse it using inexpensive improvised means. They will not only eliminate unpleasant odors, but will also help remove scale and clouding of the bottle.