Washing a Metal Teapot
Fill a large pot halfway with water and place it on the stove to boil. Use a pot that's large enough to comfortably fit your teapot inside of it. If you have a large teapot, you might need to buy a larger pot at the local supermarket.
Turn the heat off and fill 1/4 of the pot with vinegar. Once the water reaches the boil, switch the heat off and let the water bubble. You can use either white or brown vinegar but white vinegar is much better for cleaning purposes. When you've finished pouring the vinegar into the pot, the pot should be about 3/4 full. Try the local cleaning store or online to see if you can find an industrial sized bottle of vinegar. Using 1 of these bottles will be cheaper than using a few small bottles of vinegar.
Slice some lemons and place the slices in the water. Lemon juice has great cleaning properties because of its acidic components. The acidic lemon juice will mix into the boiling water and vinegar solution. You can juice lemons as well and pour the lemon juice into the pot.
Put your teapot in the pot and leave it overnight. This process will completely clean your teapot, inside and outside. The acid in the vinegar combined with the boiling water will remove most of the stains from your teapot. Make sure you have the teapot submerged in the water when you place it in the pot. You can put a cover on the pot if you want. The cover will keep the heat in the pot for longer.
Remove the teapot from the pot the next morning. Check to make sure that the water in the pot is cool before you reach into the pot. Lay a towel out so you can place your teapot on it to dry for a few minutes after you take it out of the pot.
Clean the teapot with a cloth or cleaning brush. Use a rag or cleaning brush to wipe the inside and outside of the teapot to remove the stains. You shouldn't need to use too much pressure to remove any dirt or debris still left on the teapot. Don't use a metal wire cleaning brush as this will damage the walls of your teapot.
Rinse the teapot under a tap to remove the taste of vinegar. Pour some dishwashing liquid on the inside of the teapot. Fill the teapot a few times with water to get rid of the taste of vinegar. Keep rinsing the teapot until suds stop forming in the water.
Cleaning a Porcelain or China Teapot
Gather your materials. To clean your porcelain or china teapot, the most important item you need to have is 40 Volume Creme Developer. This item is usually used in styling and coloring hair, but it's great for cleaning porcelain or china. On top of this, you will also need gloves to protect your hands from the developer and a container to bleach the teapot in. A plastic container or a large pot will do.
Place your teapot in the container. Use a container that's large enough to comfortably fit your teapot in it. Put your container on top of an item that will stop the developer ruining your work area if it spills. The developer will probably foam up over time and might over-spill. Don't put the lid on the container because of this.
Pour developer into the container and put it in a safe place for 2 days. Make sure you have gloves on while you're pouring the developer. Keep pouring it until the teapot is completely submerged by the developer. Leave the container in a place where it won't be disturbed or bumped into. The developer is a bleach and will harm bare skin if it touches it. If you have a shed or a garage, they might be the best places to place the container.
Pour the developer down the drain after 2 days. Check back on the container in 2 days. With your gloves on, lift the container and bring it to the nearest drain. Gently and slowly tip the container to pour the developer out of it. Make sure you don't tip it too quickly as your teapot could fly out of the container. You can also pour it over asphalt or concrete if you want. Rinse it after with a hose.
Wash the teapot with soap and hot water at least 5 times. Since the developer is a bleach, you'll need to thoroughly rinse your teapot to completely get rid of the bleach. Hold it under cold water and tip the water out of the teapot when it fills. To clean the spout, use a small bottle brush and push into the spout. Wet the bottle brush beforehand. You should give the teapot a thorough clean around 5 times before it's ready for use again.
Shining a Metal Teapot with Cream of Tartar
Wash your teapot with dish soap and water. Before you shine and clean your teapot, you'll need to make sure it's free of stains and other debris. Clean both the inside and outside of the teapot with the cleaning sponge and dish soap. Rinse the teapot after with tap water. Never use a metal wire brush or metal cleaning brush to clean metal. You'll scratch and scrape your teapot with these items.
Place your teapot in a large pot before filling the pot with water. Make sure the pot you use is large enough to allow you to fully submerge your teapot in water. Fill the pot with cold water, leaving some room at the top for when you boil the water. Don't use pots made with cast iron or other metals. The cream of tartar can damage their metal finish.
Add 30 ml (2.0 US tbsp) of cream of tartar for every 1 litre (0.26 US gal) of water. Cream of tartar is very strong and this is why you're adding such a small amount compared to the water in the pot. To make your cleaning agent even stronger, you can also add 30 ml (2.0 US tbsp) of white vinegar for every 1 litre (0.26 US gal) of water in the pot. You can add lemon juice instead of the white vinegar if you want to.
Boil the water before letting it simmer for 15 minutes. Once the water reaches the boil, reduce the heat on your stove. The simmering water will work with the cream of tartar to rigorously clean your metal teapot. As the time passes, look at your teapot. The metal should start to appear cleaner and shinier than it was when you put the teapot in.
Let the water and teapot cool for 20 mins before you empty the pot. It's very easy to burn yourself when working with hot water. Give the water and teapot at least 20 mins to cool. Slowly pour the water down the drain, making sure the teapot doesn't fall out of the pot. Use a tea towel or oven gloves to handle the teapot when you're taking it out of the pot, in case it's still very hot.
Make a cream of tartar and vinegar spray. Use measuring cups to mix equal parts cream of tartar and vinegar. Add the ingredients to a spray bottle. Make sure the spray bottle is clean before you add the ingredients into it. Put the top on the spray bottle and shake it to mix the cream of tartar and vinegar together.
Spray the mixture on a clean cloth and wipe your teapot. Use a few sprays of the solution on your cloth. Wipe in circular motions around the exterior and interior of the teapot to shine it. Make sure you wipe the entire surface of the metal teapot for an even clean all round.
Rinse the teapot thoroughly with water. Since cream of tartar and vinegar are quite strong, you'll need to thoroughly rinse the teapot. Use a wet cloth to wipe the outside of the teapot. Fill the inside of the teapot with water a few times to remove the cream of tartar and vinegar residue.
Dry the teapot with a tea towel or paper towels. If you don't dry your teapot properly, it will develop water spots on its surface. Rub the inside and outside of the teapot, paying special attention to the corners and the floor of the teapot.
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