Come settle a sisterly argument. AIBU to wash my teapot after every pot of tea made or does it ruin the flavour?

[Nevergoogle]

Ok, so my sister thinks her teapot is seasoned by not washing her teapot in between pots of tea.

I don't drink tea, so have no idea whether the flavour is better or not, I just don't like a stained teapot and think it's a bit minging to leave old tea in the pot.

She'll be along in a minute.

I rinse it out each time, and wash it/scrub the stains off if it's been sitting with soggy teabags in but not used for a couple of days.

DH agrees with your sister

They go manky quickly IMO have found it with mouldy teabags in on many a day

Well, I'm not your sister (at least, I don't think I am!) but I never wash my teapot. Unless I go to use it and find a layer of mould from leftover tea!

I thought it would ruin the flavour so only rinsed the tea leaves out. However a few days ago I noticed that our teapot (15 years old) has developed alarming cracks in it. So we chucked and got our our posh wedding one that has never been used and you know, it tastes exactly the same!

I always empty it, remove old teabags and rinse after each use. I occasionally clean it with bicarb of soda to remove excess tanin but never wash with washing up liquid.

My DH insists on not washing his cup for this reason. I scrubbed it today and he's just said what a lovely cup of tea he's just had

Oh dear, DH says as I don't drink tea I shouldn't interfere. He thinks it shouldn't be washed and I pop it in the dishwasher if there's space.

Eek.

Mine goes in the dishwasher.

Ok,lovely sister, I always empty the teabag out and rinse but never never use fairy liquid.You stick to Ribena, and I'll make the tea.

Your DH agrees but he's and he makes a good cup of tea!

That's slanderous!

It's Rocks organic I'll have you know!

I secretely give your kids fruit shoots and gregs sausage rolls when they visit,na na na na na - organic ones obviously

I worked in tea for over a decade (am now a fetching shade of brown ).... SuperBunny gets top marks on teapot care.

Most important is ALWAYS fresh water, never re-boiled. The best quality tea you can get, invariably loose leaf. Infuse/brew appropriate for the particular type.

oooo, that takes me back....

infuse/brew for the correct amount of time.... ooops too much vino ce soir....

Teapots are like woks... never wash, just rinse

If this thread is excusing me from tea making duty then I'm all for it.

Otherwise i'll just let the teapot fester and stop interfering.

I love being right

Ah, good use of a festive emoticon newbie.

and welcome to mumsnet!

...and don't get too used to being right. It doesn't last long around here.

Thanks Jollister

um, going out on a limb here, but......isn't the tea supposed to add the flavour?

You guys are gross!!!

I usually rinse out the teapot with a swish of water some time after the last cup of tea. Then before the next pot I always swish it through with hot water prior to adding the new tea. Our teapot gets a lot of use so no chance of teabags going mouldy or other mankiness occurring. Every couple of months it goes in the dishwasher which reduces the layer of tannin somewhat. I've never cleaned it with washing up liquid (although obviously it gets some detergent in the machine).

no, you shouldn't wash it
the tannins in the tea make it go brown and "season" it, as you say.

my mum and aunt have the exact same teapot, but my aunt claims hers won't make as nice tea as my mums. my mum says that's because she doesn't wash hers! lol

should add- my mothers teapot is used several times a day, every day.
so no chance of teabags going mouldy or anything

If you don't wash it you get that scum stuff on your tea, which very gross.

When I was a chambermaid, we had to wash the teapots everyday with dishwasher powder. While they soaked, we got on with removing the used condoms from the beds. [sorry I've wandered off at a bit of a tangent ]