Looking for Replacement Finum Infusers
Sil, those are actually the new ones, so maybe my “old” Finums are even older than I thought. Mine have “t-sac” on the lid if that helps. Anyway, thanks for the offer!
Leafhopper I wanted to let you know that Martin Bednar got the sodium percarbonate I mentioned. He told me he soaked his dirty filter in boiling water and the percarbonate for 10 minutes and reports it’s now like new.
Leafhopper! I can only say good things about the sodium percarbonate. I bought a pack which turned out being 1 kg, I put small pot on the stove, used maybe one table spoon of that, put my strainer in (and it was very, very dirty!) boiling for about three minutes, added a tea spooon of citric acid and let boil another 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it, as it foams a lot, but cleans!
My stainless strainer looks like new (see my December 3 Advent tasting note)
I just cleaned it with dish soap to make sure there aren’t any residues of the percarbonate. It’s cheap solution and working like a charm! Just one small detail, try to get “clean” one, not with cleaning agents used for clothes.
Sodium percarbonate appears to be oxygen bleach AKA the active ingredient in OxyClean. Good for laundry but not sure I’d put it in anything that I drink from
LuckyMe I have been using it for years in the soak I get from Mandala and have suffered no ill effects. It cleans the mesh then I wash and dry whatever was soaked. You need to use what makes you feel safe, though.
LuckyMe man in the chemist’s I was buying it in told me it’s perfectly safe if using only sodium percarbonate with citric acid. Or just first one. OxyClean will probably contain some other stuff to clean better (my chemistry knowledge is very limited, especially in English).
Martin, I’m glad you had a good experience with sodium percarbonate. I’m going for my weekly foray into the outside world tomorrow and will look for it in my local hardware store. You guys are going to laugh at me, but I don’t have a huge pot to boil my infusers on the stove. Can I just put it in a mug, or won’t that work as well?
Leafhopper I am sure it would be fine in a mug. Do you have a bowl or a bucket? Or even a sauce pan? You really don’t need a huge pot. I cook a lot and used to have a catering business so I have large stock pots but I realize that not everyone has extensive kitchen ware. I think you’ll be fine and I am certainly not laughing at you.
White Antlers, thanks for your reply. I thought the idea was to keep the pot at a rolling boil on the stove, for which a bucket probably wouldn’t work. I’m glad I can just dump boiling water into any container and let the infusers sit for a while.
Leafhopper Sorry if I explained poorly. You get your water to a rolling boil in a kettle, pot or sauce pan, then pour it into whatever vessel/container you are using to hold the item to be soaked. Next add the powder. Hot tap water doesn’t activate the soak at all. I find the hotter the water, the better the cleanse. I’ve heated water on the stove and in the microwave, but prefer the stove. If you soak for over an hour, add a bit more boiling water to your container to keep the solution active. I think Martin did boil his mesh strainer but you don’t have to do that. And again, you might need to do this more than once for tough stuff.
Leafhopper: I can look on rules of Czech post… I think I can send you a bit, but not sure.
But at first, look for it yourself :) It would be better for both of us, as sending chemicals is always tricky!
Martin, thanks for the offer. I’ll definitely look for it here in Canada before asking you to mail it halfway around the world! It sounds like it should be fairly easy to find.
Just be sure it’s pure, or with TAED (Tetraacetylethylenediamine) only. The chemical I wrote is an activator for using in lower temperatures. But not sure if it’s good for cleaning the strainers :)
Seems I can’t send it anyway, as it is strong oxidizer and in case of fire in the sorting centre…
I don’t even want to imagine that!
Well, sodium percarbonate is apparently harder to find than I thought. I was able to find Soap Works Safe Bleach, which is a combination of sodium percarbonate and hydrogen peroxide. Would that work?
That could work as you are actually releasing the hydrogen peroxide from boiling sodium percarbonate. But I would avoid direct contact, as it can make your infuser rusty quickly.
I just tried to search and there are few results:
https://www.lalooma.ca/en/ecological-household-products/2823-sodium-percarbonate-2-kg.html (though 2 kg is quite a lot, indeed)
https://www.vertessentiel.ca/en/product/sodium-percarbonate/ (this seems quite good IMO)
Walmart (maybe in US only?) had it as well: https://www.walmart.com/ip/99-PURE-Sodium-Percarbonate-2-LB-Bottle-solid-hydrogen-peroxide-Sodium-carbonate-hydrogen-peroxide-sodium-carbonate-peroxyhydrate-oxygen-bleach/296051053
I am not sure if my seach isn’t limited becasue I live on other part of the World, but hopefully I have helped you :) I know the situation isn’t great, but going to some old-school chemist’s (drugstore), not a chain one, can be a good idea (if you have some near you).
Yes, Leafhopper that will work. Again, use boiling water and you may need to do more than one soak. Good luck!
Martin, thanks for the links! That second one does look like a good option. I don’t have an independent drugstore nearby, and I already called my local Shoppers and they don’t have it.
You mentioned that the Safe Bleach might corrode the metal on the infusers, so is hydrogen peroxide a bad idea? I’m confused! I’m probably making this more complicated than it needs to be, but I also don’t want to destroy my infusers in an attempt to fix them.
If you add it to water, it will be okay. I think direct contact of Safe Bleach and mesh will corrode it.
Safe Bleach seems like good idea, but as I said, just avoid direct contact.
If Safe Bleach won’t work, you can always use it in other way. I think that White Antlers is right though saying it will work :)
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