How To Clean a Chemex Without Scrubbing

I’m sure a great number of people have shared my struggle to clean coffee equipment that has a narrow opening. Coffee oils cling to surfaces and turn rancid. These rotten oils add undesirable flavors to your brew. Nasty! I had a long bottle brush, but it was a total PITA to get it in just the right shape to make sufficient contact. Achieving enough pressure to scrub the oils away was another challenge.

There Has to be a Better Way!

Yes, there is a better way, and it is ridiculously simple to clean your Chemex, with absolutely zero scrubbing. This method will also work quite well with airpots, siphon brewers, as well as any other item that is made of metal or glass. I never use any detergents on plastic items, as plastics can hold onto cleaners forever. OxiClean is like a solid form of Hydrogen Peroxide, so it doesn’t seem to contain anything that would leave tastes behind, but I haven’t used it on plastic yet. Perhaps I’ll test it out on a cheapo Melitta.

What You’ll Need

• Hot Water
• 2T – 3T of OxiClean (Readily available at local stores)

Directions

• Add OxiClean to the Chemex
• Fill Chemex with hot water
• Wait 2-6 hours
• Rinse

You see how scuzzy my 13-cup Chemex was. I used about 3T of OxiClean and let it sit for about 2 hours. I could immediately see the coffee oils lifting away from the sides of the Chemex. It was magical and sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies.

Do you have any tips or tricks to cleaning coffee equipment?

If so, please include them in the comment section!
 

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