Boy, if I only had a menghai cake for every time I tried to reeploy a yixing
pot!
Your method is not good with foul smelling pots where the smell is due to
some molds or bacteria. I guess boiling will kill the living thing but not
get rid of residue of smelly substance. Vinegar does that. just simmer it
later in water for a day or two. The hint of vinegar you smell is most
probably (if you did simmer it in clean water) a physycological one. Ask
someone from outside to smell it without telling them about vinegar. Heinz
should be white enough, although I use "icy" pure.

Sasha.

"samarkand" > wrote in message
...
> I've tried that before, using white vinegar (is Heinz's white vinegar
> considered white enough?), the pot turned out clean, but it still has a
> hint
> of vinegar about it. If you perfer that method of cleaning the pot, do go
> ahead, but I prefer the old method of simmering the pot in clean water.
> It
> may take a longer time, but the end result is worth the effort. Why don't
> you try it for a change, especially if there's a long winter days to
> spare?
>
> Of course the chemistry compound in garlic, turpentine and white vinegar
> (or
> even between vinegars for that matter) are different, I'm illustrating a
> point (weak though it may) that a sharp smelling agent when in contact
> with
> a porous clay will leave its print within the porosity of the clay, and
> hard
> to wash out, not conducting a chemistry practical here.
>
> Samar.
>
>
> "Alex Chaihorsky" > wrote in message
> . ..
>> Vinegar is very sharp smelling, its true. However "white" chemical, not
> wine
>> vinegar is very volatile and never leaves a residual smell.
>> It washes from yixing very easily taking almost all of the smells (good
>> or
>> bad) with it. Comparing it with garlic or turpentine is simply wrong. If
> you
>> take a quick look at their chemistry you would know why. White vinegar is
> a
>> wonderful way to "renew" an yixing pot and you should try it some time.
>> If
>> you would have actually done that at least once, you wouldn't ever
>> compare
>> it to turpentine.
>>
>> Sasha.
>>
>> "samarkand" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > :") Indeed. Vinegar has a strong smell, and as the yixing clay is
> highly
>> > porous, the vinegar will seep into the clay and it'll be hard to remove
>> > the
>> > smell and taste from the pot. It's a little like rubbing garlic on your
>> > hands and then for the next several days your hands smell garlicky...a
>> > couple of days someone showed me a yixing pot his friend gave to him.
> It
>> > was an old pot which I guessed was probably a burial piece. His friend
>> > asked him to use turpentine to rub off the soil stains...that's another
>> > pot
>> > suicide...
>> >
>> > Danny
>> >
>> > "Alex Chaihorsky" > wrote in message
>> > om...
>> >> These are strong words, you have to explain your statement.
>> >>
>> >> Sasha.
>> >>
>> >> "samarkand" > wrote in message
>> >> ...
>> >> > Sasha, you have just given the recipe to pot suicide! :")
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>