One day, as the proud owner of copper mugs, there comes a point when you ask yourself how to clean copper mugs properly and how to remove copper stains so that the copper mug shines like it did on day one.
The purer the copper, the sooner and more copper will tarnish over time. This is because copper has the ability to react with oxygen in the air and form stains.
These stains appear in different shapes and colors, depending on whether water was involved in the reaction or not. This may not be completely preventable, but can at least be reduced to a minimum with the right precautions and a few of our cleaning tips.
In the following, you can find out how to get your copper cups or other copper accessories clean again.
Important: You should always clean your copper mugs by hand - and never put them in the dishwasher!
Copper is generally not dishwasher-safe as it is very reactive. Cleaning in the dishwasher can even lead to increased discoloration and stains.
The following 3 cleaning methods for copper accessories and copper cups ensure that the copper oxidation that has built up over time is removed and the beautiful precious metal shines again like it did on day 1.
But you can also get your copper clean quickly without a dishwasher: Use a mild washing-up liquid and apply it with a sponge. Wipe the copper with the sponge in a circular motion.
Then rinse off the detergent residue with cold or warm water. Rinse until the soap is completely gone.
When drying with a cloth, make sure that each copper cup is completely dry and that there is no moisture on any corner or edge. Otherwise, oxidation stains may appear prematurely.
To prevent your copper cups from discoloring, you can put 4 tablespoons of salt in a plate. You can use regular table salt, sea salt or any other type of table salt. Depending on how many cups you want to clean, you may need more salt.
Now cut a lemon into 2 halves or 4 parts. Depending on how many copper cups you want to clean, you may need two or more lemons.
Now place the lemons on the salt. Make sure that the flesh of the lemon is completely covered with salt.
Rub your copper cups in a circular motion with the lemons.
Scrub the outside and inside of the cups until all stains are removed and their surfaces are shiny again.
Now rinse the cups thoroughly with cold or warm water until all lemon and salt residue is removed.
Dry each cup thoroughly with a cloth. When drying, also pay attention to small corners and edges so that there is no moisture anywhere, otherwise oxidation spots may form again. Make sure that your copper cups are completely dry after rinsing.
Vinegar and baking soda can be used to form a paste that has a toothpaste-like consistency:
To do this, take 3 parts baking soda and mix it with 1 part vinegar. Mix until a paste is formed.
Now apply the paste to your copper with a sponge. Cover both the inside and outside of the mug with the paste.
Leave the paste to work for 5 to 10 minutes. The paste should harden after 10 minutes at the latest.
Now you can wipe off the paste with a sponge: scrub the mugs with a circular motion until all the coating has disappeared and the surfaces are shiny again.
Rinse the mugs with cold or warm water. Rinse your cups until all residue from the paste has disappeared.
Dry each cup thoroughly with a cloth. When drying, also pay attention to small corners and edges so that there is no moisture left anywhere. This is very important to avoid stains. Make sure that the cups are really completely dry. This is the only way to prevent oxidation stains from reappearing.
