I was inspecting my homemade ollas today and I noticed dirt, stains, and mineral deposits towards the top of them. This is caused by sunlight exposure, weathering, and water evaporation.
Although the deposits and staining shouldn’t affect the performance of the ollas, you can clean your dirty stained ollas in a few easy steps:
- Fill a sink or a bucket with water and add 2-3 cups of vinegar. For heavy mineral deposits use up to a 1:1 vinegar to water ratio.
- Soak your dirty ollas for about 10-20 minutes. Soak them longer (1-2 hours) for heavy deposits.
- Use a toothbrush to gently scrub any areas where soil and mineral deposits were not removed by the vinegar bath. Repeat soaking and brushing as needed.
- When finished, rinse your ollas well. I prefer to rinse my ollas and soak them for ten additional minutes in plain water just to dilute the acid from the vinegar that may have soaked into the pores of the clay.
- Let your ollas air dry and you are ready to use them again.