How should I clean my metal mesh tea strainer?

Good news: I finally got 'round to cleaning the strainer, and it's clean and works well again. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.

• I ran it through the dishwasher (twice), with no benefit; still clogged.
• Next, I put dishwasher detergent (not dish soap) and the strainer into a small cup. Then I added boiling water and let it sit overnight. The residue came off easily with a toothbrush. Bingo; clean and clear.

Works well now! Thanks to all.

Pictures follow!

A denture cleaning tablet, used as instructed, followed by a little brush action does a pretty good job of cleaning up a tea filter cup! I've also used it on my tea cups to clean the insides.

If you are washing it every day, you should only need to use a kitchen sponge after beating out the leaves lightly. You should not need vinegar and should never use bleach, as bleach can cause many metals to rust. if this strainer was sold with the teapot, treat it like gold - sometimes it can be hard to find a strainer that fits in your tea pot PERFECTLY and can be stored there, too.

If you push baking soda through a mesh screen it unclogs and cleans it really well too.

I use my strainer for chai. So in addition to tea, there are spices I grind to add to the tea. The strainer clogs pretty quickly. I finally remembered the device used to clean fine crud from tight spaces. I use a disposable electric toothbrush and sprinkle baking soda on the mesh (and water). I do this regularly and my mesh is starting to regain its original color and I have no clogs.

One of the only thing that seem to chemically dissolve tea deposit is acetone. Soak overnight and brush gently. Be careful, some plastics are attacked by acetone.

Put approximately 3 heaping Tablespoons of baking soda into a bowl with boiling water. Soak filter for about 3 hours. Scrub with a toothbrush.

Here is what one panel looks like after cleaning:

Use Viacal: immerse the strainer overnight, rinse thoroughly next day and wash with washing up liquid; rinse again. The used Viacal can then be put back into its container, and used again. In fact, Viacal is a more effective cleaner than other proprietary kitchen and bathroom cleaners – though care should be taken in terms of possible skin allergies or respiratory problems that may affect some people. But again, it's often worth experimenting with cleaning products: for example, spray window cleaners are perfect for cleaning book covers! Solvents can often remove stains that no other cleaners will, but as these are highly flammable, great care should be taken in their use.

Use oxi laundry powder. You can buy this cheap in pound shops. One scoop in a jug plus boiling water soak strainer for a few minutes This will remove all stains.

Lemon juice hot water soak overnight. Rinse in morning. Safe and very effective.

Please Use Extreme Caution Looking at the item I would say use caustic soda lye. Place the item in a stainless steel pot or container and add 3/4 of the capacity with water and 2 tablespoons of caustic this should start to get hot.

DO NOT use any aluminium or alloy container as this will be dissolved by the the solution.

WEAR SAFETY PROTECTION ideally such as shoulder-arm Neoprene gloves as well as safety goggle's: caustic soda lye is very harmful to human skin when at full strength, let it soak for half an hour then hold container with filter under running tap and dilute all the caustic solution away drain and rinse with vinegar to neutralize any caustic that is left over on the strainer then rinse with water again and the item will be as good as new.

There is a small recipe, soak the tea strainer overnight with white vinegar, baking soda, dish soap, and water. Bring PVC protective gloves the next day to clean the tea strainer.