Removing Coffee Stains – Coffee Cherish

Rubber gasket has been one of the most important parts of almost all of our household appliances such as washing machines, coffee makers, coffee mugs and many others. This mechanical seal works really well in preventing all kinds of water leakages or gas leaks from our home appliances. They also protect your machines from excessive moisture exposure. Unfortunately, these rubber gaskets do get dirty and unclean because of the constant exposure to dirt, debris, mold and mildew. And this is why, it becomes really necessary to regularly clean and maintain the cleanliness of the rubber gaskets that are present in your coffee makers, washing machines, coffee mugs, tumbler lids etc. Today, I am going to discuss with you about this overlooked topic which people sometimes discuss but more often than not; ignore or forget to take action. If the rubber gasket in your coffee maker or any other home appliances get coffee stains, then how do you clean them effectively? How do you remove those stubborn coffee stains from any rubber gasket? This is our topic today and I will provide you my best 3 cleaning methods that I found to be more efficient than any other cleaning methods. So, lets start. 3 Primary Types of Rubber Gaskets Before we think of cleaning coffee stains from any rubber gasket, its important to know the basic types of these gaskets. There are basically 3 main types of rubber gaskets available in the market. The first type is made from silicone material, the second one is made from EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) and the third one is made from Chloroprene material. All these silicone and synthetic rubber materials are often very easy to clean. But with coffee stains, it becomes tricky to clean them comfortably. Because coffee stains on rubber material are sometimes very hard to remove even with your regular detergent soaps. Don’t worry though. I have found few very easy and efficient cleaning methods to solve this issue. If you see any coffee stains on these types of rubber gaskets, then all you have to do is to use a concentrated Sodium Percarbonate solution to clean those stains completely. If you want to clean professional coffee machines, then it is important to use concentrated solution. If you have home coffee makers and want to clean rubber gaskets from these machines or any other home appliances, then you will need to use other cleaning methods. I will explain how to clean these coffee stains with 3 simple household cleaning solutions. Learn How to Use CLR to Clean Coffee Maker at Your Home 3 Easy Tricks to Clean Hard Coffee Stains from Yeti Tumbler 3 Most Effective Methods to Remove Coffee Stains from All Types of Rubber Gaskets Method 1: Using Baking Soda and Glycerin In order to remove the most stubborn coffee stains or marks from rubber gaskets, you can not just use your regular cleaning tools such as dish soaps or detergent liquid. Instead, you will need a combination of baking soda and glycerin to get the best cleaning results. What You Will Need: 1. Pure Glycerin 2. Baking Soda 3. Soft Cloth 4. Soft Toothbrush 5. Clean Water Cleaning Procedure: 1. First, you have to gather the required cleaning tools. Get the baking soda and glycerin from your local store or get it online. Its your choice. 2. Initially, mix 1 tea spoon of baking soda with a bowl of clean water. Make a paste and apply it on the coffee stained area of your rubber gasket with the soft toothbrush. 3. Keep it for 3-4 minutes and then rinse it with lukewarm water. Clean the rubber gasket with a dry soft cloth. Make sure that you have removed all the baking soda solution from the gasket. 4. After this, you can use glycerin with a soft cloth on the rubber gasket. Rub it softly on the gasket and then after few minutes, just rinse it with clean water and you are done. Method 2: Using White Vinegar and Dish Soap As I said earlier that just a dish soap will not be very effective in cleaning stubborn coffee stains from gaskets. But a combination of white vinegar and dish soap can create good results. What You will Need: 1. White Vinegar Bottle 2. Dawn Dish Soap 3. Lukewarm Water 4. Soft Toothbrush 5. Soft Cloth Cleaning Procedure: 1. In the beginning, you will need a concentrated vinegar solution. Just take 1 tea spoon of white vinegar solution and apply it on the coffee stained spots of the gasket with the help of a soft toothbrush. 2. Keep it for few minutes. Now rinse it with the warm water. 3. Now finally, wash the rubber gasket with the help of your Dawn dish soap and rinse it off with warm water after that. 4. That’s it. The combined cleaning of vinegar and dish soap would be more than sufficient to remove the old coffee stains from the gasket. Method 3: Using Cafiza Cleaning Powder This last method is one of the easiest and also my favourite one. Cafiza cleaner is offered by Urnex, which is one of the best coffee maker cleaning brands in the market right now. Cafiza cleaning powder actually contains mainly Sodium Percarbonate and Tri-Sodium Phosphate. Both of these ingredients are best to clean the old and hard to remove coffee marks, stains from rubber surface. It is also safe to clean rubber parts with Cafiza because it is NSF and OMRI Certified product. What You will Need: 1. Cafiza Cleaning Powder from Urnex 2. Lukewarm Water 3. Soft Dry Cloth 4. Soft Toothbrush Cleaning Procedure: 1. Take half tea spoon of Cafiza cleaning powder and mix it with water to make a thick paste. 2. Now apply that paste on the coffee stained parts of the rubber gasket with the soft toothbrush. 3. Rub it with a toothbrush to clean the stained parts more effectively. 4. Finally, rinse it off with a lukewarm water and see the results for yourself. 3 Items to Avoid to Clean Coffee Stains on Rubber Gaskets 1. Bleach Bleach is a cleaning substance that many people use to clean coffee stains from various surfaces. But bleach is not the right substance to use on rubber gaskets because it often breaks down the rubber material. So, avoid bleach at any cost and use other cleaning methods which I have mentioned in this article already. 2. Rubbing Alcohol Another cleaning substance to avoid is rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol, if used excessively, can cause the loss of rubber elasticity. I would not recommend it because prolonged usage of rubbing alcohol can loosen up the rubber gasket. 3. Magic Eraser Some people recommend using a product like Magic Eraser to clean rubber gaskets. But I will not suggest your to use this product. Because products such as this one are particularly not safe to use especially for silicone rubber materials. Wrapping Up Regular cleaning of your rubber gaskets is of paramount importance to keep them mold free and dust free. And as per my experience, the best cleaning options for removing coffee stains from all rubber gaskets are baking soda, white vinegar, and Cafiza cleaning powder. As I mentioned already, try to avoid cleaning the gaskets with rubbing alcohol, magic erasers and bleach that can damage them over a period. If you want to know how I clean my coffee maker with Cafiza cleaner, then check out this article. References: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/how-to-remove-stains-on-a-rubber-surface-13423639.html https://www.rubbercal.com/industrial-rubber/what-is-a-rubber-gasket/ https://www.automatedgasketcorp.com/blog/3-common-types-of-rubber-gaskets/ https://www.reddit.com/r/starbucks/comments/63g4ar/does_anybody_know_how_i_could_clean_the_rubber/