Restore Your Decorative Pots To Their Former Glory With A Common Cleaning Staple

Decorative and vintage ceramic pots bring a touch of sophistication and style to any home, making them perfect for display. You might occasionally want to give them a gentle polish to enhance their appearance without causing any damage. Fortunately, a simple solution likely already in your cleaning arsenal can effectively restore these decorative pieces to their original splendor: cleaning with vinegar.

For spot cleaning, you can mix two tablespoons of salt with white vinegar to form a paste and use it to spot clean or degrime your cloudy flower vase. Spread it on the stain and let it sit for a while before scrubbing it off. If you're dealing with lime and rust stains from antique art pottery like Van Briggle and Rookwood, you can simply soak them in white vinegar. Those with lighter deposits may only need a few days of soaking, while others may require a few weeks and carefully breaking up the deposits with a butter knife daily. Be sure to change the vinegar every few days since it loses its potency over time.

Vinegar can make your clay pots look good as new; the same is true for other types of pots like ceramics. But it doesn't only restore them to their former glory by dissolving stains and mineral deposits; it also sanitizes them, removing bacteria and mold in the pots. This is ideal if you're using them to house your plants.

Vinegar can also help eliminate unwanted odors that could come with the decorative pots. Kendall Knox, co-founder of Olive Ateliers, shares with Homes and Gardens, "We use a spray bottle and a 50/50 vinegar and water mix to lightly mist these vessels before leaving them out in the sun to dry for a few days. In most cases, this helps clean the object and counteract the odor."

If the water and vinegar mixture or vinegar at full strength doesn't remove tough stains, you can try filling the pot with water and adding two tablespoons of white vinegar and baking soda. Let it sit for a while to loosen the stains before using a soft brush or cloth to rub the stains away.