How do you clean/store your kava strainer

[kavadude]

Just curious what you guys do with your kava strainers. Normally I rinse mine, give it a really good squeeze and put it in a ziploc bag in my tea cabinet without drying it. I took it out after a week of no kava and it smelled pretty funky and was sticky, and it occurred to me maybe storing it like this isnt the brightest idea. I don't want to leave a kava mess in the kitchen but I also don't want a moldy kava strainer. What do you guys do?

 

[Ed!]

I probably don't have the best habits either. I never wash my fijian strainers. I just thoroughly wring them out, dump the used kava and then toss it over something to dry. Before I started using a hot water second-wash technique they would get gummed up, but now it's not a problem, the hot water melts off the resin.

 

[The Kap'n]

I clean out my strainers then I have one dishtowel that's dedicated for kava. I roll up the strainers in the towel and squeeze. They come out totally dry. I don't clean them as kava has anti-bacteriological and anti-fungal properties. If I do decide to clean them I'll soak them in high percentage isopropyl alcohol.

 

[kl.sakamoto]

fwiw, a well-meaning houseguest put one of my strainers (from nak@home) into the laundry machine, and it survived. I didn't put it in the dryer, and I'm not sure if I'll launder it again... I actually prefer using old cut-up t-shirts and shirts, which I rinse then launder.

 

[Nihilist]

I rinse mine off in the sink with hot water and use a tiny amount of foaming soap so it's easy to get out.

I then hang it on a clothes hanger in front of a fan to dry it out.

 

[kavadude]

yeah, as much as I don't want to leave a nasty old kava strainer lying around, I think I'm going to start drying mine out

 

[kl.pjim]

I use cheap nylon stockings (3 for $1). They work fine. I rinse them in scalding hot water and if they dont have any rips or runs, I'll use them again. I can usually get 2 or 3 batches made out of one and then it's time for the trash can.

 

[infraredz]

I use cheap nylon stockings (3 for $1). They work fine. I rinse them in scalding hot water and if they dont have any rips or runs, I'll use them again. I can usually get 2 or 3 batches made out of one and then it's time for the trash can.

wow, I'm able to get at least a dozen good vigorously kneaded batches out of one before it starts to fail. 


I just rinse it in water, turn it inside out to get the root out and then turn it inside out again and drape it over the bowl to dry. After only a few sessions, it gets full of resin and oil but I don't mind as I hope it makes each successive batch stronger. Then again, it might just attract the other oily kavalactones each time...?

 

[kavadude]

I'm currently cleaning my strainer out after about a month without kava and wow...I put it in the sink and am running water and there's a lot of oil/resin coming out of it, you can tell because it has a weird sheen to it (not entirely unlike gasoline in water looks). Probably need to rinse it out better..

 

[kl.nemo.parallaxscurioa...]

I do it differently in that I only use a stocking & throw it out when I'm finished.

 

[kl.sakamoto]

I've put my Nak@Home strainer in the laundry machine 4 times so far without problems. I lay it flat to dry while the other laundry is drying. I only use it 1-2 times before washing, and launder it with disk towels rather than clothes, in case it has resin.

 

[infraredz]

Seems strange you guys toss the nylons after each batch, can I ask why?

 

[kl.nemo.parallaxscurioa...]

Well I toss them because the kava is dead once strained so I never want to see it again & a stocking is the best way I've ever found to steep it in & I've been doing it maybe 15 years (just had a batch 5 mins ago) Womens stockings are $3 for a box of 4, cheap way to get the most from your kava. Hardly worth washing out.