Cleaning and restoring kettles


 
Ahnika Worsley

Ahnika Worsley

TVWBB Member
I'm sure there's heaps of threads with all the info and answers I need, but I'm struggling to find them using the keyword search option 🥴

I keep coming up with questions I'd like to ask while I am tackling my first ever restoration projects. Some are probably silly and/or obvious but im a bit pedantic haha.
So hopefully it's OK that I start this thread. I've been loving all the advice and suggestions I've received on this forum so far 😊

I just finished scraping out and steel wool scrubbing the inside of the lid to my K code I picked up on marketplace the other day


1st question of the day :)

Are these marks the beginning of rust or something? 🤔
They are totally smooth

2nd question. :)

What can I use to polish it up and stay REALLY shiny without damaging it of course. Inside and out??
There are some fine scratches too unfortunately. Don't know if I can do anything about that..


Photos: spots in question and before and after
 

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Hello - welcome the forum! Nice job on cleaning it so far. #0000 steel wool is great for cleaning the inside and outside of porcelain enamel coatings on Weber grills. I often use WD-40 on just the outside to give it a nice shine and to help protect any porcelain pops or rust spots. Nothing on the inside. I don’t think the spots on inside the lid are anything to worry about or start of rust. Post pictures when done with it so we can see your restoration work.
 
Kelly C said:
Hello - welcome the forum! Nice job on cleaning it so far. #0000 steel wool is great for cleaning the inside and outside of porcelain enamel coatings on Weber grills. I often use WD-40 on just the outside to give it a nice shine and to help protect any porcelain pops or rust spots. Nothing on the inside. I don’t think the spots on inside the lid are anything to worry about or start of rust. Post pictures when done with it so we can see your restoration work.
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Thanks for the reply :)

I have been using #0000 steel wool
I wish it were a bit easier haha. Getting a good arm, shoulder and back work out! They're all in pretty filthy condition. All the videos I've attached on YouTube, the stuff seems to scrape off so easily.. not like my 3 kettles 🥲 I must just be lucky haha.
Surely there must be dremel attachments that won't harm the coating 🥴🥴
Razor blade scraping around the rim specifically is a painstakingly finicky job!

I am being really scrupulous about this. To the best of my ability I am trying to clean up every mark haha. Those spots keep staring back at me every time I look at it! 😅

And if I was confident I wouldn't make the coating flake off, I would probably attempt to pop that dent out too..
 
Chris Allingham said:
Super fine steel wool labeled "#0000" doesn't seem to scratch the porcelain enamel coating on Weber grills. It's what everyone uses to clean kettles inside and out, as well as the porcelain coated lids on Weber gas grills.

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So from what I am reading here - razor blade scraping first?? Isn't that going to damage it? Then you use this wool and do you need to use any liquid etc with this?
 
Keep the razor blade at a shallow angle - it doesn’t scrape as well at a steep angle anyway - and it won’t damage the enamel. I wouldn’t have believed it myself until I cleaned up my Performer when I got it. It is a good idea to use a degreaser like Simple Green when scraping. If you can’t get Simple Green in the UK, then a solution of hand-wash dish detergent in water would also work.
 
You definitely need the razor blade for almost all kettle insides. Keep changing blades as they dull VERY fast used this way. A sharp, new blade used with care will literally peel off the accumulated carbon/soot/grease. A follow-up with 0000 steel wool will finish the job amazingly!

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The last one I did was a performer for a friend of mine. I sprayed it down with this https://www.samsclub.com/p/oven-fry...MIp46looux-wIVxRXUAR1BggHCEAQYASABEgJdZPD_BwE

Let it sit a bit then used the razor blade to scrape off the heavy stuff. IMO worked better than the simple green but after scraping off the heavy stuff I think I rinsed then sprayed with simple green and used 0000 steel wool till I got it clean enough.

You could keep using the Sams stuff also, wear gloves but I did not that stuff does not seem to bother me others it does. I don't wear gloves when using the simple green either.
 
Chris Allingham said:
Super fine steel wool labeled "#0000" doesn't seem to scratch the porcelain enamel coating on Weber grills. It's what everyone uses to clean kettles inside and out, as well as the porcelain coated lids on Weber gas grills.

View attachment 62716
Click to expand...
Yep, that's what I've been using but it's pretty hard going on the kettles I have because they're that caked in really hard gunk
Wish there was something else that was a little more powerful haha
 
Jon Tofte said:
You definitely need the razor blade for almost all kettle insides. Keep changing blades as they dull VERY fast used this way. A sharp, new blade used with care will literally peel off the accumulated carbon/soot/grease. A follow-up with 0000 steel wool will finish the job amazingly!

View attachment 62724
Click to expand...
Yep that's what I've been doing.. it's just so tough coz the stuff I'm trying to get off has been there for a loooong time I think and basically stuck like cement..
It's fine in the bowl and lid with the blade.. but it's around the rim.. the inner lip where it gets reeeally annoying and slow going haha

I'm sitting there with my face like 2 inches from it, snails pace trying to hit all the spots.
And the steel wool just isn't powerful enough. It's falling apart in my hands before it makes any difference.
 
LeeHarvey said:
Keep the razor blade at a shallow angle - it doesn’t scrape as well at a steep angle anyway - and it won’t damage the enamel. I wouldn’t have believed it myself until I cleaned up my Performer when I got it. It is a good idea to use a degreaser like Simple Green when scraping. If you can’t get Simple Green in the UK, then a solution of hand-wash dish detergent in water would also work.
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I'm in Australia :) few options available to me.
The razor cleaned up a H code brilliantly (with hell of a lot of effort and gave me a good upper body work out haha)
But the K code seems to just be in worse condition so it's making it a lot harder in some spots.
 
Darren Lebner said:
I would think that scalding hot water would loosen a lot of the gunk, immediately followed by a cleaning. Best if you have a big vat/tub to hot-soak the parts in. Adding detergent to the water should help.
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You know that seems so obvious and I didn't even think about it hahaha 😆

Thanks for that!
I'll definitely be giving that a try!
 
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