So, you’ve just brewed a great pot of coffee using the French press, and it’s become all dirty. It would be best if you had a quick way to clean a French press.
You are in luck. In this article, I will go over 4 easy ways to clean a French press.
These 4 ways are built up from easy to a bit harder and more time-consuming. I’ll start with the easiest way to clean a French press and move on from there.
You can do all of the cleaning techniques in less than 60 seconds so that you can spend your valuable time elsewhere! Are you ready to learn some amazing ways?
Let’s get into it!
1. Rinse and repeat way to clean a French press
This is the easiest way to clean a French press. I use this technique whenever I’m done with the brewing of my delicious coffee.
The most important part about this way to clean a French press is to leave the French press to cool down a bit after you’ve brewed coffee with it. You are going to need to following items to start this easy cleaning:
- Mesh sieve
- Running water tap
That’s it!
Because the list isn’t as long as other cleaning techniques, I use it most often, and I think you’ll like it as much as I do.
Because the plunger and the beaker are still hot from the brewing of that coffee, you need to cool it down so you can handle it without burning your fingers.
After the French press has had time to cool down a bit, remove the plunger from the beaker and place the mesh sieve in your sink to catch every piece of coffee. The ground coffee that I caught using my mesh sieve looks like this:
Rinse the plunger using running hot water from the tap and make sure to clean between the filter and metal part of the plunger on the bottom.
The ground coffee tends to get stuck between there very often, leaving a weird taste to your coffee when not cleaned properly.
Now, fill your French press beaker with water and swirl it around. Throw the ground coffee and water mixture into the mesh sieve and rinse again with fresh water from the tap.
You have now cleaned the parts of the French press. All there is left to do is leave the parts to dry a bit on a clean kitchen towel and throw out the ground coffee from the sieve.
To clean the coffee-filled sieve, simply throw the ground coffee into the trash and place the sieve into your dishwasher or clean it by hand if you feel like it.
That’s it!
You now have a clean French press ready for its next use. Reassemble the parts of your French press and store them away for the next time.
2. Using soap and water to clean a French press
The second easiest way of cleaning a French press is by using a bit of soap and hot water.
So, to clean your French press using soap and water, you are going to need:
- Green soap or any other dish soap you like to use
- Warm tap water
- Soft brush or sponge
- Mesh sieve
- Clean kitchen towel
Make sure to use a soft brush with a plastic handle so as not to risk breaking the French press beaker.
Let your French press cool down after brewing your coffee, just like the rinse and repeat way of cleaning a French press.
The first steps to this cleaning way are the same as before, rinse all the coffee parts with running water. Ensure that you catch any ground coffee in the mesh sieve; you can throw them out the same way as before.
After you’ve rinsed the French press plunger and the beaker using water, add a small drop of dish soap inside the beaker of the French press. Fill the beaker with hot water and run the soft brush along the edges.
By using the soft brush, the inside of your French press will once again be spotless.
Now, add the plunger to your soap-filled beaker and press and pull up and down using the plunger at least ten times, just like pressing down on your French press when brewing coffee.
By plashing the plunger up and down a few times, the plunger will get very clean around and between the coffee filter edges. This is a pretty challenging part to clean normally, but not anymore!
After you are confident that every piece of ground coffee and oil from the coffee beans are gone from the inside of your French press, let everything air-dry on a clean kitchen towel.
Assemble the pieces after they have thoroughly dried and put away until the next use!
3. Using vinegar to clean a French press
This is the third way to clean a French press. I used this cleaning method when I forgot to wash my French press or when the build-up oil from the coffee beans was too much and kept sticking to the inside of my French press beaker.
Again, leave the French press to cool down a bit before moving on to the next steps. This is to ensure you don’t burn your finger along the way.
Yes, this has happened to me before, and it wasn’t a fun experience.
To clean a French press using vinegar, you’re going to need to following items:
- White vinegar
- Warm tap water
- Soft cleaning brush or soft sponge
- Mesh sieve
- Clean kitchen towel
For this cleaning technique, you are going to use a 50/50 ratio of water to vinegar. I use white vinegar to clean my French press, as this is one of the best to use for cleaning. You can read a bit more about which vinegar is best for cleaning by clicking here.
For example, I have a 1.5 cup (0.35 l) and an 8 cup (1.89 l) version of the French press at home. I’ll use the 50/50 ratio to fill up my French press with the water and vinegar mixture.
So, after the French press has cooled down, rinse it under running water, making sure to catch those ground coffee beans in your sieve. Get rid of the ground coffee beans again and move on to the making of your vinegar bath.
Add lukewarm water to your French press beaker and top with the white vinegar. Place the plunger on top and press down. Leave the plunger to rest at the bottom for 30 seconds.
After the time has passed, press and pull the plunger up and down again at least ten times. The inside will clean itself again. This works amazing as it will also get the vinegar bath into the tough places to reach.
Throw out the dirty vinegar water and rinse thoroughly with hot tap water. You want to rinse this very well, as any leftover vinegar will influence the taste of your coffee the next time around.
Let the pieces dry on a clean kitchen towel and dry them off. Assemble and store until the next time.
Pro tip: Slightly polish the outside of your French press to make it brand-new looking.
4. Adding baking soda to clean a French press
The fourth and last way to clean a French press is by using baking soda and water. The baking soda will help get those coffee stains off your French press in no time.
The starting part works the same as the other cleaning techniques. Begin by cooling off your French press for a little while before attempting to clean it.
For this cleaning technique, you’ll need the following items:
- Bakings soda
- Hot water from the tap
- Mesh sieve
- Soft cleaning brush or soft sponge
- Clean kitchen towel
Rinse the French press parts using hot water, and make sure to catch the ground coffee beans in your mesh sieve. Throw them out and move on to the next steps in this cleaning process.
This cleaning technique is best used to get out the most gnarly coffee stains and make the French press brand-new looking.
To give this technique a go, fill your French press beaker with hot water. Stir in a tablespoon of baking soda and use a soft brush or sponge to clean the inside of the French press beaker.
After you’ve cleaned the inside of the beaker, grab the plunger and set it on top again. Go up and down for a few seconds to get rid of the coffee stains on this piece as well.
Place the clean French press parts on your kitchen towel and let them dry. You can assemble it later, so you get to enjoy your hot coffee straight away!
Tip: Did you know that you can also add baking soda to coffee? Learn everything about it in this article here!
Conclusion
I’ve shown you 4 ways on how to clean a French press.
These different cleaning techniques will come in handy when you’ve accidentally forgotten to clean it last night or when the build-up of coffee is too much.
All of these cleaning techniques can be used whenever you feel like it. Try them out and see what works best for you.
If you want to learn more about cleaning your coffee equipment, you can check out the articles below.
Are you going to try one of these cleaning techniques soon? Let me know by leaving a comment down below. If you have any other questions regarding coffee, you can also contact me directly by pressing the “Contact Me” button at the top!
