# HOT DRINKS NO MORE



## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

My trusty Stanley stainless steel thermos I've had for about ten years stopped keeping things hot. Yeah, I did one of those brainless things we all laugh about. My SS thermos was quite dark inside from coffee staining it. I have cleaned it in the past with baking soda and warm water, just like the instruction booklet told me to do. God knows whatever happened to that book. Anyway, I had a brainstorm the other night, more like a brain fart, and thought to myself, Hey, my wife uses bleach and water to clean alot of things, why not try it in the thermos? So I did. The next morning when I poured out the bleach the inside of that bottle looked like some little guy, or gal, had taken a buffer to it. Amazing! I haven't seen it that clean since I purchased it. This is great, I thought. So that morning I filled it with hot water to temper it, like I always have done. Stop by Wawa and fill it with coffee. And off I went to work. 9:30 or so I take my coffee break, the coffee it hot as usual. About 2:30 in the afternoon I stop for another cup. Bummer, the coffee is luke warm. That has never happened with this thermos. As a matter of fact, it will, or did, keep coffee hot until the next morning. Went through the same rutine today, and the same senario. So I had some time this afternoon and I'm looking at the bottom of the bottle where it says how to clean it. Mind you, the print is about ten times smaller than whet you're reading. And as I'm making my way around the perimeter, I came across this "DO NOT CLEAN WITH BLEACH". HMMMMMMMMMMM. 

Now, all you rocket scientists out there. Why would the bleach have an effect like this on a stainless steel thermos bottle? Before you ask about the stopper, it's still good.


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## Phil Creer (Jan 2, 2008)

Thermos bottles keep hot things hot and cold things cold......but how does it know????


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

I would try and make the coffee with water only? 

Manfred Diel


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

But the bleach cleans out your innards/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0>/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif" border=0> 
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## jamarti (Jan 2, 2008)

Good question, I have no answer.


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## SlateCreek (Jan 2, 2008)

From what I can find out, the chlorine in the bleach attacks the weld at the top of the thermos, and breaks the vacuum. Once air gets into the vacuum space, the insulation value is gone, and your drink cools off (or warms up.) 

That's supposedly directly from Thermos, btw. The reason it's so shiny is you're actually taking off the top layers of the metal.... 

Matthew (OV)


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

So what you're telling me is that the cleaner it is the less it is. 

By the way, the statement about the weld makes sense. The outside of the thermos never got hot to the touch until after I cleaned it with the bleach and put hot water into it.


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

A blonde was shopping at Target and came across a shiny silver thermos. She was quite fascinated by it, so she picked it up and took it to the clerk to ask what it was. The clerk said, "Why, that's a thermos..... it keeps hot things hot, and cold things cold." 
"Wow, said the blonde, "that's amazing....I' m going to buy it!!" 
So she bought the thermos and took it to work the next day. Her boss saw it on her desk. "What's that," he asked? 
"Why, that's a thermos. It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold," she replied. 
Her boss inquired, "What do you have in it?" 
The blond replied, "Two popsicles and some coffee."


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

almost as good... This fellow raised out in the bush was trading for some stuff he needed. The trader offered to trade him a Thermos for some **** skins. The fellow looked at it and asked "But what do it do? The trader patiently explained how it kept hot stuff hot, and cold stuff cold...The fellow looked at the thermos, then at the trader and in a kind of confused voice asked "But how do it know?"


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Does the thermos now hold MORE liquid than before? Maybe it ate a hole in the inner liner and you are now filling both the inner bottle and the outer one, too.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

No. I can't find a hole or open seam as Matthew mentioned. When empty there is no sound of liquid moving that would be caught between the inner and outer walls.


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Interesting question. I wouldn't have guessed the bleach would attack the seam if it's really a welded one. But perhaps the evacuation port (there has to be one somewhere) was sealed with some sort of adhesive and failed when exposed to the bleach. 

Either way, you've clearly lost the vacuum and now your trusty Stanley is junk. Time for a new one. Bummer. 

Dawg


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I just did a google search for "Thermos Bleach" and got all kinds of hits about it. MANY caveats to NEVER user bleach and just about as many suggestiongs to use bleach to clean a stainless steel thermos. I got tired of reading, but you might want to persue it a bit further if you really want to find the reasons why. Maybe contact the manufacturer about it. 

BTW, did the coffee taste of bleach when you were done? I was sure that was what this was going to be about when I started reading it.


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## Road Foreman (Jan 2, 2008)

I use Efferdent to clean my thermos, then pour full of coffee & let set for a couple of hours, then dump.. No after taste that way.. 

BulletBob


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

No, the coffee did not have any taste of bleach. As a matter of fact, it tasted good. Like when you have just cleaned the glass pot of the coffee maker. When the coffee stains get built up in the thermos I can taste the sourness or bitterness. This reminds me of the time I was running a job renovating a fraternity house. The house father asked us why we brought our own coffee. He said, " I have a coffee maker you are welcome to use". We took one look at the glass pot and told him no thanks, we don't mind bringing our own. The glass pot was so dark with coffee stain that it looked like it was made out of some dark wood. The entire pot, top to bottom.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

I am afraid you are SOL as they just tore down the factory last year here in Nashville. The end of an era, I think they are made offshore now.


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

At the risk of altering this thread, I won't add anything about the lost jobs. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/angry.gif


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Jobs.....can I add the (large) plastic injection molding equipment bids were below scrap value...... 

A shame the building is gone, it was neat. Small photo toward the bottom of the page, looked like a modern German railroad station kit from Kibri or the like: 

http://www.survivalunlimited.com/lanternsstoves/aladdinlamphistory.htm


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