# Stainless Steel honey strainer



## ralittlefield (Apr 25, 2011)

I use a Stainless steel double sieve strainer for my honey and it is a pain to clean. Anyone got a good idea how to get wax off a stainless steel strainer?

Since I already have the strainer I would like to use it, but I am about ready to go back to 5 gal paint strainers.

I have tried boiling it, but even that has not been satisfactory.


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## mmiller (Jun 17, 2010)

Hot water will melt the wax to stainless making it much more difficult to clean. I clean all of my stainless with luke warm water to avoid this.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Wash the strainer well with cool running water. Submerge in a large pot of boiling water remove from heat and let cool when the wax cools it will harden on the surface of the water. Remove the hardened wax and then the strainer. Run it through the dishwasher. When done bag and store until the next time.


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

Since it sounds like you have already melted the wax to it, Tenbears method is probably best. Luke warm to cold water and a stiff brush also work - as mmiller says you don't want to use hot water when there's wax.


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

Get it ice cold and scrap it out with a stiff spatula. It'll break it off depending on how thick it is. Or, you can drop it in a large pot of boiling water (not a pot you cook in!). Let it sit, completely immersed and turn it off. Whatever wax is on there will become molten and float to the top. Wait until morning when the water has cooled and the wax has solidified pull the strainer out of there. 

Any time I'm cleaning wax out of strainers I do so with cold water to avoid it getting ground into the strainer. It makes the wax brittle and easy to break up. I found water that's not cold will allow the wax to soften and can get ground in the filter, making it a pain to clean.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

This requires good judgement and due caution. I take abutane torch and a roll of paper or shop towels, old cotton tee shirts and judiciously heat and wipe. I get my kelly wax melter clean of burned black crud this way. If you are not a competent person, don't use this method


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I've only had to do this once but here's what worked. I placed a couple sheets of thick paper towels on the galvanized floor of my solar melter. On top of that, I laid the mesh filter with the mesh touching the paper towels. Put the cover on and came back in a couple of days. The mesh was clean as the paper had absorbed all the wax. Just a thought.


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## whiskers (Aug 28, 2011)

Household ammonia soak might help. Oven cleaner might work.
Bill


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