Removing paint from interior of cheap clay pot

Sanding is probably best, but it’ll be messy, difficult and not that effective. Anything chemical paint remover would season the pot for paint remover, yum.

I have one of those junky pots, and I demoted mine to decoration. Even if you get the paint off, they were covering the clay for a reason, it’s probably crap.

Use them as planters if they are big enough. Or make your own bonsai…

I’ve done it using a Dremel tool and yeah paint thinner. Takes awhile to get the thinner out afterward. Can’t recommend it to anyone because of the health risks but I did it anyway. Pot is fine now. It is a softer clay so low temp greens are best in it.

If the clay is too porous it may absorb too much tea or even seep. This may be why it was painted in the first place.

thanks for the input, all!

Mine luckily was not entirely painted on the inside, just very splotchily painted, what I did was boil it A LOT, several times in water, then with baking soda, then I scoured it with steel wool and baking soda, then I boiled it a few times in vinegar, then I boiled it again about a half a dozen times.

All told took me about a week of working with the blasted thing, but it is in theory usable now. At least I use it, I seasoned it for Shang’s tangerine blossom red and it works fine.

At the very least I do not think I have poisoned myself, and I was too stubborn to use it as anything other than a pot :P

Did you do this yet?

One time I blasted paint off a patio using a water blaster. (That was in California, long before the drought. Those were the days.)

Anyways, I wonder if there’s a small, handheld version of this that you can use. Water pressure is very effective!