I've been using my silvia for a few days now and every time I steam milk I immediately put the milk down afterwards and purge/wipe down the steam wand. The milk seems to bake on the wand no matter how fast I get to it with a rag, and it ends up being nearly impossible to wipe off. Is there some sort of rag that works better than others, should I use a brillo pad or something to get this off? Every video I see of everyone else using the silvia it seems to wipe off no problem... Any ideas?
What works very well for me, is to place the rag under the steam wand and open the valve, not only will this wet the rag, but it'll get it super hot. Then use the hot wet rag to wipe down the wand - be careful not to burn yourself. Also, be careful to make sure you get the side of the wand you can't see well. In truth, the moisture in the rag contributes more than the heat. When I had my Silvia, the steam was too wet to do this without putting the rag into a pitcher of some sort (I opted for Pyrex) and using that to hold it under the wand tip. My Duetto has super dry steam, so I can actually hold the rag under it with my hand. The rag can be left to dry overnight/between sessions, so you can reuse it over and over until you feel it needs washing (so you might want to have several on hand). This method is about as close as you can get to steam cleaning the wand, and it's fast and works very well (plus it's nearly free).
The other method I would suggest, is to buy some wand cleaner. Downsides...1) costs money, 2) involves rubbing a chemical around your wand which has to be rinsed off, and 3) time consuming.
Yeah, you can also go with a scotchguard scour pad...but it's a pain and probably less effective.
The other method I would suggest, is to buy some wand cleaner. Downsides...1) costs money, 2) involves rubbing a chemical around your wand which has to be rinsed off, and 3) time consuming.
good suggestion above but A little remark on this comment, yes it cost money, the best is to preventing milk to dry out and "cake" on the wand however if is too late for that some cleaner such as pulymilk will work just soaking the wand in it, then just wipe or rinse depends if you are soaking it with a pitcher or removing it from the valve is safe and of course food grade
Hot, Wet wipe is my defense. And of course right away. In the case of what you have, a soak in hot water will soften everything enough that you should be able to get it off (I forget what the range of motion was on Silvia). Dry rag is usually pretty weak in effectiveness.
My machine has the same wand with a rubber thingy that goes on the top of it. Same exact issue that you have. I compromise with it by only bothering to clean it off once a week. There does seem to be a limit to how much milk can get baked on though. Cleaning. I use a small rag with hot water, wipe it down, then wipe it with a dry rag. Anything left hanging on gets the fingernail treatment.
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