The care, cleaning and priming of any and all Yixing teaware is essential. By its very nature Yixing clay is very porous and will absorb not only the tea that is infused within, but also any aromas/odors nearby. Consequently, an Yixing teapot should be stored away from any such odors and should only be used for one particular type of tea. For example, to brew an oolong tea  in your Yixing teapot followed by a puer tea will only muddy the flavors of the tea. 

The cleaning and priming of all Yixing teaware is a multiple step process. The process is essential and time-consuming but not difficult. Absolutely NO cleaning agents of any kind should be used.

Cleaning:

• Firstly, rinse the teapot inside and out with fresh water. Next, rinse the pot again and submerge it in a deep pan/pot of clean  fresh water and leave it to soak overnight.
• Rinse the pot again and submerge it in clean fresh water in the deep pan/pot on the stove. Bring the water to a full boil, then reduce the heat to a medium boil and boil for five minutes.
• Drain the water and rinse the pot with clean fresh water once again.

Priming:

• Submerge the teapot in fresh clean water in a deep pan/pot to cover and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat once the water comes to a boil. (Do not drain.)
• Immediately add to the hot water the tea you wish to use with this particular pot and cover as if you were making a pot of tea. Leave the teapot to steep overnight in this pan of hot water with tea. 
• Drain and rinse the teapot in clean fresh water and let it air dry with the lid open.
• Your Yixing teapot is now primed and ready for your first pot of tea.

Seasoning:

• The pot is seasoned with every use.

Daily Cleaning:

• Because Yixing clay is so porous you must NEVER use detergent or any other cleaning products to clean the pot.
• After each use simply empty the leaves and give the pot a good swirl of hot water.
• Let the pot air dry with the lid off, making sure to not let it come in contact with any strong odors such as cooking fumes, cigarette smoke or perfume.