I recently purchased a stainless steel teapot and thought I'd give it a wash before use, but. as you can see from the design the inside bottom of the teapot has a very slight gap round the rim about a millimetre or two. I happened to run my nail around in-between the gap and discovered that it has a dirty black residue inside the the gap , like polish or grease. I tried to clean it up as best I can but I shall get one of those small bottle brushes to clean it better. Is this normal residue? I think its a bad design to have that inside the teapot albeit down in the rim, I don't fancy the polish or whatever it is contaminating the water .



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An overall view of the teapot.

Likely lubrication used in manufacturing Margaret.

Knowing what the intended use is I'd be inclined to think it safe.

However, if it were me, I'd be rinsing and scrubbing with boiling and very soapy water.

Thanks Rebbonk, I will make sure it is clear of that horrible lubrication stuff. What worries me is other people who may have purchased this kind of teapot probably were not aware. I don't know why there has to be a gap.

The gap's there because of the design. From your pictures, it looks as if the bottom is formed separately and then pushed into the sleeve of the pot. Where the bottom is formed there has to be a radius to the sides because you can't bend metal without this. (It's impossible to bend metal without a radius and the tighter the radius the more likely the metal will work-harden and crack or fracture.)

It's a design 'feature' that you'll have to live with. I bet it'll also take on tea stains very nicely.