[-]

QuestNetworkFish@reddit

If microplastics bothered me enough to care about I'd probably use the cheapest stainless steel kettle I could find in Argos or Currys. Maybe even one of those glass ones if I was feeling really fancy.

There's not much point paying more than you need to for a kettle, they all basically just do the same thing unless you actually want one with selectable temperatures or keep warm functions

[-]

BigJDizzleMaNizzles@reddit

Don't get a glass one unless you live in a very soft water area. Ours went totally limescaley within a couple of months. Tried descaling it several times, no dice. Gross.

Got a nice black Bosch one now.

[-]

OkTask9452@reddit

If you buy pure food grade citric acid from eBay etc, it descales things instantly and great fun to watch, all fizzy and bubbly, you don't need much and 10x cheaper than bottle of descaler

[-]

EyesRoaming@reddit

Is this a sort of powder?

Got a link by any chance?😊

[-]

OkTask9452@reddit

Yes it's a white powder , just google Citric acid

[-]

EyesRoaming@reddit

👍🏻

[-]

TW1STED_M1ND@reddit

Brita filter (other water filters are available), all kettles get limescaley, glass kettles just show it.

[-]

Wonderful-Newt2181@reddit

That's not true. East of the UK is hard. North West soft. Hard water also varies massively. Permanent hard, Cambridge/York. Temporary hard essex/herts. The difference between Harlow and Cambridge water is striking. Both hard 45 mins apart

[-]

Eastern_Arm1476@reddit

Interested to know why no mention of the south.

Could you continue this as it's frightfully interesting.

[-]

SlowRaspberry4723@reddit

Yes we have a brita filter inside our glass kettle, it’s the business

[-]

Significant_Goal_614@reddit

I have never descaled my kettle and I've had it for 4 years! Got really soft water in my area.

[-]

Moist_Barracuda_2014@reddit

I bet your shampoo and shower gel lasts ages too, bastard lol

[-]

Significant_Goal_614@reddit

Hmm can't say I have noticed, although I do notice that my clothes wash well in the machine.

[-]

poppiesintherain@reddit

Use it to boil white vinegar and it all comes off.

[-]

Pristine-Bar2786@reddit

Citric acid works a treat and doesn't leave any lingering smells or taste. You can get kg bags of it online.

[-]

jingleson@reddit

Come to Scotland, it's glorious. Don't even understand the word limescale

[-]

Alsn4@reddit

I dunno whenever I go to my parents the amount of time it takes their kettle to boil kills me some are deffo faster than others

[-]

QuestNetworkFish@reddit

Some UK kettles are less than 3kW, and these will be slower, but most kettles even fairly cheap ones are 3kW which is the maximum allowed on british mains, so it's not gonna get faster than that

[-]

Brilliant_Ask_82@reddit

Actually those who direct the water through thin pipes through the element are much quicker, but only boil up to 1 mug at a time

[-]

KaleidoscopeSilly797@reddit

That's right, and there's probably more nasties in the tap water than the bleedin' kettle!

[-]

BeardedBaldMan@reddit

An electric kettle, usually plastic or metal.

I prefer metal as they look nicer.

They're so ubiquitous that we don't really think about it much when we buy one. They're all around 3KW so you pick based on look

[-]

RNEngHyp@reddit

Or glass. Though tbh I'd just go for metal as glass is obviously at risk of breaking. Especially the spout, when refilling under tap.

[-]

darthcaedus81@reddit

Plus if you live in a hard water area, they look great for exactly one boil

[-]

timfountain4444@reddit

That’s what and RO water filter is for…

[-]

Icy_Meringue_5534@reddit

I can vouch for this, and the spout filter needs cleaning frequently.

[-]

darthcaedus81@reddit

Vigorous full via the spout once a week to knock out the worst is about the best it gets.

[-]

Eastern_Arm1476@reddit

This

[-]

Left_Set_5916@reddit

Problem with USA outlet is that 3kw would drawing around 25 amps where in the UK it's more like 12amps. Well within out plug rating.

[-]

BeardedBaldMan@reddit

The US does have more powerful sockets. They could have the NEMA 14-30 that would be installed in the laundry room for the dryer added to the kitchen. That gives up to 7.2KW

[-]

scarletcampion@reddit

7kW kettle would be an absolute dream <3

[-]

AutisticTumourGirl@reddit

Only amps. The UK is on 240V and the US is on 120V. Takes ages for electric kettles to boil in the US. UK kettles run on ~3,000 watts, American kettles run ~1,500.

[-]

robinscotland@reddit

No wonder they're always so angry if they're forced to use a travel kettle every day.

[-]

Cuznatch@reddit

Yeah, I've got a metal RH with "rapid boil", which takes about 3s less than our last RH metal kettle without it.

Students and cheap hotels tend to have plastic, most others I know lean towards metal.

[-]

timfountain4444@reddit

Glass kettle with led lighting that changes colour as the water heats and cools. It does have a plastic base, but I’m not too worried about it, and use reverse osmosis water for drinking so no furry kettle for me…

[-]

Eskarina_W@reddit

Stainless steel is a common kettle jug material.

[-]

Every_Individual_25@reddit

I have a Russell Hobbs glass and metal kettle for that very reason and it takes less than a minute to boil for one mug- worth of water. Those newer boiling water faucets/taps are becoming more popular here with a filter and dedicated boiler eg Quooker.

[-]

Maurice_Foot@reddit

$37.95 at Costco: glass and stainless steel kettle.

[-]

Kickkickkarl@reddit

Get a kettle and boil the water on the stove.

A simple sauce pan is also an alternative way to boil water for a cuppa tea and have often required to do this method from time to time if the power is out or kettle is broken.

[-]

Dazzling-Command7721@reddit

I am a tea head. Kettle is always hot and ready to go, used a plastic one at home for decades, not the same one but always ended up being plastic. We camp and have metal ones...as for micro plastics leaching I don't doubt it over time but I'm 57 and still kicking. Enjoy ya brew. Strezs less ✌️

[-]

violetwandering@reddit

Not sure where you are located but im super happy with my ninja brand. America’s test kitchen reviewed them and get it high marks. Ive had this one two years and no complaints. I previously had a breville with the plunger basket and really didnt care for it.

[-]

Heeler_Haven@reddit

I'm a Brit in America. My kettle is a borosilicate glass and metal.

[-]

Felineincognito15@reddit

I used a glass kettle that lights up.

[-]

New_Line4049@reddit

I hate to tell your wife, but its too late to worry about microplastics, theyre everywhere, in everything, totally unavoidable. That ship has sailed.

[-]

PipBin@reddit

The only way to try and get them out of your system is it give blood. The microplastics go out in the blood you give and then get replace with new blood without microplastics.

[-]

nasturshum@reddit

Sorry but this has me me laugh so much. This isn't how it works, you don't end up with one arm of blood that's clear of microplastics. If you have microplastics in your blood, you can't separate it from the 'good' blood.

[-]

Wonderful-Pumpkin695@reddit

I was wondering when bloodletting was going to make a comeback

[-]

BourbonFoxx@reddit

I have a genetic condition for which the only treatment is bloodletting. In fact, I had one unit removed every week for about 18 months.

Which was fun and didn't make me feel at all shit.

[-]

Wonderful-Pumpkin695@reddit

I have haemochromatosis and also have regular venesection! But I am sure I remain just as full of microplastics as everyone else

[-]

BourbonFoxx@reddit

Bloodletting is so fucking back

[-]

Worldly_Wafer_6635@reddit

This is the flat earth theory of microplastics

[-]

New_Line4049@reddit

Yep. But even tap water is full of microplastics, so unless you plan to not drink even giving blood like this isnt a winning solution.

[-]

pebbley2@reddit

Don't forget the covid "masks" contain microplastics, best not breathe in. lol

[-]

earthandanarchy@reddit

They've done tests more recently and shown that reducing your plastic can lower the amounts of plastic in your body in 2 weeks

[-]

scouse_git@reddit

I think it's the microplastics in my body which are the only bits that haven't worn out and are keeping me going.

[-]

Antisocial-Metalhead@reddit

These are load bearing micro plastics.

[-]

New_Line4049@reddit

Lol, I know that feeling

[-]

Grant_S_90@reddit

That doesn’t mean people can’t try to limit the amount in their body.

[-]

CategorySolo@reddit

You can try, but it is an absolute waste of time. Even if you give up all modern conveniences, move to the woods, only drink water from a spring and catch/grow your own food, you'll still be getting exposed to microplastics on a daily basis.

[-]

Johnny_Vernacular@reddit

They can try. But they won't succeed.

[-]

Gallusbizzim@reddit

They may have overestimated microplastics due to latex gloves.

[-]

PuddingBrat@reddit

I can't trust myself with a metal kettle as I'd 100% burn myself on it. Tasty microplastics for me it is!

[-]

OneCheesecake1516@reddit

You can buy metal kettles.

[-]

Captaingregor@reddit

The whole panic about microplastics may have been overblown by particles from lab worker's gloves, which look exactly like microplastics. Just use a plastic kettle, it's not as if you can avoid microplastics.

[-]

random_character-@reddit

Glass kettles are pretty common and no risk of BPAs or microplatics.

[-]

Shoddy-Reply-7217@reddit

Dualit metal one.

[-]

HollyGoLately@reddit

I find it interesting that you specifically call it a tea kettle. Is tea the only thing you use the boiling water for? Kettles can be plastic, metal or glass and I don’t think anyone really worries too much about anything making its way from the kettle to the water.

[-]

Frodo34x@reddit

Idk about OP, but my experience in the US is that electric kettles boil so slowly that it's not worth using it to e.g. boil water for a pan of potatoes and you're better off just pouring cold water in the pan and sticking it on the stove. Most people would have a dedicated coffee maker (whether that's drip coffee, espresso, or one of those pod things) so the kettle + instant coffee doesn't really exist. The only people who own kettles are those who really love tea, so it kinda makes sense people end up calling it a "tea kettle".

[-]

Appropriate-Roof1422@reddit

What you say it's not true. An electric kettle is more energy efficient when compared to a gas stove. Most of the heat from the stove doesn't get transferred to the pan.
You can check also some videos which demostrate that. The most energy efficient method is the induction hob, but not many people have them.

[-]

Frodo34x@reddit

It's more energy efficient, but it's slower and requires buying a separate device just to do something your stove already does

[-]

TequilaMockingbirds8@reddit

Brit in the US and the struggle with waiting for my kettle to boil is real.

[-]

2grundies@reddit

Buy a glass kettle. Sorted.

[-]

redcore4@reddit

You can get steel or glass kettles. Most of us have spent a solid 50% of our adult lives drinking tea from plastic kettles though. There’s a good chance the microplastics are already in the tap water anyway.

[-]

lizboferrari@reddit

Ours is glass 💚

[-]

Cool_Doubt2152@reddit

Glass or I’ve also used metal ones

[-]

Fun_Set_8560@reddit

Micro plastics are already in the water, and in the air we're breaking. Use any kettle, doesn't really make any difference.

[-]

targetsbots@reddit

I use a brevil one cup... Fantastic gadget.

[-]

CatsChat@reddit

Used a plastic tea kettle for years but I really enjoy using the glass ones - you can see the water boil nicely. You have to stay on top of descaling if you live in a hard water area. I use a bit of cleaning vinegar once a month or so and that works a treat.

[-]

alicatpow@reddit

I recently moved to a hard scale area for the first time and I've been too scared to put vinegar or descaling solutions in my kettle in case I do it wrong and it makes my tea taste funny, so I've just been scrubbing the limescale and rinsing it out.

Please kind Reddit stranger - how do you use vinegar to clean it? Do you boil it with vinegar inside? Empty it and scrub it with vinegar before rinsing? Boil it and then add the vinegar and scrub? Also, when you say cleaning vinegar, do you just mean white vinegar?

[-]

Antisocial-Metalhead@reddit

Boil it a couple of times with the vinegar or descaler. Then rinse and boil with water a couple of times, my husband does that a bit more often though, just to make sure it’s rinsed thoroughly.

[-]

zombiezmaj@reddit

I boil it with vinegar and let it sit over night. I boil it again in morning.

Then rinse it ans limescale out and fill a small amount for another boil. Swill it round ans empty and then use

Doing it once a month keeps my kettle fairly clear of limescale... its only a cheap one too but a year on and still works perfect and has no limescale build up

[-]

CatsChat@reddit

I buy cheap vinegar, pour in just enough to cover the limey bits, and watch as the limescale disappears! I then rinse it out a couple of times, and might boil and discard a kettle of water, then it should be good to go.

[-]

Wonderful-Pumpkin695@reddit

I'm not saying this is the right way to do it but:

I fill the kettle half up with water, add vinegar (I actually use citric acid now because I have to do it so frequently but whatever acidic thing you have to hand)

Boil kettle

Let it sit for 5 minutes

Empty kettle

Fill with water

Boil kettle

Empty

Use as normal

[-]

ALittleNightMusing@reddit

I do the same, but just fill it to the minimum line with white vinegar (the same stuff I put on my chips) and boil that.

Pour it out, refill with water to max, boil that and pour it away and you're good to go. No vinegar taste.

[-]

editorgrrl@reddit

I’m not who you asked, but if you’re worried about the taste of vinegar, descale your kettle with citric acid: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1o5mly4/do_people_in_the_uk_boil_vinegar_in_their_kettles/

[-]

Mane_UK@reddit

I agree, glass looks nice is easy to clean and difficult to boil dry because people can see if it has water in it.

The scale actually captures some of the micro and nano-plastics.

Studies on boiling water to reduce plastics show a significantly lower amount in high limescale water.

Glass or metal kettle. Clean the sides but let some base scale remain. Maybe?

Ensure you aren't running the hot water through a fragile plastic output filter.

[-]

M0ntgomatron@reddit

I work into Curry's and asked if they would sell me a kettle.

Kenwood?

I said ok go get Ken.

[-]

Neffwood@reddit

I tried to find an option for a plastic free kettle and the only true plastic free ones I could find was Aarke or a hob based one. I have a Dualit Classic and they're cheaper made than they look. The handle plating is plastic and the screw housing has deteriorated inside, so now it's working itself loose. Expect better from Dualit.

[-]

scouse_git@reddit

Maybe the Russians got it right with the samovars. (Like Doris in the works canteen with her 8 gallon urn.)

[-]

Any_Willingness_9085@reddit

Mines is glass, but I've had plastic before and the kettle in work is plastic. I fear we've passed the point of no return as far as plastics in our bodies is concerned

[-]

Low_Border_2231@reddit

People normally have any old cheap one from anywhere. Asda, argos, curry's, lidl.

[-]

MercuryJellyfish@reddit

You could get a glass one or a metal one

[-]

Spanner1993@reddit

Plastic. Get her a stove top kettle (all metal)

[-]

LagerLout01@reddit

We have a Quooker boiling water tap.

[-]

Ethel-The-Aardvark@reddit

I've had this Ottoni kettle for over six years now, it has no plastic parts in contact with the water. Definitely not a cheap option but I think it looks pretty good. We're in a hard water area though so it needs descaling regularly (I use citric acid) but that would be the case whichever kettle I had.

[-]

Outrageous-Arm1945@reddit

Ours is a metal base for the heating part and a glass body. The lid and spout? are plastic though

[-]

letmebeyourfancybee@reddit

We have one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-HotCup-Dispenser-Variable-Dispense/dp/B002NGNRHC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=17F9VSKI3TIIH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ijcAQuo-2_IqoTUUAgsITlnz5BrqefqY7Smb7ZA8vYUhUSm4N4pwc6zK8D8skm5ubGn3N7v80yqE3Yb1bazsAGoCKLwjthUvG0rTW0tEZiyZp9enpTc93UtVVWgocevKYHVrFquDfl8Wfhu7WP79UnIv4tB-_EovFz7Wk-yvRuIHHGApmXy5YwhOYJUr3F2t_Oy5acRFYTKUJ4Eaj7Js2Q.cTmxjBHM9nD1Ux8dLY8lfKV1fESnGRC2yv5GbDyzUoA&dib_tag=se&keywords=breville+hot+water&qid=1779216440&s=books&sprefix=breville+hot+water%2Cbooks%2C167&sr=1-1

It’s great if you’re making just a couple of brews. When we have people over I use a metal kettle on the hob.

[-]

GlennTheBaker69@reddit

Osmio Zero. If she's bothered about microplastics she should also be concerned about the rest of the crap that is in tap water before it even gets into the kettle.

[-]

Significant_Goal_614@reddit

If she wants to avoid microplastics she should also make sure her actual teabags aren't made from plastic!

[-]

No-Locksmith-882@reddit

Often the glue they use to seal the tea bag is plastic glue. Them microplastics get everywhere, perhaps worse than gliter!

[-]

Significant_Goal_614@reddit

Urgh I hate glitter (primary school teacher 😭)

[-]

No-Locksmith-882@reddit

I love the Pepper Pig episode when Madame Gazelle "unlocks" the glitter safe!

[-]

Significant_Goal_614@reddit

😑

[-]

WoollyMamatth@reddit

I use a glass one

[-]

Scratchy-cat@reddit

I've got a glass light up electric kettle, I mostly got it because it looks cool but being able to see my water level at a glance has definitely got me never considering plastic or metal again

[-]

Agzarah@reddit

I'd be more worried about the microplastics from the tea bags themselves...

Well, I wouldn't, I couldn't give a crap. But someone who's stressed about microplastics, should be

[-]

AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit

No plastic in Clipper bags. Better than Yorkshire, too.

[-]

InfiniteMacaroon@reddit

Co-op 99 tea bags don't have plastic in and haven't had for a while. They're not brilliant at keeping the tea inside though, but I still buy them because the tea is lush. Not because plastics. Drinking some now.

I also don't really care about microplastics, but the OP's wife obviously does and that's fine. I've done enough bad things which haven't killed me yet, and plastics are pretty low down the list :)

Cheapest plastic kettle from Argos for me. They all break just the same, and when you take them apart they're all the same inside. Actually the current cheap one has lasted better than the expensive one that preceded it.

[-]

CarGullible5691@reddit

I have a cheap metal electric kettle that I bought in Asda

[-]

CarGullible5691@reddit

Citric acid is good for cleaning kettles. I’ve used it on kettles, flasks etc. works really well

[-]

Cardabella@reddit

It's just a kettle, not a tea kettle. It's for boiling water. You pour boiling water onto tea in a tea pot. I prefer a metal or glass kettle. They're everywhere in UK.

[-]

Dutch_Slim@reddit

50 cent would like a word. At least 2 of his songs reference a tea kettle 😂

[-]

CategorySolo@reddit

I think you mean 37 pence

[-]

Dutch_Slim@reddit

Lost in translation

[-]

imtheorangeycenter@reddit

This. I'll also use it to boil water that ends up in a saucepan for veggies or pasta or whatever if it's quicker. I'm not steaming my broccoli over tea!

[-]

jlangue@reddit

Go advanced: metal kettle with a water filter by Brita in it.

[-]

cyberalpine@reddit

Crystal Clear Glass 1.7L Jug Kettle | Breville https://share.google/cFWyYqd6a3TsnVFaL

[-]

Fearless_Yam2539@reddit

I have a £20 glass one. It's very handy for seeing exactly how much water you have. The handle and lid are plastic.

[-]

wintermute023@reddit

We just use a kettle. It’s for boiling water, and that can be used for tea, coffee, pasta, vegetables, gravy, killing ants nests, lots of things.

I prefer a metal electric kettle , as glass or plastic ones look awful as they get old.

If you’re worried about microplastics or more importantly the taste of the tea you should buy a teapot and use loose leaf tea in it.

BTW microplastics really aren’t worth worrying about, they’re in your food and water, and your brain, already. That ship has sailed, unfortunately.

[-]

Slice_Of_Carrot_Cake@reddit

lmao I use a plastic kettle that's filling me with microplastics

[-]

wintermute023@reddit

We just use a kettle. It’s for boiling water, and that can be used for tea, coffee, pasta, vegetables, gravy, killing ants nests, lots of things.

I prefer a metal electric kettle , as glass or plastic ones look awful as they get old.

If you’re worried about microplastics or more importantly the taste of the tea you should buy a teapot and use loose leaf tea in it.

BTW microplastics really aren’t worth worrying about, they’re in your food and water, and your brain, already. That ship has sailed, unfortunately.

[-]

Interesting_Drive647@reddit

My electric kettle is glass. You can get metal ones too.

[-]

Uncle_Zardoz@reddit

Stainless steel like everyone else is saying.

Glass ones are pants. Ceramic ones look cheesy. Metal ones are practical and reliable. My dad had a metal one in his home office with a floral outer layer that peeled off in the two decades the kettle lasted lol

[-]

Wilberbedford@reddit

Glass kettle. They smash easy though as I found out lol

[-]

roboticlee@reddit

I use a metal kettle on an induction hob; whistle disabled because I value my hearing.

[-]

bandley3@reddit

Forget a kettle - get your wife a Breville tea maker. Yes, they’re $300 new but you can find used ones under $100; I got mine on eBay. By making tea at the proper temperature and for precisely the right amount of time it tastes so much better than random time using boiling water.

I drank tea every day at work. My friend and I were going on a road trip and he brought be a container of tea for me to drink. It was absolutely amazing, better than anything I had tried. I asked what variety it was and he informed me that it was exactly the same tea I drank at work, picked up at the same store and the at the same time I bought my last batch. When he told me it was made in the Breville that he bought for his wife I knew that I had to have one.

[-]

Far-Sir-825@reddit

Ah microplastics. Haven’t seed oils taken over as the newest thing to be unnecessarily worried about?

[-]

motific@reddit

We really don't worry about it too much - the majority of microplastics will be in the water before it hits the kettle anyway, then the tea bags, what the kettle adds (if anything) will be a rounding error.

If you want to feel like you're doing something then get a stainless steel kettle, they're very common.

[-]

dunkingdigestive@reddit

I use a stove top Reiss enamel kettle in pale blue. It's not as fast but fits in my old cottage much better than a plug in.

It does take longer to boil.

[-]

Xanavaris@reddit

Stainless steel electric kettle

[-]

CrazyPlantLady01@reddit

I have one by Ikich, entirely glass and metal in terms of what touches the water. A lot of kettles have a little plastic window even if they are majority metal. This was the only one I found that didn't and it's been fab!

[-]

Careful-Coffee280@reddit

Ours is metal! They're easy to find in the UK. The little hotel ones are plastic. I agree with your wife!

[-]

Alt_AC_2023@reddit

i'm not convinced microplastics ever leach from kettles (or anything else). Microplastics are tiny bits of solid stuff that break off - eg from clothes fibres or plastic chopping boards.

There's a remote chance that chemicals may leach out of the kettle's plastic - but I'd have thought that'd almost certainly stop after the first few uses. I'd have thought if she's been using it for months then anything that was going to leach out will have done so.

However if she's worried / wants a new kettle then metal and glass ones look nice if you're not in a hard water area.

[-]

Tonybeetswannabe@reddit

Lots of glass ones

[-]

tbirdpinz@reddit

Qooker - :-)

[-]

slinkimalinki@reddit

I’ve seen the price of those things, it would be as cheap to boil water in a Porsche.

[-]

tbirdpinz@reddit

Get one that’s a hot water tap and not a Q. Had mine 2 years and I love it!

[-]

slinkimalinki@reddit

Not sure what you mean here, do you mean something that doesn’t have the brand name but does the same thing I have a hot water tap, it doesn’t boil water though. I’m not sure it feels very safe to have boiling water coming out of a tap.

[-]

tbirdpinz@reddit

There are other brands that do the boiling water tap. Some do boiling water and sparkling water. Half the price if you watch out for sales etc

[-]

slinkimalinki@reddit

Thank you. I think I’m a bit scared of absentmindedly scalding myself. Same reason I don’t have a metal kettle - I’m less worried about plastics and more worried about burns.

[-]

tbirdpinz@reddit

Weirdly the hot water comes out bubbling - deliberate design to stop people scalding themselves - something I was very grateful for in the first months as I got used to it!

[-]

Frequent-Activity328@reddit

I use a cosori glass kettle but they also do a metal one too.

https://amzn.eu/d/08ej5PSD

[-]

eichmr@reddit (OP)

Thanks. I will give them a look.

[-]

Short-Shopping3197@reddit

I use a stove top whistling kettle, just because I find the electric ones boil, turn off, and then I don’t notice and have to boil it again. I also think it’s homely and kind of within a ‘slow living’ philosophy.

[-]

imtheorangeycenter@reddit

Now taste it boiled on an Aga that's not been turned off since 1973 :)

[-]

OriginalStockingfan@reddit

I have a Bosch stainless steel kettle

[-]

Mistigeblou@reddit

I use a plastic kettle at work (because it was cheapest one in the shop) and a glass one at home.

[-]

RepresentativeAd7206@reddit

Stainless steel or glass. I like glass.

[-]

RepresentativeAd7206@reddit

Plastic are the cheapest

[-]

Suitable-Tension512@reddit

What do we use as a kettle?

A kettle.

They tend to come in metal, glass, or plastic. Plastic tends to taste of plastic (to me). I'd vote metal or glass. But definitely a kettle.

[-]

earthandanarchy@reddit

There are plastic free groups on Reddit. Reducing exposure does help reduce the plastics in your body (that can lead to health problems) you can get glass or stainless steel kettles. I've made a few switches and a plastic free kettle is on my list, they do sell ones that have no plastic ever touching the water on Amazon and other places online.

[-]

PlasticSmile57@reddit

mate, there are microplastics in the rainwater now. there is quite literally no point worrying.

[-]

WildWanderingRedHead@reddit

I bought an old enamelled tea kettle from a vintage shop that sits on the hob and heats up. Its 1940s I think but in perfect condition. Its also made making tea slightly slower and the slowness makes me look forward to the cuppa even more. We are so used to everything being instant nowdays. A lot of people have metal plug in kettles though.

[-]

FreddiesNightmare65@reddit

Yep, too late to worry about ingesting microplastics gem the kettle, it's even in the air you breath and water you drink, but maybe she means chemicals leaching out of the plastic?

[-]

Hannah90219@reddit

Stainless steel electric kettles are easy to find.

[-]

theawesomepurple@reddit

A metal plug in kettle. They don’t have to be plastic.

[-]

bladefiddler@reddit

As others have said, microplastics are pretty much inescapable until manufacturing and packaging evolve to stop introducing more into the environment.

If your wife is of childbearing age/likelihood she might want to avoid plastics (especially heated) due to pthalates and their effects on testosterone etc but otherwise worry less.

Lots of electric kettles are made in stainless steel or glass, as noted glass ones require very frequent descaling to no look awful.

[-]

Double-elephant@reddit

Metal ketal.

[-]

bladefiddler@reddit

r/shouldbeabandname

[-]

eggard_stark@reddit

All electric kettles, even plastic ones use a metal cylinder that holds the liquid.. the plastic is exterior only. No need to get a new kettle for that.

[-]

JCDU@reddit

What she read is probably bollocks, unless you're abrading the inside of the kettle somehow it's unlikely to be contributing any meaningful amount of microplastics to the huge amounts you're exposed to from a thousand other sources every day.

Your clothes are probably emitting 100x the microplastics.

[-]

jibbit@reddit

most people have a plastic kettle. awareness of plastic contamination is a fairly recent issue that hasn't really had much impact on what's on sale yet. at the higher end of the scale there are stainless steel kettles but most (if not all) still contain plastic somewhere (lid, spout, water level indicator, limescale filter) in the critical water path. the only ones i know that are genuinely plastic free are the old school ones that go on your range (?).

[-]

Timely_Egg_6827@reddit

Plastic electric kettle. But when my Mum got cancer and paranoid (understandably) we got her an expensive one that was made of food grade stainless steel. Or if she's drinking a lot, consider a tea urn. Both made of human grade catering metal.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9219971

[-]

qualityvote2@reddit

Hello u/eichmr! Welcome to r/AskABrit!

For other users, does this post fit the subreddit?

If so, upvote this comment!

Otherwise, downvote this comment!

And if it does break the rules, downvote this comment and report this post!