Care and Feeding Guide
UFO V2: Care and Feeding Guide
Please note that the following section is applicable to UFO V2, injection-molded Tritan, only!
UFO V2 is made with Eastman Chemicals' Tritan, an advanced co-polyester that is food-safe and offers exceptional thermal stability. It is the same family of plastics our V1 was made from, but without layer deposition lines it is much easier to clean. We recommend hand-washing with a mild dish detergent before first use. For a deeper clean, soak in hot water and a Cafiza overnight, then thoroughly rinse to remove any coffee residue.
UFO V1: Care and Feeding Guide
Please note that the following sections are applicable to UFO V1, 3D-printed Tritan, only!
FDM prints have the unique challenge of layer lines, in which bacterial buildup is a possibility in certain use cases. Because of this, we recommend the following:
- We hope this goes without saying, but ensure that only water and coffee come in contact with the brewer, and not any other food products (i.e. milk, cream, sugar).
- To remove any coffee residue, we recommend regular cleaning with hot water and Cafiza or functionally equivalent detergent, followed by gentle scrubbing with dish soap and a thorough rinse with hot water.
- Avoid completely submerging the brewer or base.
As with any product that comes into contact with food, it is important to evaluate safety. This is especially true with 3D-printed products, like your Gen 1 UFO Brewer. This article seeks to inform you how we keep food safety in mind during manufacturing, and how you can as well in your day-to-day usage.
UFO V1: Food Safety Notice
Materials: Your UFO is made from a filament called colorFabb_HT, based on Eastman Chemical’s Tritan. This is the same plastic used in the Aeropress Clear and Cafec Flower brewers. The material has FDA food-contact compliance, and is rated for use in one of the highest temperature ranges possible in FDM printing. Based on our testing (which included boiling the brewer), there is absolutely no risk of warping in regular use.
Printing process: UFO is printed with a stainless steel nozzle, the only food-safe FDM nozzle material. In addition to this, the nozzle and extruder have never been used with toxic filaments, such as ABS. The printers we use strictly print PLA, PETG, or colorFabb_HT. We also do not use any bed adhesives (which includes hairspray, gluesticks, or masking tape), and rely solely on heated beds for adhesion. It is also worth noting that the extrusion temperature is nearly 300ºC, and bed temperature 100ºC, and just in case we periodically clean the print bed with dish soap and hot water.
Design: After extensive thermal testing, we found the dual-wall featured in our prototypes to be more trouble than it's worth. Namely, there were concerns of water infiltration into the relatively hollow brewer. To remedy this, our newest design features a solid brewing funnel, which actually performed marginally better than the dual-wall prototype, while having no risk of leaks. This design also allows us to get the brewer in more hands, by facilitating a lower retail price. It is worth noting that Tritan itself can absorb a small fraction of its weight worth of water as well, but with our design it is not possible for water to pool inside.