Cleaning Clay Pots: Simple Steps for Disease-Free Containers

If you have clay pots that held annual flowers on your patio last summer, now is the perfect time to clean them before spring. The easiest method: stack them in a large bucket and soak. Mix 1 pint chlorine bleach with 9 pints water for a disinfecting solution. Leave pots in the bucket for a few hours or overnight. Use a stiff scrub brush on a handle to vigorously scrub off dirt and fertilizer deposits. Let pots dry in the sunshine—they'll look brand new.