Every Mug we seem to buy gets stained by tea. We have to Bleach/Milton them every few days. Bought some Bone China ones the other day and thought they would be stain proof. They are not. What sort of chinaware do we have to buy to avoid the tea stains?
A quick wipe with a barely damp sponge/dishcloth, dipped in dry baking soda/bicarb, will easily remove stains. No bleach needed.
None. You wash them properly after each use to keep them clean. If they have a build-up of brown tea mess, then washing powder and hot water left in overnight usually clears it. Alan.
I'm not sure that even Teflon-lined cups would be stain-resistant. The best suggestion I can come up with is that you buy dark brown cups.
My mother has this problem. She's elderly, and because she lives on her own, tends to brew tea directly in a mug. Although they are always washed up after use, after a few weeks the insides are dark brown. The only way I've found to shift it is several cycles through the dish washer interspaced with a good scrub with one of those cleaning pads that look as though they're made of metal turnings. I reckon it's also dependent on the brand of tea. She uses Yorkshire.
A tiny bit of a strong acid removes these instantly. Bleach only decolourises it, so ti restains rapidly.
NT
Ones that you fill with coffee
tim
Funny -- I was going to say: if you use a dishwasher, your cups have had it: dishwashers abrade the surface, giving a key for the tea to stain it.
We stopped using our dishwasher a couple of years ago, but my wife's favourite teacup is permanently damaged in this way.
A good linen teatowel, vigorously used, is the way to keep crockery shining clean, in my experience!
John
I've got white mugs that are yonks old. And still white. But I don't have a dishwasher.
Ditto. Ditto. And I do have a dishwasher.
Hmmm...my mother doesn't have a dishwasher; she has heavily stained cups. We have a dishwasher; we have white cups. Much depends on the composition of the glaze as to whether it will etch in a dishwasher. Some do, some don't. If it's a 'soft' glaze as found on older tableware, it will probably etch. Most modern tableware glazes are designed to be dish-washer proof, because so many people have them these days. So-called on-glaze enamel decoration is also likely to etch. Under-glaze decoration is resistant.
Thanks for that: learned something! John
A tiny bit of anything acidic removes it, even a dash of Ribena
ISTR that steradent tablets work a treat on the deposits in old teapots, teamakers, etc.
I have a cheap mug I bought as a student years ago which is still white and clean. it goes in the dishwasher a couple of times a week, and has done for at least 25 years...
On the other hand we also have some completely wrecked glasses.
Andy
Useful to know. I'll try a mild acid next time, like vinegar.
Or Diet Coke.
Hmm. I've heard the same about glasses: dishwashers grit-blast them into an opaque mess.
I've never experienced this, and I've not hand-washed any of our stuff ( with a few delicate exceptions ) for over 20 years. Everything goes through the dishwasher. Every time. The glasses remain sparkly bright, like new. The cups have no residual staining.
You only rinse out a tea mug - and you *never*, *never* remove stains from a well-used and ancient teapot - all those stains allow you to get the best taste and enjoyment out of a mug of tea!
I learnt that as a very young lad, way back in the year dot when I first started my apprenticeship in ye olde woodworking shop, and incurred the wrath of some very large and hairy arsed chippies just because I washed their old teapot and mugs (and actually used water and *SOAP* to do the deed) on the second day of my employment - and after receiving a couple of 'thick ears' and several 'bollockings' at the next tea break, I got the message and *NEVER* commited those most heinous of crimes in the workplace again.
As an aside to that, when I wed SWMBO some 45 years ago, I tried laying down that same rules in the marital household - and I lost that discussion too with an even bigger bollocking from a 5ft tall, spitfire of wife who would have even scared Joseph Stalin (then).
One very big grin here at the (mostly) happy memories of those much slower first days of the workplace.
Cash
I use Yorkshire too, and have the same problem with my stainless steel mug at work. Once a month I soak it in salty water, and that seems to loosen the tea layers, which can be wiped out with a coarse sponge.
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