how do you get stains out of tea cups?

[Willmafrockfit]

no longer have a working dishwasher.
i can use salt to scrub it but what do other people use?

Cif cream is good. I used to bleach them but I read it makes them more porous over time and I think that's what happened to mine, so now I put a bit of Cif cream on my rubber glove finger and it immediately brings it off.

Going against the grain here

Main home - soft water. No staining at all in cups - never had to clean inside of mugs ever in this area
Other home, v hard water - cups stain v quickly

So I presumed this was a timescale problem with a v thin layer of limescale holding the colour

I squirt a bit of cilit bang limescale remover or the cheaper astonish and wipe them round and they clean with no bleach involved

The only tool I use is the green rough side of a sponge.
If badly stained and built up over time I'd soak with fairy and hot water for a couple of hours, then scrub out.

Brillo pads and washing up liquid gets it out of mugs.

Honestly now for mugs I get the dark ones as sick of the tiny tea stain ring after light ones come out of the dishwasher. Think I overfill the dishwasher sometimes.

@BoohooWoohoo is right. The Astonish product is great. I've bought it in B&M before but currently get it from Lakeland.

The only tool I use is the green rough side of a sponge.

Me too.

Soak overnight in biological washing powder. Chuck your brown teaspoons in as well.

I use Milton or just sterilising tablets, we used to do this on the ward every so often (paeds ward so we used Milton for the bottles) we’d wash all our cups and milton then I use it for lots of other cleaning things too it’s great stuff I love the smell too
wouldn’t use bleach but each to their own

Campden tablets, cheap as chips get from anywhere that sells home brew stuff.

I soak in the sink with initially boiling hot water. Add bit bleach and washing up liquid. Try and top up hot water if you can.

Magic erasers (or generic equivalent) work wonders

Wire wool with warm water and detergent
Fill cup with builder water and add in dishwasher powder leave to soak.
Bleach... No way!

I usually use a scouring pad with a little warm water and some laundry powder, or bicarbonate of soda with a drop of washing up liquid (both options are abrasive and easily remove the build up).

I also quite like milton fluid, especially for hard to reach things like teapots (and their spouts).

Soda crystals and boiling water! Leave a while, then rinse, all stains come out easily.

I dont think you're going against the grain, sounds like common sense!

I agree that limescale seems to "hold" stains... it's the reason I prefer to use an abrasive vs just milton fluid etc. (I live in a very hard water area).

I also often end up using limescale remover for stubborn marks on things like mugs, cats water bowls, vases, etc.
I just give them a very thorough rinse and then wash again in the conventional manner afterwards. Citric acid or vinegar would also give the same results if anyone is after a milder/more "palatable" option for food and drink utensils.

I drink a lot of tea but I can honestly say my tea mug is never stained. I use my favourite mug all day just rinsing under the tap between drinks then into the dishwasher at night.

I think using a teapot for the tea rather than making it in the mug greatly reduces the likelihood of mug stains. I notice when I visit my adult kids teapot free houses the mugs quickly become stained. The tea tastes nicer from the teapot as well 😊

Milton and denture cleaning tablets are both bleach. I’d just use a drop of bleach.

surely milton and steredent are very diluted bleach given what they are used for?

Either Milton liquid or denture cleaning tablets. Nothing work brilliantly.

Flash Magic Eraser, no need for chemicals and gets rid of the stains with very little effort

Bleach...thought that was the norm 🤷‍♀️ quick swill round and they're sparkling.

this then put in dishwasher

Puly Caffe Cleaning powder is what cafes use , well some of them. You only need a teeny bit.

Don’t use bleach.

Bleach takes the colour out so it looks clean. It won’t remove the long term build up of tannin (or limescale in hard water areas) so tea will stain that again fairly quickly.

Scrubbing with salt or bicarb works, but a sterident or dishwasher tablet overnight soak is a lot easier. That removes the build up, not just the colour, so the mugs stay cleaner much longer.

Time to buy new crockery and start again. Or that's what I would do.

Try not to let tea, coffee sit in cups, rinse with water if you're not able to wash them up right away. Never have an issue with tea or coffee stains.