Amazing cleaning fix for heavily stained tea mugs

[RogueFemale]

I might be late to the party but I have only just discovered this to deal with heavy brown tea staining (which also makes the mug surface rough).

Half a scoop of Vanish Oxi-Action in the mug, add boiling water, leave for 10-15 minutes, and the brown stain just lifts off like magic in a sort of 'skin'. Quite odd, I didn't expect it. You then rinse the mug and lightly scrub a few small bits, but the end result is like new and the glaze perfectly smooth again.

Again, sorry if you all know about this already!

Magic eraser pad - you can find it in those cheap hardware shops that have everything - sometimes Poundland and Lidl. Brilliant for getting rid of tea stains.

Denture tablets in hot water. Leave overnight.

Mugs and cutlery

I use baking soda, works a treat! Add a squeeze of lemon if you're keen.

My dad used to do this.

I use bleach, it works really well. I wash it again after a bleach soaking to get rid of the smell. I’ve had the same cups and mugs for 18 years and they look clean.

Salt on a dishcloth

Me too! Works for all sorts!

Prior to having a dishwasher, I hand washed my pots, my tea cups where all stained, my anxiety wouldn't allow myself to put any vanish/bleach etc in them to wash them. First wash on the dishwasher they came out sparkling, no more tea stains.

So just put them in the dishwasher at 70° heat. Stains gone.

I use magic eraser sponges. I used to get them from Lakeland. It's excellent.

I was told to use steradent tablets on mugs. And some cooker hood filters can go in the dishwasher - ours can?

They are also great for getting dirt out of floors you think are clean, 2 tablets in a bucket of boiling water and a quick mop later you realise your floor wasn't as clean as you thought it was/

Great tip OP I'm going to try that myself. 😀

Quarter of a teaspoon of bleach, fill up with cold water. Recyle the bleachy water on more stained mugs the next day or even two days.

Rubbing with wet salt also works. More eco friendly than Vanish and bleach too.

Oo I shall try this tomorrow

In dishwasher easy

I’m a big Nancy Birtwhistle fan, and she introduced me to percarbonate of soda, and washing soda. I use both for different things; percarbonate is brilliant for whites and laundry, whilst I tend to use the washing soda for stained crockery and pans. I make my own dishwasher powder using Nancy’s recipe. I’m in France, and percarbonate, washing soda and bicarbonate are standard supermarket staples.

I've been using Vanish for this purpose for years. I did once also use it on an old tea strainer that probably hadn't been cleaned in many decades, the results were astounding and it came up like new.

Snap on Nancy and France! I don't buy any manufactured cleaning products now. It makes me glad to see how little bleach is on sale in our local supermarket, it's terrible stuff. But, as you say, the supermarkets stock all the ingredients necessary to make your own cleaning products.

Plus I absolutely love that my local Monoprix sells household vinegar in 5l bottles! Again, I follow Nancy’s tip of storing used lemons in vinegar, ready for the surface sprays I make.

I use pink stuff for those grey lines you get in mugs from stirring them with a metal teaspoon. I also used white vinegar & bicarb to clean the inside of my olive oil pourer I have on my worktop, I'd lost it & it had been dumped in the back of a cupboard by my cleaner for at least a couple of years, I didn't want to throw it away as it has great sentimental value for me, a friend from work bought it as a housewarming gift when I got engaged, she is no longer with us after suffering from dementia. I find loads of cleaning tips from reading Nancy Birtwhistle's & Ann Russell's books.

My cooker hood grills are cleaned with Elbow Grease spray, it's also brilliant for cleaning air fryer baskets, getting marks off fabrics & carpets.

Hot water and washing soda works very well.

Soda crystals dissolved in water do the job and are cheap.

A sprinkle of washing powder dose the same. It also brings glasses up sparkling.