Tea and Orange Juice - a Public Service Announcement

[steepholm]

A couple of years ago I was given a rather pretty Cath Kidston mug, from which I often drink green tea in the afternoon. (It's the only kind of tea I really like.) After a while, I noticed that the mug was becoming stained on the inside, and that washing up liquid did nothing to shift it, no matter how I scrubbed. It was hard to accept, but eventually I came to terms with it.

Being out of glasses one day, I drank orange juice from that same mug. Wiping the mug clean afterwards, I found the tea stains disappearing like magic, with no effort at all. "That's a useful trick," I said to myself.

Since then, I've had occasion to mention this thrilling experience to a couple of people, and neither of them was aware of the tea-stain removing properties of orange juice. It occurs to me that it may not be widely known - in which case it's my duty to tell the world!

Is it widely known?

Comments

[cmcmck]

A good slug of malt vinegar topped up with boiling water and left for a while also works well. I suspect any fruit juice would do the trick.

I guess it's the acidity in such things that does the work.

[steepholm]

Yes, no doubt it's the acid. I was just amazed by how easily it came off, considering how hard I'd scrubbed in vain before.

[lamentables]

I use a little laundry bleach. Or denture tablets. And I soak the teaspoons in the mugs at the same time.

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

I've heard that it works with lemon or lime juice, so I guess it must work with any kind of citrus!

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I guess - I assumed it was the acid.

[dorianegray.livejournal.com]

I'd never encountered it - I usually use bleach to remove tea stains from mugs.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

The industrial product used to remove grafitti is derived from orange juice.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

How fascinating!

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

I realized its a tedious fact I can't discard, but it is at least as interesting as the post itself.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely - and I wasn't being ironic. I have a childish wonder at household chemistry experiments. (I generally post things that are of interest to me: if anyone else finds them so, great - if not, they can pass on to something more to their taste.)

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

I remember when I was in college someone pointed out that adding just a small amount of lemon juice to a cup of tea almost immediately lightened the color, far beyond the degree of dilution. I wouldn't be surprised if that's a reaction between the acid and whatever it is that colors tea (the tannins?).

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That does sound likely, yes.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

News to me! Thank you, I shall have to remember this.

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

"And she gives me tea and oranges, That take all the stains off china..."

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Leonard Cohen is full of useful household tips, if you're prepared to look beneath the tinsel facade.

[oldefashion.livejournal.com]

This remark is squirmingly, delightful .

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

I use carb soda diluted with very little water, but the best remover of grease and sticky tape and other miscellaneous messes here is made from orange oil (from orange peel).