Drinking a warm cup of tea is wonderful, especially during the cold season. You can also enjoy some cold iced tea in the summer, making it one of the most refreshing beverages out there. Aside from that, there are also lots of health benefits that you can get from drinking tea. However, what’s not good is spilling your tea and acquiring tea stains on your clothes, carpet, and furniture. Compared to coffee, tea has lighter color. However, the brown discoloration that it leaves on fabrics and even on a mug is quite difficult to remove.
If you got tea stains on your favorite shirt, on your carpet at home, on upholstery, or you want to remove the stains from your teacup, no worries because there are several tips and tricks that you can try to get the blotch of brown to disappear. Read on to know more about the different tips for treating tea stains.
Treating Tea Stains from Clothes
If you’ve spilled tea on your favorite shirt or dress, the best thing you can do is to take care of it as soon as possible. It’s because the longer the stain sits, the more difficult it will be to remove. Here are some of the steps you can try to treat tea stains from clothes or fabrics:
- Rinse with cold water: You can try to rinse out as much of the stain as you can. Work from the back of the fabric and try to flush the tea stain off of the surface of the clothing or fabric instead of through it.
- Put some liquid detergent:After rinsing the fabric with cold water, rub some liquid detergent gently onto the stained area. Let the detergent sit on the tea stain for around 5 minutes. If the tea stain has dried up, you can rub it with detergent and soak the fabric in cold water for about 30 minutes. After that, rinse the fabric thoroughly. If there are still some tea traces that remain, rub some liquid detergent again onto the stain and soak the fabric in warm water for up to 15 minutes.
- Use baking soda: You can also use some baking soda instead of soap and water. Put a thick layer of baking soda directly to the stain while the tea stain is still wet. The baking soda will absorb the tea stain and pull the brown color out of the fabric and into the powder. For it to work, you need to leave the baking soda on the stain overnight. The next day, most of the stain should be removed. Then, you can toss the piece of clothing into the washing machine to finish cleaning.
- Soak the fabric in stain remover:If the tea stain on your piece of clothing or fabric is stubborn, you can soak it in a solution of cold water and oxidizing stain remover. If tea stains are still visible after these attempts, then apply a stain remover gel, stick or spray and let it sit for around 5 minutes. After that, wash the fabric normally. You can repeat the procedure if needed. It is sometimes necessary to do repeated cleanings, especially when treating large stains or tea stains that are deeply set in.
Treating Tea Stains from Carpet and Upholstery
Most people love to enjoy a cup of tea while sitting on a couch or chair. With this, spilling that beverage either on the furniture or the floor, is also common. When your carpet or upholstered furniture gets stained by spilled tea, you don’t need to rush to a special upholstery cleaner or carpet cleaner because there are simple methods you can do to treat the stain. Here are some of them:
- Mix some cleaning solution: You can create a cleaning solution that will treat tea stains from your carpet or upholstery by mixing a tablespoon of dishwashing liquid, a tablespoon of vinegar, and 2 cups of cold water.
- Apply the solution: After creating a cleaning solution, use a clean cloth to apply it onto the stained area on the carpet or upholstered furniture. Continue blotting the affected area until the excess liquid is absorbed completely.
- Rinse and dry: When the tea stains are removed, blot the area using a clean white cloth and plain cold water. This will remove the cleaning solution. After that, blot it dry using a dry cloth or towel. You can repeat these steps if neededuntil the tea stains are removed completely.
If these steps are not effective for you, you can also try using a specialty carpet or upholstery cleaner to treat the tea stains.
Treating Tea Stains from Mugs and China
When you drink tea often, you can notice rings of light brown tea stains that have accumulated, making your mugs and china look dirty and dull. But no worries, because you can still make your favorite cup or mug look new again by using natural products that are usually found at home. Here are some of the methods that you can try:
- Use baking soda: You can turn baking soda into a mildly abrasive paste by mixing it with water. Mix a tablespoon of baking soda with a little water to make a paste. After that, rub it onto the tea stains. You can also use a rag or a toothbrush to do this. Once you see that the mug or cup is clean, you can rinse itand dry it using a towel. This method is safe and will not add any dangerous chemicals to your drinking mug.
- Use salt and vinegar: You can also use salt and vinegar to remove tea stains from your cups and mugs. To do this, you first need to wipe the inside of the mug with a damp cloth. Then, mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar and salt and blend them well. Pour the mixture into the mug and let it sit for about 10 minutes. After that, rub the paste against the inside of the mug. Once the stains are gone, rinse the mug and dry it completely.
- Use toothpaste:Since toothpaste can remove stains from the enamel of our teeth, its gentle abrasives can also remove stains from mugs and other surfaces. To do this, put some plain white toothpaste on an old toothbrush. Then, brush the stained parts of your mug or cup until the entire surface is covered. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinse and dry the mug.
These are some of the best tips we can give for treating tea stains on pieces of clothing, carpets, upholstery, and as well as mugs, and china. The next time you spill your cup of tea on any of these, you no longer have to panic because you can easily follow these tips. We hope these will help you in treating tea stains easily and effectively.