Brown tea stains in your glass: here’s how to remove them easily

A cup of tea is wonderfully relaxing (and sometimes even protective against viruses), until you take the last sip and find yourself scrubbing away at the tea stains in your mug in the sink. With these tips, it’s a piece of cake.

The brown stains in your mug are caused by tannins. Tannins create a dry (tannic) taste not only in wine, but also in tea. Black tea contains a lot of tannins in particular, while green tea contains slightly fewer. The longer you steep the tea, the more tannins are released—and the worse the brown stains become.

How to clean the mugs

But no stress, because it’s all very easy to clean as long as you have one of these four household cleaning products on hand: cleaning vinegar, lemon, soda crystals and baking soda. Here’s what to do:

Cleaning vinegar and lemon

To use cleaning vinegar or lemon, first fill the mug with hot water and then add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice. Leave it overnight, and the next day you can simply wipe the stains out of your mug with a dish brush.

Soda crystals and baking soda

You can also soak the mugs in the sink in some warm water with a spoonful of soda crystals. Again, you’ll see that the stains can easily be wiped out of the mug afterwards. Are the stains really dark and stubborn? Then spread a little baking soda over them, add hot water, let it soak in for a while, rinse it briefly, and the mug can go back into the cupboard sparkling white.

Also read:

• What’s in supermarket tea? This journalist investigated
• 6 top hacks for your used tea bag
• These cups will offend your guests—and they’re hilarious