Mug Cleaning

[lucca]

I live in a hard water area and mugs get very stained from tea (don't take milk). Someone suggested bleach but I don't fancy using stuff that is put down the loo! Any ideas? TIA

[Sam1960]

salt should shift any stains ..!!

[Fanriffic]

Fairy liquid and a pan scourer - never use bleach.

[gingejbee]

I agree with salt....on a damp cloth, used as a scourer.

[Prudie]

I use kitchen spray with bleach which is not so strong but the simplest answer is to get a dishwasher, they come out like new.

[daveygh]

pop them in a bowl with a milton steriliser tablet or solution - they come up like new

[FrogNog]

Dishwasher tablets shift it no problem. Just soak them in it and very hot water

[phleb]

i use thin cheap bleach, dilute and leave an hour and then wash them out. Its not as if i am taking the bleach out of the loo. My sister uses sterilizing tablets.

[phleb]

fanriffic, why never?

[eanceoil]

denture tablets are great to clean caffeine stains from mugs

[Fanriffic]

^^^ phled ^^^ I don't use bleach because I always find that it leaves an after taste no matter how much I rinse the mug.
Also the bleach will fade the designs on the mug. I once soaked my favourite mug in bleach but the transfer design on the mug came off.

[bunkmoreland]

I'm a black tea drinker,so am used to staining. A good scrub with a brillo pad and thorough rinsing does a great job. I never use bleach,cos apart from anything else,bleach does not actually physically get rid of the build up,it just makes it "look" clean!

[Maydup]

Good old fashioned soda crystals for me. You can buy a bag of them in most supermarkets for not very much money, they are usually found near to the washing up liquid. Soak the mugs in a solution of soda and hot water and then rub clean with a scourer.

I never use bleach, not even on the toilet. Its way too toxic for me.

[mumscuppa]

I use " Magic Eraser " works brilliantly

[Hypognosis]

Get a man to do it. Washing up sponge (scouring side), brute force and rinse under the tap.

Washing soda is sodium hydroxide and making a solution at home would tend to produce something more concentrated than the stuff you may remember from science class at school which made your fingertips feel 'soapy'.

It's great for turning grease into soap but I'm not sure it's having any effect on tea-stains, Maydup, so you could save money there. Then again, any rats coming near your house, up the sewers, will get a nasty surprise! ;)

[gingejbee]

^^^hypo....wasn't listening during Chemistry, then?
Washing soda is sodium carbonate....the common name for sodium hydroxide is "caustic soda".....

[quinie]

Jif?

[Hypognosis]

@gingejbee

the thing is, I did listen, in chemistry and we only ever used full chemical names. "Washing soda" never got a mention, so I hadn't made the association.

What I have in my cupboard is marked "soda crystals", which _is_ NaOH. My mistake. Thanks for the correction.

fwiw, I've encountered some people who swear by Sodium Bicarbonate, for cleaning the teapot. It gets into all the nooks and crannies which scrubbing cannot manage.

[catswhiskas]

I used to use bleach, but I tried salt the other day and it does work.

[Hopkirk]

Nylon scourer, but not the sort stuck onto a sponge.

A bit of Cif helps to speed up the removal.