How to remove tea and coffee stains from porcelain cups
Tea lovers or regular coffee consumers know very well that, sooner or later, our usual porcelain service or our favorite cup will end up showing dark spots, usually brownish rings placed on the bottom.
If you try to remove them with a regular wash, you will find that this kind of stains are complicated to remove, especially if they have accumulated over time, and that they are resistant to common dish detergents.
Serving tea or coffee to guests will become embarrassing if those unpleasant dark halos cast a shadow on your dishes’ hygienic conditions.
How then to restore splendor and luster to your porcelain services? Follow us in this guide to find out that it’s a lot easier than you think and that you can experiment with more than one system to make your mugs look brand new!
Natural products
There is no need to rush to buy commercial and whitening products, perhaps filled with bleach or other chemicals, which could leave harmful residues or perhaps scratch and fade the porcelain’s colors.
Instead, we use a do-it-yourself cleaner, using only natural, inexpensive, and readily available products such as baking soda, vinegar, cornstarch, salt, or lemon juice.
Sodium bicarbonate
The first method is to prepare a paste with baking soda, to which we will add a little water. The paste must have a creamy consistency and perform the same function as a skin scrub after washing our cup with normal dish detergent.
We will apply the baking soda paste on the bottom and leave it to act for a few minutes, then rub it with a soft sponge. In a few minutes, the whitening and slightly abrasive power of the baking soda will have removed the stain. Let’s rinse the cup thoroughly and watch it shine!
Vinegar
Another method is to use sanitizing and stain, removing the power of white wine vinegar. So let’s put on the fire the equivalent of a cup of vinegar, and when it is hot, pour it into the porcelain that we have already washed with dish soap. Let the solution act overnight, and when you wake up, the stains will disappear effortlessly!
Salt
Even common coarse kitchen salt can prove to be a precious ally for our porcelain dishes’ care. Let’s mix a couple of tablespoons with the white wine vinegar or lemon juice to obtain a thick paste that we will leave for a few hours to act inside the cup. Salt is a mild abrasive, lemon and vinegar are whitening: we gently rub the inside of our cup for a few minutes and then rinse well.
Corn starch and vinegar
An extraordinary high detergent for our cups is obtained by forming a paste with corn starch and white vinegar. In this case, we will have to arrange the mixture on the inside of the cups to be stained and leave it to act for a few hours, then rub gently with a soft cloth and rinse.
Baking soda and vinegar
A safe and effective blend with a high whitening and cleansing effect is obtained by pouring a spoonful of baking soda, half a cup of white wine vinegar and half a cup of hot water directly into the cup be cleaned. Ensure the solution covers the whole stained area and let it act for about two hours or more if necessary. In the end, we rub with a soft cloth and rinse well.
