Getting Tea Stains Off Plastic
We drink a lot of ice tea. It is the drink of choice here, and my plastic pitchers show it. They turn brown quickly. Every now and then Tim will take some bleach water to clean them out. (Apparently it bothers him sooner than it bothers me.) It works, but I'm not crazy about using a lot of bleach.
Awhile back I accidentally found a tastier solution: make lemonade.
We make lemonade from lemon juice instead of a mix. The lemon juice removes the tea stains. Full strength is works pretty fast on those stains, but even dilute for lemonade the stains are usually gone by the time the lemonade is.
Lemonade
for one gallon
2 C sugar
2 C lemon juice (or mix 1/2 and 1/2 with lime juice)
water to fill the pitcher
I suppose if I alternated tea and lemonade in the pitcher I'd never have to worry about those stains again.
A tasty solution that works for me.
Labels:
laundry and cleaning
8 comments:
I have the same problem and will have to try the lemonade. Thanks.
Brilliant! Thanks so much for sharing that tip. I just recently had to clean out our tea pitcher with bleach because it drives me crazy as well! Lemonade is a much tastier solution than bleach...
Those lemonade premade mixes are so great for cleaning the dishwasher too. I run the dishwasher empty with one of those in it and the citric really helps get the interior of the dishwasher clean.
I am trying to decrease the amount of plastics we are using and I found two old-fashioned glass pitchers that I am using now which definitely has helped with the tea stains. I LOVE tea and I drink a ton of it in the summer.
Great tip, as always!
This is such a great tip! I haven't seen this one anywhere - and I read a lot of tips... I don't like the soft plastic containers because of their tendency to stain and start looking not-so-clean, I will be giving your lemon juice solution a try right away. Thanks!
Amy,
I keep reading that, but have yet to try it. Envious of your pitchers! :)
G Wren,
Hope it works well for you too!
Around here, I make lemonade with fresh squeezed lemons and maple syrup. The syrup adds a nice twist to the flavor and dissolves better than sugar.
Another good trick for your dishwasher when it gets stained,buy a package of lemonade kool-aid and put it in the soap dispenser and run a regular cycle without dishes in it.
Hmmm, no bites on maple syrup in lemonade. Maybe its not as unique as I thought.
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