In my opinion, there’s no better gift than a really good mug. Since moving out years ago, I have amassed quite the collection – from random ones picked up from Asda during the weekly shop to second-hand Le Creuset, I’d have hundreds more if only I had space.
You’d think, being such a huge fan, that I’d take the time to thoroughly scrub them clean after every use and avoid those dreaded tea and coffee rings. Wrong! I’m unfortunately quite lazy, and don’t have a dishwasher, so have ended up with a few very sad, stained mugs in my collection.
However, I recently decided enough was enough and set out to tackle these stains once and for all. Using a plain old dish sponge and washing up liquid didn’t seem to be doing anything, so as always, I sought the help of cleaning experts on the internet.
And there was one trick from the pros at Moral Fibres that immediately caught my eye, because I’ve been using this product for a while and I’m yet to get a bad result from it.
Soda crystals, which you can buy for £2 from Asda, are said to break down these tough stains and leave your mugs looking pristine again. After cleaning my oven, toilet and shower with soda crystals, and using them to whiten badly stained socks, I still had about a quarter of the bag left – so it was a sign I must use them to deal with the mugs.
How to remove tea and coffee stains from mugs
This hack literally could not be any simpler to do. All you’re required to do is put a small amount of soda crystals into your stained mugs – a few spoonfuls at least – and then top up with boiling water, pouring just enough in to cover the stains.
Then, just leave it for at least an hour, and let the magical natural cleaning power of the soda crystals get to work, breaking down those unsightly marks.
The stains won’t dislodge on their own, so after an hour has passed, give them a rinse and a quick scrub with a dish brush. I was astounded as years worth of stains disappeared in seconds, leaving my mugs looking pristine once again.
I only tried this with a few mugs because I didn’t want to waste any soda crystals in case they were ineffective this time around. But it has been another huge success, and I’ll definitely be trying it on each and every mug in my collection, restoring them to their once-clean state.
