Tea is a wonderful thing. It is rich in antioxidants and has countless health benefits and a delicious brew to offer. But not many people know or even thought that those precious leaves and brewed liquid have much more to offer that that. Usually we steep our tea and then we proceed to throwing our leaves or teabags away or in the best of cases use them a second time.
Well, if you are one of those people who hate to throw out anything that could be reused or recycled and love natural remedies for beauty and cleaning, this post is for you.
In this post, I will show you how tea -be it leaves, tea bags or brewed tea- can be used to clean your house, fight odors address beauty woes and other uses you never even imagined. Some of these I have tried myself and found them very effective. I also searched the internet for others uses to share with you!
Home
Shine mirrors and windows: To remove stubborn stains from your glasses, brew some tea, let it cool and then dip a cloth in it and wipe them. Then using a a soft, dry cloth buff your glasses for a sparkly clean finish! You can do the same with a used teabag. Simply rub it on the glass and then with wipe off with a dry cloth.
Clean wood floors and furniture: Black tea contains tannins which can help shine wood flooring and wood furniture. Simply dip a soft cloth into freshly brewed tea (cool) and rub on the surfaces you want carefully, to remove dirt. Let air dry and voila! Your wooden floors and furniture will shine!
Clean carpets: Forget expensive detergents and harsh chemicals. You can clean your dirty carpets with some used green tea leaves. Simply sprinkle them on your carpets and let them sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then vacuum them up. The leaves will absorb any smells and mustiness. You can use the same remedy to clean your delicate antique rugs as well. In this case use drier leaves though.
Clean dust from fireplace: Removing ashes from a fireplace is a pain since dust rises from them each time. You can avoid that with sprinkling some wet tealeaves on the ashes before you begin scooping. This will keep them from going all over your room.
Make potpourri: When making herbal tea, the used herbs can be collected and let to dry out. They may not be suitable for tea making again but you can use them to make potpourri since they usually have a pleasant scent.
Garden
Add to your compost: If you want to speed up the decomposition process while improving it, you can try pouring a few cups of strong tea into your compost pile. This will encourage acid-producing bacteria to grow and make it more rich in acid.
Add to planters: Before potting, add some used teabags in the bottom of a planter. The teabags will retain water and valuable nutrients to the soil making your plants healthier.
Fertilize plants: To give your plants a boost, spread some used tea leaves around then, cover them with mulch and add water. The tea’s tannic acid will release when you water them and promote growth.
Fight odors
Get rid of foot odor: If your feet smell not so good after a long day, you can try soaking them in some strongly brewed tea for up to 30 minutes. That will deodorize them and also help you relax.
Get rid of food smells: After eating or preparing some fish or other food with an intense smell, you can rinse your hands with tea to remove the odor.
Get rid of cat litter smell: To stop cat litter smell, throw your dry or used tea leaves in there to absorb the smell. Green tea leaves work better.
Beauty
Treat sunburned skin: Sunburns happen and are quite painful. To relieve the discomfort and cool sunburned skin, apply some wet tea bags to the affected skin and let work for a few minutes. You can do the same for other minor burns too. If your suffer a wider sunburn you can soak in a tea bath. That will sooth and relax you.
Relieve tired eyes: If your eyes feel tired and heavy, you can revitalize them by placing warm teabags around them for a few minutes. The tea’s nutrients will reduce puffiness and sooth them, making them look more glowing and awake. Warm tea bags can be used to treat pinkeye also.
Soothe razor burn: Razor burns can be effectively reduced when applying wet teabags on them.
For oral health: Tea has antiseptic and anti inflammatory effects and can be used to soothe toothaches and other minor oral conditions such as sore or bleeding gums. You can ease any mouth pain by pressing a wet teabag on the affected area. Also, you can use tea as a mild mouthwash to rinse your mouth and alleviate any mouth sores and fight bad breath. Peppermint tea works excellently as a mouthwash since menthol is especially beneficial and widely used in oral care.
Dry poison ivy rashes: To dry an ivy rash, you can brew some strong tea and using a cotton ball rub it on it.
Condition hair: Our hair often looks dry and dull. Brewed tea can be used as a conditioner to invigorate your hair and make it look healthier and shiny again. After shampooing your hair, rinse with tea and leave as a leave-in conditioner or let it work for a while before rinsing.
Naturally highlight hair: Black tea can be used to naturally color hair. You can rinse your hair after shampooing with some strongly brewed tea to highlight your hair and make it look more healthy and shiny.
Fight acne and improve skin appearance: Certain types of tea are known to help relieve acne and make skin appear healthier. Tea can be beneficial for skin when applied topically also. Rooibos tea, mint tea, green tea are great for eliminating breakouts and moisturize skin. You can either try rubbing tea on skin with a cotton ball or use it to make toners, face masks and scrubs.
Have you ever tried tea in any of these or other ways? I would love to know!