Why Should You Put Tea Bags in the Sink? (Solved!)

You may have heard of people putting tea bags into their sink, but what are the benefits of doing this?

Tea bags have tannic acid, which is excellent at breaking down grease that might be building up on your dishes. If you’re only cleaning a pan or two, then a few tea bags in your sink with some hot water will be enough. You’ll need about a dozen tea bags for a full sink of greasy dishes. 

Let’s discover how tea bags clean dishes, why they can, and some other cleaning hacks you can use old tea bags for.

Why Do Tea Bags Clean Dishes?

Putting tea bags in your sink to clean your dishes might seem counterintuitive, given that you would consider a mug dirty after drinking a cup of tea. However, the high levels of tannic acid in tea are a great natural way of breaking down grease and other food that might build up on your dishes.

How To Use Tea Bags to Clean Dishes

You can’t just throw a couple of tea bags into your dishwasher and expect you to get clean dishes instead of tea leaves all over the place. Here are some essential tips to remember before using tea bags as part of your dishwashing.

• Soak your dishes in the sink overnight: Next time you have a bunch of grease and grime on your dishes, you can throw them into the sink along with some tea bags and let them soak overnight. That way, the tannic acids will have a real chance to steep into the dishwater and eliminate some of that grime. 
• Used tea bags are ideal: Letting your tea bag steep for too long is a way of getting all that acidic flavor into your tea which can ruin the taste. However, you want more of those acids active, so having used tea bags in your dishwashing means you’ll get more of that tannic acid in the water, which can help break down grease and oils. 
• Use 10 to 12 tea bags: You’ll want a bunch of that tannic acid to get into the grime on your dishes, and used tea bags pint to take longer and have less potency than fresh tea bags. To get their effects, you’ll need at least ten tea bags added to your cleaning water. 
• Use tea bags to help clean your sink: If you find that your sink is getting a little dingy with different spots or grease that has built up after washing through a bunch of dishes, then having some tea bags added to the dishwasher can help you scrub your sink clean. It can even help get rid of fingerprints on faucets. 

Can Tea Bags Clean Windows Too?

Once you get your glassware sparkling, you might want to try using some of that leftover dishwater to clean any windows or mirrors you have in the house. Glass of any kind likes to show any fingerprints or other oils that might splash up on to windows or mirrors that are in your kitchen. Using some of that dishwasher with the tea bags can help clean them.

This is a great cleaning hack for anyone who has children in the household. Kids love to touch anything and everything in sight, so being able to wipe away those finger marks off of your windows easily can be a great help. You can even use the tea bag itself to wipe down the surfaces and then use a towel or paper towel to dry it. 

Can Tea Bags Get Rid of Smells?

Baking soda might be your go-to answer for a carpet holding on to a smell or a fridge with some odor, but you can also replace them with tea bags. All you have to do is put the tea bags in an open container or bowl inside your fridge or cabinet to help absorb any bad smells.

It would be best if you replaced the tea bags every 3 to 4 days for the optimal results of getting rid of any persistent odors.

If your carpet smells up your home, you can sprinkle some dried tea leaves onto the carpet and let them sit for 20 to 60 minutes. If you want to use old tea bags, let the leaves dry before using them since wet tea leaves will stain your carpet.

After waiting for it in the tea leaves to have their effect, all you need to do is vacuum them up, and the tea bags should rid your carpet of any unwanted odors.

Can Tea Leaves Clean Wood Flooring?

Before you pull the plug on your sink after washing your dishes, you might want to consider whether or not your wooden floors need a little shine. Wood flooring tends to collect polish over time which means it loses some of the brilliance of new wood. You can wipe your wooden floors or furniture with a microfiber cloth and bring back that sheen like they’re new.

What Happens When You Put a Tea Bag in the Toilet?

You don’t need to restrict your cleaning just your kitchen. If your toilet has some stubborn stains of its own, then you can put some old tea bags in the toilet and let them soak overnight. As long as the tea bags are compostable, you can flush them away in the morning, and it should be a lot easier to scrub those stains out.

If your tea bags are made with plastic material and are compostable, then you’ll need to remove them from the toilet before flushing. However, you can always remove the tea leaves from the bag before putting the tea leaves in your toilet, and you should be able to flush without any issues.

Conclusion

Adding some old tea bags to your sink is a great way of soaking any dishes covered in grease or oils and breaking down that grime. The tannic acid in the tea bags digs into that grime and leaves your dishes sparkling. It can also help clean windows and even help remove smells from fabrics like carpet.