We are famously a nation of tea lovers - but if you're one of the millions who can't get enough of Britain's favourite hot beverage, there's one common problem you have probably come across.
Tea contains tannins, a plant compound that gives the drink both its brown colour and its signature dry, bitter flavour. Tannins are also used an agent in many dyes such as for ink and leather due to their staining properties - and is responsible for those unsightly brown marks that are often left in your teacup.
These rings can be stubborn to remove, and often refuse to budge when scrubbed with soap and water or put in the dishwasher. But if this has happened to your favourite tea mug, don't go throwing it away just yet - as a money-saving Facebook page has shared a simple method for getting your cups sparkling again, The Express reports.
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My Financial Society wrote on Facebook: "Have coffee or tea stains over your cups? Hard to clean it or thinking of buying a special yet expensive cleaning solution to clean it? Look no further. Just get white vinegar or baking soda. It's cheap, effective and simple."
The group suggested adding baking soda or white vinegar to your stained cup and letting it sit for 10 minutes, before rinsing off the solution with hot water. "It cleans heavily stained mugs effortlessly," they added.
Both baking soda and vinegar have long been recognised as natural cleaning solutions that can be used to get things sparkling all around the home without using harsh chemicals. If you're going to try using baking soda to get your cup clean, dampen it with some water first to provide some moisture for the soda to cling to, adding about half a teaspoon of soda to the cup before rubbing the stains with a soft cloth to remove them.
Alternatively, you can fill the cup halfway with distilled white vinegar and top up the rest with hot water, leaving it to soak for 10 minutes before scrubbing the stains with dish soap and rinsing. You may need to repeat the method a few times to lift particularly stubborn marks.
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