10 Alternative Uses for Tea

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Coffee is usually my hot drink of choice, unless of my husband is making me another chai latte or we are at a Chinese restaurant, neither of which I can ever turn down. Iced tea however, is an absolute favorite of mine. And while I enjoy all these types of tea, I always seem to have leftover bags of tea that I never liked. They sit in boxes on my baker’s rack, just begging to be used before I finally throw them away. Did you know there are a lot of alternative uses for tea? Why let those lonely tea bags go to waste? Here are 10 great uses for tea from Mariah Meyer.

Using Tea Around the House

Toilet Bowl : To clean toilet bowl stains place a few used tea bags in the toilet bowl. Let them sit overnight. Be sure to remove them before flushing the toilet. After you remove them in the morning scrub the bowl with a scrub brush and the stains will be gone.

Deodorize : You can use tea in the refrigerator in the same manner that baking soda is used. Just place some tea bags in an open container. Try this in other areas of your home as well such as stinky shoes and drawers.

Compost : Add tea leaves or the contents of tea bags to your compost. It will help the growth of bacteria needed to break down other substances in the pile and will also act as a fertilizer when the compost is used in the garden.

Paint :You can use tea bags, and teas of various varieties to paint with. This works best on water color paper, but can be done on any type of paper. Make the tea as you would, but let the bag sit in the water for about a half an hour and then use the tea to paint with.

Health & Beauty Uses for Tea

Sunburn: Use tea bags soaked in hot water to treat sunburn by rubbing them over the affected areas.

Shots: Treat areas where injections were given with a warm used tea bag. Place it on the area for a few minutes. This is especially helpful with infants and toddlers to soothe the pain of shots.

Halitosis: Gargling with strong tea has been said to reduce halitosis for most people. Choose a strong green or black tea ad gargle twice daily for the best results.

Mouth Wounds: Biting down on a wet heated tea bag can help ease tooth pain, stop pulled teeth from bleeding, and can also ease the pain of canker sores while healing them faster. Be sure to use a tea that you enjoy the taste of as it will be strongly flavored directly in your mouth.

Hair Dye: Rinsing your hair with tea water a few times will create subtle natural highlights. If you have lighter colored hair you can also use it to dye your hair by using a higher concentrated tea and soaking it in your hair a few times in a row or over the course of a few days.

Toner: If you have problem areas while applying makeup, and you’re short on toner or prefer not to use it, grab a dark tea bag, soak it in hot water for a minute and wipe it in the areas causing issues. Dab it with a cloth to finish it off.