Time To Clean My Tea Mug
It’s that time of the month when I really should get around to cleaning my tea mug. The sure indicator is when the cat sniffs at it, turns around and tries to cover it up.
“Just toss some water and Clorox into it and wait a few minutes,” well-meaning friends say. “Easiest way to do it. Why use Comet cleanser and a paper towel? That’s so dirty and messy. I’ll admit they do have a point: this lazy person would like nothing better than to let nature take care of it with all my stained mugs.
“But!” I exclaim (thus the exclamation point), “But! When was the last time Clorox ever cleaned something? I mean, really cleaned something? As far as I can see, all it does is cover up what’s there. Stains from tea’s tannin are still there, but have been turned white. You still have a filthy mug, but it’s a filthy white mug.”
IMHO, you need to remove the stuff: Comet cleanser, a little water, brisk application of a paper towel and complete removal of the brown tannin. That is what you (or, at least I) call perfectly clean. Anything else is just whitewashing a dirty wall; all the junk is still there, hidden beneath successive layers of white stuff.
Clorox has its place, of course; I would never demean the stuff. People might lose their jobs if too many followers of this blog suddenly realize their mugs, cutting boards and such aren’t really clean, just sanitized. But to get all that stuff out of your tea or coffee mug, ain’t nothing like Ajax or Comet and the paper towel of your choice.
“Just toss some water and Clorox into it and wait a few minutes,” well-meaning friends say. “Easiest way to do it. Why use Comet cleanser and a paper towel? That’s so dirty and messy. I’ll admit they do have a point: this lazy person would like nothing better than to let nature take care of it with all my stained mugs.
“But!” I exclaim (thus the exclamation point), “But! When was the last time Clorox ever cleaned something? I mean, really cleaned something? As far as I can see, all it does is cover up what’s there. Stains from tea’s tannin are still there, but have been turned white. You still have a filthy mug, but it’s a filthy white mug.”
IMHO, you need to remove the stuff: Comet cleanser, a little water, brisk application of a paper towel and complete removal of the brown tannin. That is what you (or, at least I) call perfectly clean. Anything else is just whitewashing a dirty wall; all the junk is still there, hidden beneath successive layers of white stuff.
Clorox has its place, of course; I would never demean the stuff. People might lose their jobs if too many followers of this blog suddenly realize their mugs, cutting boards and such aren’t really clean, just sanitized. But to get all that stuff out of your tea or coffee mug, ain’t nothing like Ajax or Comet and the paper towel of your choice.
posted by Tom Carten at 1:40 AM
1 Comments:
Have you tried Dip-It? It's a cleaner for coffee pots/cups. I've also used it in my tea mug, and to clean the tannin stains off the tea spoon.
Best part of using it---no elbow grease required.
(I am not employed by the company that makes Dip It, nor am I employed by their advertising company. I am just a satisfied user.)
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