10 Majorly Useful Things You Can Do With Tea Bags
Smelly fridge? Greasy pans? Puffy eyes? There's a tea bag for that.
The natural properties in tea leaves mean tea bags are as amazing outside of your mug as they are inside of it. Don't toss out your used—or unused—tea bags; put them to work instead! Here's how.
Eliminate funky fridge smells
You might normally turn to baking soda to deodorize your refrigerator, but tea can actually do the same job. Fill an open container with a few used tea bags, place it inside your fridge, and that funky smell will be gone in no time.
Rescue cookware from rust
Black tea bags can actually keep rust from forming on pots and pans, thanks to tannins that prevent metals from oxidizing. Just rub a damp, used tea bag on the cookware surface after each wash, and you're good to go.
Tenderize your favorite meat
The same tannins in tea that prevent rust also make it a perfect meat tenderizer, especially if your chops are marinated in a black tea like Lipton's English Breakfast Tea. For the best results, brew a strong batch of black tea, soak the meat of your choice in it overnight, then roast it or pop it on the grill.
De-puff sleepy eyes
Tea is also known for its astringent properties: It causes skin to contract. Sunday scaries plagued your eyes with puffiness come Monday? Just rest one warm, wet teabag on each closed eye for 20 minutes to reverse the swelling.
Deep-clean your rug
When a good vacuuming still isn't getting rid of annoying carpet stink, sprinkle the contents of used, dried tea bags over it (wet leaves may stain). Let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes and then vacuum up the residue. The smell will have disappeared, and if you used a flavored tea, you'll be left with a fresh, yummy scent.
Freshen up your drawers and car
For super-fresh dresser drawers, place a dry tea bag inside to add a soft scent. Try herbal, floral, or fruity teas for this, like Lipton's Peach Mango Tea. The same goes for your car, where you can hang tea bags from the rearview mirror—because you know that pine tree is a couple years old.
Cut the grease
If you've got a sink full of greasy dishes, fear not: Teabags can greatly reduce your scrubbing time. Fill that sink with warm water, add two or three used teabags, and let the mess sit overnight. The next morning, cleaning will be a lot easier.
Inject flavor into your food
Pro cooking hack: Think of your pots as gigantic mugs. Tea bags can add complex flavors to all sorts of pasta and grains by simply steeping in the water as you cook. Try adding a green tea like Lipton's Matcha Green Tea to a spinach pasta dish for an earthy, toasty flavor.
Give your dog's paws TLC
In the dead of winter, snow-melting salt on ground outside can hurt your pup's paws. You dog might try to relieve the discomfort by chewing on his feet, but help him out with a better way: Hold a moist tea bag to the pads of his paws twice a day for one minute. The healing properties in the leaves helps skin (of all species) regenerate.
Soothe irritated skin
Tea can rescue skin from all sorts of skin ailments—like burns, bruises, chapped lips, sunburn, and even rashes—because its tannins and polyphenols help constrict blood vessels, reduce swelling, and speed up healing. You'll primarily want to use black tea bags for this. For bruises, hold a wet teabag against the affected area for five minutes. For chapped lips, sunburn, and razor burn, simply hold the wet teabag against the irritated areas. If you have a large-scale sunburn, soothe it by adding 10 tea bags to a warm bath.
