Practical Uses for Tea Leaves and Tea Bags Outside the Cup and Glass
America may have overwhelmingly chosen coffee as its brewed beverage of choice, but it’s not just the ridiculously overpriced selections at Starbucks that is starting to make that decision look like something less than our collective best. Yes, true, there are plenty of ways to recycle and reuse coffee, but when it comes to making the most of brewed drinks, tea leads the way.
The Eyes Have It
A tea bag that has been dunked in water and then squeezed until it is just moist can be placed over your closed eyelids as a quick way to rejuvenate at least your appearance of being tired. Tea bags will also reduce swelling around the eyes. It is probably overextending the quality of tea to suggest that they can actually make wrinkles and lines disappear, but after 15 minutes or so beneath damp tea bags, your eyes should look less haggard.
Hydrating Dried Fruits
If you want to plump up dried fruits, try soaking them in tea rather than plain water. The addition of the tea will lend the fruits further fullness and using tea also provides an additional benefit. Choosing a flavored tea can increase the flavor of your newly hydrated dried fruit as they soak in the concoction.
Hair Highlights
A handful of tea bags that are brought to a boil and then allowed to steep and set until it cools can be a quick, easy and non-permanent way to add some highlights to your hair. The actual results will vary depending on the color of your hair and type of tea you use. This means that in some cases tea can be used for the purpose of lightening hair and for others for the purpose of darkening hair. What you should not expect is to actually dye the color of your hair using tea. Also keep in mind that using tea for highlights is very temporary and won’t provide nearly the dramatic results you’d get from a commercial product.
Washing Hardwood Floors
About two bags of black tea brought to a boil in a quart of water can make a surprisingly effective cleaning solution for hardwood floors. After removing from the burner, allow the boiled tea to steep for around 30 minutes. The result can be applied to your wood floors either with a mop or a cloth. The secret lies in the tannic acid found in the tea. This acid is tough enough to cut through grease and grime, but not so harsh that it will damage the floor itself.
Ashes
When cleaning away ashes from a fireplace, drill or oven, you can lessen the impact of thick dust rising into the air by using tea leaves. Use either loose tea or cut open a tea bag that has been moistened. Spread the damp tea leaves over the top of the ashes you want to clean away. Let sit for a few minutes and then start cleaning out the area. The tea leaves should have the effect of keeping the ashes from rising into the air as dust that can irritate your throat, nose and eyes.
Better Than a Mint
After you have sat down to enjoy a meal filled with food that wreaks havoc on your breath, finishing things up with a glass of black tea. Chemicals are released during the brewing process that allow consuming black tea to put the kibosh on the production of bacteria that stimulates bad breath. So feel free to add extra onions and garlic to you meal as long as you drink black tea afterward.
Is it Safe?
Yes, it is safe to put a tea bag directly on the spot inside your mouth where the dentist just pulled a tooth. When the bleeding won’t stop following the extraction of a tooth, call for relief from the kitchen pantry. Any type of tea can be used for this purpose.
