For many who enjoy drinking Tea, there's a common annoyance—the accumulation of tea stains on their utensils. How can one easily clean these utensils? Proper maintenance not only keeps the tea more healthful for consumption but also ensures that the buildup of tea stains, which can be detrimental to health, is minimized.
Most people tend to use steel wool (scrubbing balls) or loofah sponges, which are relatively abrasive cleaning tools, to scrub away the stains. While this approach is effective, consider that using such rough tools can easily damage the glaze on the surface of your tea utensils, gradually wearing it down. Over time, the tea stains will seep into the utensils themselves, causing them to take on the color of the tea and making them impossible to clean.
The best method for cleaning is to, after each session of Drinking Tea, promptly dispose of the leaves and rinse the utensils with water. Maintaining this good habit over time means you won't need any cleaning tools, and your utensils will remain bright and glossy. However, many people often neglect cleaning their utensils right after drinking tea, instead opting to rest or do something else. By the time they remember to clean them before the next tea session, the utensils have been soaked in tea for a long time and turned a tea-like color, which cannot be washed off with just water. In such cases, apply a small amount of toothpaste onto the utensil, and spread it evenly across the surface using your hands or a cotton swab. After about a minute, rinse the utensils with water, and the tea stains should come off easily. Using toothpaste is convenient, does no harm to the utensils or your hands, and is simple—tea enthusiasts should give it a try.
A thick layer of tea stains on your utensils doesn't necessarily mean that the tea brewed from them will be healthier or more fragrant. Often, older tea lovers will proudly display their cherished Teapots with dark, oily stains, as if the thicker the stains, the more valuable the Teapot. However, according to Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner Chen Zhihe, tea stains are actually detrimental to health. Therefore, those who love drinking tea should also make it a habit to regularly clean their utensils—a healthy practice indeed.