Hardwood Floors
Black tea has been used to mop quite a few hardwood floors throughout its history. The tannic acid in the tea cleans and adds shine to a dull old hardwood floor. Follow these few steps for cleaning a hardwood floor using tea: This method may be good for cleaning hardwood floors, but you should not use tea for mopping laminate wood flooring.
Odor Removal
Use green tea leaves to deter odors in your refrigerator. Tea bags can soak up those fridge odors just like baking soda does. Or, you can put an uncovered container in the fridge with dried out tea leaves for a day or two. The leaves will absorb even pungent garlic and onions. While doing meal preparation, if you have diced up something smelly, try rubbing your hands with tea leaves to remove and absorb the smell.
Microwave Cleaning
Boil water and add a few green tea leaves to steep after you have removed the pot from heat. After it is cool enough to handle, use the tea water to wash down the inside and outside of your microwave. It will help remove odors and add a fresh smelling scent.
Fireplace
Before you clean out the fireplace, add wet tea leaves to the ash. The moisture will help soak up the ash so that it does not blow around.
Glass
You can place cold brewed tea in a spray bottle and use it to make mirrors and windows sparkle.
Toilets
Throw a few tea bags into the toilet. Let them “steep” for about an hour and then discard. Scrub the commode with a brush and flush the liquid tea.
Carpets
Sprinkle dried or steeped tea leaves across a smelly carpet and let them sit for 20 to 60 minutes before vacuuming. To use steeped tea leaves, first them dry out because they will stain the carpet if they are too wet. Try a flavored tea like lemon or mint to leave behind a nice scent.
Shoes
Do not toss stinky shoes; rather, place a new tea bag (or one that has been steeped and dried) inside each shoe to help eliminate the odor.
