Household Hints - Removing Tea Stains from Teacups and mugs

A delicious cup of freshly brewed tea is perfect just about any time of day, but tea stains are some of the most difficult to remove from cups and mugs! Here are a few of my favorite household hints for removing tricky tea stains:

1. Barkeepers Friend removes tea stains better than almost anything else I've ever tried. It's a multi-use product, since you can also use it to get your stainless steel cookware gleaming, along with copper, and even porcelain surfaces. Just shake a little of the powder in, and scrub with a scrubby pad. It even works to remove built up stains.
2. Baking soda - a little sprinkle of soda, a bit of elbow grease and you're good as new, or at least your precious teacup is.
3. Regular table salt - again, a sprinkle of this works on tea stains, along with a good scrub and rinse.

Household Hints - Pets - Chamomile Tea to Soothe Cats

One way to ease stress in cats is to give them chamomile tea! Just as it is soothing to humans, chamomile tea can naturally calm aggressive or upset cats. Make a tea with pure chamomile tea leaves and then add it to the cats' water dish. It should help to calm that upset kitty!

Household Hints - Keep Brown Sugar Soft

Susan sent in another tip to keep brown sugar soft, or to get it soft again once it's gotten hard. She wrote: "to soften brown sugar or rather to keep it soft store with a big marshmallow on top of the brown sugar."

Remember, you can also get your brown sugar soft again or keep it soft by placing a small piece of bread on the top, or a slice of apple.

Household Hints - Beauty - Beer as a Hair Conditioner

It's true - beer really does work to condition your hair! Use it as a final rinse to add extra shine and a boost of healthy body.

Household Hints - Gardening - Tea for Your Plants

A few different people have told me this tip, so I had to make sure to share it! Apparently, if you've got some leftover regular black tea in the teapot - you might want to give your garden a bit of a boost by watering the tea right over the plants! One lady told me that her mother always used to do this, and they could trace the pattern of where her mom through out the leftover tea, because those plants always thrived the most.

So, enjoy that cup of tea, and then share a little with your plants!

Household Hints: Removing Melted Wax from Glass Candleholders

We love the ambience created by burning candles, but once those candles are burnt the wax can be hard to remove. Try putting your glass candleholder into the freezer for a few hours. Using this method, I've been able to remove even really old melted wax. It should pop right out, or use a wooden skewer or butter knife to edge it out. If the wax is very stubborn, let the holder sit in the freezer overnight.