How To Remove Coffee and Tea Stains From China Cups
My lovely Royal Copenhagen mugs are a magnet for tea stains. I refuse to use harsh chemicals (bleach, denture tablets, hydrogen peroxide, etc.) on their delicate surface, so what to do? How to remove coffee and tea stains from the inside of your precious cups?
Salt.
Yes, indeed. Just plain old table salt.
Rinse out the cup with cool water, and then sprinkle a thin layer of table salt all around the inside of the cup. The moist surface keeps the salt adhered to the cup. Let it sit for a minute. Now put your index finger to work. Well, not work really — just a gentle circular massage of the cup’s surface where the stain is. Within seconds you’ll see the stain absorbed into the salt. The salt turns a mucky colour. Keep massaging the surface until the stain is completely removed. It’s quick. It’s fast. It’s easy and cheap and, trust me, it works.
When I discovered this method of removing stains from fine bone china cups, I shouted at Mr Misk: “ WOW! Come look at this! Come quick!”
He ran. All excited. Thought I’d won the lottery. Obviously, he wasn’t nearly as excited as I was because he thought he’d just become rich rather than just stain-free. But that’s men for you. I get excited about stain removal; he doesn’t.
The Chalk Hills Kitchen 
What a great tip – thanks Misky 🙂
My pleasure, Polly. 🙂
Thank you so much I used your tip to remove tea stains from bone china cups,it works great thank you so much,it is a tea set we were given as a wedding present 56 years ago,I always thought they were too fine to use,but I have started to use them lately,thank you for the tip.
What a nifty tip. I must confess that I resort to bleach on my everyday cups, when I can bear the stains no longer. Funny though that only certain cups stain.
Poor Mr Misk. What a disappointment.
This is quicker than bleach, Anne!
Awesome tip! I have several cups in real need of this treatment. Thanks!
Give it go. I think you’ll be happily surprised!
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thank you for this tip! I will keep it in mind for my tea cups 🙂
Worked beautifully on my teacup from Germany, didn’t even damage the flowers inside!:(
I’m glad that it worked well for you, Michelle.
Thank you for this tip! My mother left me this this cup…brewing a fresh cup in it now:)
Many thanks. This is the only method that has worked on my English fine bone china. I’m amazed!
Glad it worked for you.