Removing Stains

Coffee & Tea Stains

If your cups are badly stained from tea and coffee, wipe the inside with white vinegar soaked into a sponge. For really difficult stains you can leave them to soak in vinegar for ten minutes.

To clean a teapot or coffee maker, add two cups of boiling water and two tablespoons of vinegar. Leave it to cool, wipe with a clean cloth, and rinse thoroughly with clean water.

Fruit Stains

These can be particularly difficult to remove, especially if you have dark purple stains on your shirt after picking blackberries. First plunge the fabric in cold water and leave to soak until no more colour is seeping from the stain. Next, stretch the fabric over a heatproof bowl using an elastic band to hold it in place and then pour very hot water over the stain with as much force as possible. As soon as you see the stain has almost gone, wash on as hot a setting as the fabric will stand.

If you get fruit stains on your fingers or hands, simply rub them in some vinegar or lemon juice and the stains will disappear.

Nicotine Stains

If you haven’t been able to kick the habit of smoking cigarettes and you want to get rid of those nasty yellow nicotine stains from your fingers, try rubbing your hands in lemon juice and gently work the stains off using a pumice stone.