Wait, Don't Throw That Tea Bag, It Has Other Uses

Tea is such an excellent drink that I am sure you have your own favourite concoction or flavour of this drink. I am also sure that you already know about the many health benefits of drinking tea. So I will not talk about those here. But have you heard about the many other uses of tea? If you have, then that’s good. If you haven’t, then read on.

What do you do with your used tea leaves or teabags after you have enjoyed your drink? Do you just throw them to the garbage? If you do, then I say...STOP! ...don’t throw away those leaves and bags yet. There are still other uses for these.

Relieve Tired Eyes

Are your eyes tired and red after a whole days work? Then, soak 2 used teabags in warm water and place these over your closed eyes for about 20 minutes. The tannins in the tea help reduce puffiness and soothe tired eyes.

Natural Hair Conditioner

Do you want shiny hair and don’t want to use conditioner all the time? Then tea will help bring that shine to your hair.

Boil water and steep teabags or leaves in this. Let cool and use as rinse for your hair. Leave to dry for a while and rinse once more with water. Your hair will turn shiny after this treatment.

*Note, if you are using loose tea leaves, then please strain before using so you will not have tea leaves in your hair.

Cool Sunburned Skin

If you forgot to use sun block during your day out in the sun, then tea is the answer. Here is what you can do.

Wet some teabags and apply to your skin. This will soothe your burning skin. If a big part of your body is sunburned however, then use more teabags and soak these in warm water. Add the tea solution to your bathwater and have a tea bath.

• Tea nowadays comes in many flavours. Just a pinch of your favourite tea flavour can spice up some of your soup and other dishes. Experiment! To get the full benefit of the flavour it is of course better to use new teabags.
• Don’t have meat tenderizer? Use tea as marinade. Place 4 tablespoons of black tea leaves in 3 cups of warm water and steep for 5 minutes. Strain to remove the leaves and stir in 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Season your meat with your usual seasoning and add the tea solution before cooking. This is best for your pot roast or other oven-baked meat.

• If you want sparkling mirrors, clean them with tea. Soak used teabags in warm water. Dampen a soft cleaning cloth with the tea solution and use this for cleaning your mirror. Buff with a soft cloth and your mirror will come out clean and sparkling.

• Wood furniture and floors could also use some tea wipes.Soak used teabags in warm water. Cool. Dip a soft cloth into the solution and use this to clean wood furniture or wood floors. For best results use newly prepared tea that has been cooled.

Tea is also good for your garden.

• Do you want healthy roses and ferns? A sprinkle of dried tea leaves will do the trick. Take out the tea leaves from the used bags and sprinkle them in your garden and flower pots. They make excellent fertilizers. Their nitrogen content plus phosphoric acid, potash, and manganese provide great nutrients to plants.
• Cooled left-over tea can also be used to water houseplants. It really works!
• If you have a compost pile, add a few cups of tea to it. This speeds up the decomposition process. Liquid tea attracts acid-producing bacteria, and will thus improve the quality of your compost.

• Tea is also an excellent odor absorber. To remove food odor in your refrigerator, place some used tea bags inside.

Not only that, you can also remove the smell of fish and onions from your hands by washing them in tea.

• Don’t buy anymore carpet fresheners. Use dried tea leaves instead. Sprinkle some dried tea leaves on your carpet. Let it stay for about 15 minutes. Vacuum afterward. The tea leaves will not only freshen your carpet but will deodorize your vacuum bag as well. Use some of those mint flavored tea for even more refreshing smell.
• While we are into fresheners, why not use tea leaves as part of your potpourri? This time, it will be better to use new teabags for better effect.

• By the way, although I haven’t tried this, tea is supposed to be a natural inhibitor for fleas. Why not use it then in your pets’ bedding area. It will not only absorb the odor but will prevent fleas as well.

So with all those other uses of tea, let’s drink up, but keep the tea bags for later use. They might come handy as beauty or garden ingredient.