Buy some denture tablets and pop one in a cup of warm water then stand the spoons in that. We did this with cups as well works a treat until I brought the wife a dish washer which also removes any staining now.

No only that but the tubes come in handy as small storage containers. I keep my fretsaw/scrollsaw blades in them

Hot citric acid, cleans cups and mugs as well.

Does it for me to, especially useful to get the cups and mugs as new.

Emgee

Drink coffee. Works for me.

Denture tablets work well for me; boil some water, pour into container, add spoons + one tablet, & leave until fizzing stops + 10 mins or so then wash /rinse. Works well on stained plastic too.

George.

Have a similar problem with stainless table spoons used for cooking, the bowls of the spoons have turned black, this is not a deposit but a colour change in the metal itself. The spoons are always washed in the dishwasher and I wonder is there anything in the chemical makeup of the dishwasher tablets that is the cause, all other stainless cutlery, knives, forks, dessert spoons and teaspoons are unaffected and remain bright as when new. Is it possible that because they are exposed to many different substances when used for cooking processes that chemicals within the washer tablets causes a chemical change to the surface of the spoons, it is only the bowl of the spoons that suffer this blackening, would appreciate any thoughts as to why there is a colour change and if there is a process that could restore them to bright as new condition. Dave W

As no-one has specifically mentioned it yet : We use Milton sterilising fluid [blue bottle, in the ‘baby’ section of your favourite supermarket] … It removes Tea Stains very efficiently.

MichaelG.

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**LINK**

https://www.milton-tm.com/en/consumer/products/sterilising-fluid

I have used denture cleaner powder to remove tea stains from Stainless steel teapots for years. A small pile of powder in pot, add boiling water to the rim and leave overnight. If badly stained, it may require repeated dose.

MC Black

fairly strong solution of Bicarb of Soda in hot water. soak overnight

Roy

I've also observed that frequently using Cif (originally the pronouncable Jif) tends to create fine scratches, causing teaspoons to rapidly become tea stained again. It seems to contain a soft abrasive (chalk or crushed limestone?) as well as what seems to me to be a strong acid or alkali, from its irritating effects on my fingers. Acid, I suppose, as it claims to remove limestone. But then it can't contain a limestone abrasive, unless activated by additional water. Any chemists here?

Bill

Sorry to disagree with NDIY, but using bleach DOES remove the stains of Tea or Coffee. You should see the inside of our Tea pot before SWMBO pours in a little thick bleach and then hot water. After a couple of hours, the effect is dazzling.

Mlton is a dilute solution of Sodium Hypochlorite, so will have the same effect, but over a longer time period…

Howard

I would not want to use anything that was not designed to put in one’s mouth.

So Milton (or supermarket own brand version) is ok as is denture cleaner.

Washing powder, bleach, do not “tick the boxes” for me!

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