If 
you’ve struggled to remove stubborn coffee or tea stains from your cups, you’ll be shocked at how easily those dark marks wipe clean with this easy trick!
Cleaning With Household Products
You Will Need:
- Salt
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Water
- Soft cloths
Steps to Remove the Stain:
- Begin by washing the cup as usual to remove any surface liquid/stains that may be present.
- Next, mix up a paste using one of the following mixtures:
- Baking soda and water
- Equal parts of white vinegar and salt
- Make sure the stained areas of the cup are wet.
- Apply one of the above pastes using a soft cloth.
- Scrub the surface until the stain is removed.
Cleaning With Commercial Products
You Will Need:
- Bar Keepers Friend
- Cloth scouring pad
- Water
Steps to Remove the Stain:
- Rinse the cup with water.
- Sprinkle enough Bar Keepers Friend powder over the surface to make a light paste.
- Go over the area with a cloth scouring pad to ensure the paste covers the stains.
- Wait about five minutes, but do not let the paste dry on the cup.
- Begin scrubbing in earnest with the cloth scouring pad. If you use a new pad, it won’t take long.
- Add more Bar Keepers Friend directly to stains as needed.
- Once the stain is gone, rinse well under water.
- Discard the scouring pad, then wash the cup with your regular dish soap or run it through the dishwasher.
Additonal Tips and Advice
- If you use Bar Keepers Friend Liquid, apply it directly to the cup. Wait up to five minutes, then scrub with the cloth scouring pad.
- Always rinse well and wash cups before use.
- Another common item is denture cleaner. Simply fill the cup with water and add a cleaning tablet. Allow the stains to soak until removed.
Hot cocoa does the trick! When my tea mug needs cleaning, I make a cup of hot cocoa with two packets of cocoa powder, enjoy it, and when I wipe it out, the tea stains are already gone or significantly softened and easy to remove!
I would guess it is either the acidity of the cocoa, the grittiness, or both that facilitate cleaning. The best part of this method is that you get hot cocoa AND a clean mug.
I’ve used weak bleach on my lovely white china mugs for about four years. The glaze on the insides of the mugs is worn away. Definitely never used any kind of scouring pad/cloth/salt or bicarbonate. Now going to try toothpaste on my new mugs.
You folks have missed the most obvious, simple and effective answer. The “Magic Eraser” did the job in under 5 seconds.
I use bleach; it seems to remove all sorts of stains, and cleans flasks as well. Just wash with soppy water and dry afterwards.
I just tried vinegar and salt. It really worked!
I don’t think it’s a good idea to use bleach on the dishes that you may eat or drink from.
Doctors have said before a capful or two to dish water to disinfect during the cold, flu season.
Tip for tea or coffee-stained cups: Magic Eraser!
You can use it on the finest of china! I use it on my china tea cups when they get stained.
I believe the reason toothpaste works is because it contains diatomaceous earth, a very mild abrasive. This stuff is actually tiny fossilized remains of hard-shelled algae. The shells are comprised mainly of silica or glass. So it’s similar to using Turtle Wax rubbing or polishing compound, but much safer of course.
I had once read that using plain white Colgate toothpaste would clean my white porcelain crock pot. Worked like charm. Tried it today on coffee stained coffee cups. Worked great. Non-abrasive like salt. Non-toxic like bleach. Also does not leave the taste of salt or vinegar in the cup.
A Greenie scratch pad cleans your cups and glassware with hardly no scrubbing. I use them on everything – and they don’t scratch your dishes.
I work in a restaurant and need to whiten around 50 cups. Hand scrubbing with toothpaste etc is not feasible. Anyone have the best INEXPENSIVE soaking method? Espresso machine and denture tablets are too expensive. Is bleach my only alternative? Is vinegar effective? Thanks!
My white mugs were very dark on the lower 2/3s, and also dark marks on the exterior. I tried using dishwasher tab made in a teapot, and shared between teapot, 4 coffee mugs, followed by stainless steel tea kettle, and finally, the exterior bottom of a kettle sitting with the remaining solution in a sink with the stopper and a second stopper from the other sink. This worked extremely well in the teapot as well as the stoppers and areas of the stainless steel that were soaking. Now I have half of a clean and shiny kettle interior, the bottom and 1/2″ of exterior of the kettle, plus bottom and 1″ of stainless sink are sparkling with NO EFFORT. The mixture became more diluted as I needed more hot water.
The black marks in the mugs were lightened up as I wiped them with paper towels. These marks are the result of metal teaspoons stirring and of mug exteriors coming into contact with each other and other objects. Very difficult to remove and would love some suggestions.
Dave your techniques are epic. Every one has a great idea… Toothpaste is baking soda..JUST SAYING…use baking soda and vinegar, equal parts 1/3 cup each. Place the cup in a plastic container with a lid large enough for the cup to be able to move around. Add baking soda to the bottom of the container and venegar in the cup and close it. Make sure it’s on tight. Then shake. And blame… It blows up. So don’t do that.. baking soda works great. So does cleaning you mugs every time you use them. Stop leaving coffee or tea in your cups for a day….. But if it does happen. Baking soda or like the man above said. Magic erasers are the best product with no chemicals . Peace love and coffee stains lol!!!
Don’t use a scouring pad as the above advice says. Scouring pads finely scratch the enamel and make it more likely that your cups and mugs will stain again and a lot quicker than last time. A soft cloth should do or better still, one of the old fashioned mops. If you use a mop, don’t get all hamfisted or you might break the handle off the cup/mug. To be honest, and I don’t recommend it, I use a mop with a short handle (I cut the handle to length) and I use it set on slow speed in a battery powered drill. You won’t do that of course. 🙂
I make tea every day and the glasses became dark from tea stains. I searched for a way to clean the stains away, otherwise I was ready to toss the glasses out. I liked the post above from Octopus. However, I dampened a paper towel (used a couple to make it like a thick rag), then poured salt onto the paper towel and scrubbed the glasses. Then, rinseed off the salt. Worked like a charm! The glasses are clean, clear and bright again – I’ll be keeping the glasses.
Salt! Just sprinkle in salt and use a wet paper towel. I had a cup that went through the dishwasher and was hand scrubbed several times to no avail, but sprinkling in some salt and it was as shiny as new. This page suggests various ingredients, including baking soda and vinegar (which react to produce water + a type of salt), and also salt. Just — use — salt! Simple!
Colgate doesn’t work and neither does baking soda and water! I don’t want to use bleach on our cups… please help…
Put two spoonfuls of washing powder into the cup, top it up with boiling water, leave it to stand for 20 minutes, then wash the cup under running water; no scrubbing at all. I’ve used this on cups, sinks, and tea pots, and it works every time.
Thanks so much! The baking soda worked perfectly. My china looks like new.
I use soda crystals. Average price is 68p for a kilo. I use a dessert spoon per mug, fill with hot water and leave to stand for a couple of hours. Rinse afterwards. Leaves no smell and perfect stain removal.
Toothpaste is the best solution for coffee and tea residue on cups; quick and easy.
Wow, the toothpaste really worked!!
Any abrasive will just make it worse for the stains the next time around.
Simple Green will take those stains right away with just a wipe of a rag after sitting there for a couple of minutes.
I work in a retirement home in Tennessee. The coffee cups are stained inside all the time. Can the dish person use a bucket of bleach-soapy water to soak them and then run them through our dishwasher?
Thank you!!
The toothpaste is amazing! I even used it to clean out the dishwasher – fabulous!
Vinegar and baking soda do not work because vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a base. You just end up with a neutral solution.
It was vinegar and SALT or baking soda and WATER.
I tried soda, vinegar and lemon juice, but have not found them ideal.
I find that soaking with a small amount of biological washing detergent works well.
I have used bleach, dental tabs, vinegar and baking soda, various scrubbers and always followed with soap and water. All have worked to clean my tea cups. My problem is that the following stains are darker and more difficult to clean. It appears that the inner finish of the cups has been damaged. I have several cups that are fine bone china and nothing I’ve tried works to remove all staining. Please help!
I have always used bleach to clean my stained tea cups. It doesn’t take much and the cup looks like new. Make sure you always rinse well afterward. It also works on tea pots, finish with hot soapy water and rinse well. I use a strainer in my tea pot for loose tea, a little bleach and hot water makes it look like new as well. I am going to try toothpaste on some of my older tea cups. Thanks for all the tips.
I would like to add my support to the toothpaste solution. I had previously tried vinegar and baking soda, but did not get the results I wanted. After searching, I came upon this thread. I just used what I had handy, which was Aquafresh whitening, but it didn’t seem to matter. Toothpaste really works!
Crest pro-health worked like a charm for me. I had a white china cup that has been stained for quite a while and whenever cleaned, it would take lots of scrubbing. I used the toothpaste mentioned before and it was so easy!
I use an S.O.S pad to clean a coffee cup. When I see a little stain in the cup, I take a wet S.O.S pad and clean the inside of the cup. It works great and is fast too.
I didn’t have white Colgate so I tried Crest Pro-Health. Worked so great I was amazed!!! Try it, you’ll love it!
Drop-in a denture cleaner and leave over night. Rinse clean or wipe with a sponge. Done.
Pour bleach (Javex, Old Dutch, etc.) into the stained cup. Swirl it around til the stain disappears. Pour bleach into a clean jar and cap it tightly. It can be used quite a few times, kept handy beside dish-washing soap. Wash the bleached cup well with hot soapy water, then rinse well. A little effort is required.
When those pesky little coffee and/or tea stains start to show up in your favorite cups, try using a mixture of vinegar and baking soda.