17 Uses For Teabags You Don’t Want To Drink

Lots of people have a tea cupboard and along with that tea cupboard comes teas that no one wants to drink.  Here is a list of 17 uses for those nasty teas that you don’t want to drink that are too strong, too bitter or just plain nasty. Be sure that you are using teabags that contain tea tea, and not herbal blends or else you won’t get the benefits of the camellia sinensis plant. Tea from the camellia sinensis plant include green, white, black, oolong and puerh.

1. Use it as a Beauty Aid. Whether you are putting over your puffy eyes to reduce the swelling, or your dark eye circles to reduce them, your eyes will thank you after wards.  Just dip the teabags in hot water, let them cool and put them over your eyes for 10-15 minutes.
2. Cover up that Fight at the Bar. Did you say the wrong thing and get a black eye?  Don’t worry.  Put a teabag over that black eye for 30 minutes for a few days and you will be good as new for the next weekend.
3. Warts Be Gone. Tea naturally contains tannins that has been rumored to help eliminate warts.  Wet the teabag and place it over the area for 10 minutes a few times a day and watch that baby shrink.
4. Throw it in the Bath. If you know me, you know I love tea baths.  Throw in a few different teabags to create a scrumptious tea bath blend.  Bring the candles and a partner.
5. Let it Absorb Smells. Dirty laundry?  Smelly fridge?  Stinky room?  Moldy smelly gym bag? Foul smelling shoes?  Whatever it is you can toss in a teabag to absorb the smells.  Speaking of smells..
6. Let it Absorb Smoke. If you’re a smoker.  Put a wet teabag or empty the leaves of the wet teabag into an ash tray.  You will find when you ash in the tray, the wet leaves hold the ash well and absorb some of the smell of the smoke as well.
7. Pamper Your Feet. Draw hot water into a small basin and throw a teabag in there.  Then put your tired, overstressed feet into the mix.  All your troubles and smelly feet will drift away.
8. Relieve That Toothache. If you tooth hurts you can wet a teabag and hold it over your tooth until the pain subsidies.  It also works for canker sores.
9. Excess oil? Large pores? Wet a teabag and rub it all over your face to absorb the oil. and shrink your pores.  It works wonders as an astringent.
10. Cooking. There are a plethora of amazing recipes on the internet teaching you how to cook with tea.  Make cookies, bars, shakes or whatever else your heart desires.  The recipes usually require you to make tea then combine it into the recipe.
11. Relieve Burns. Tea will help relieve pain.  Put a warm teabag immediately over a minor burn for immediate relief.  If you are sunburned you might want to consider a tea bath or rubbing a wet teabag over the affected areas if it isn’t too large.
12. Dying Paper. I remember in high school I used to use teabags to age paper for assignments.  You can create pirate maps, old looking letters and bring your scrap booking to a whole new level.  Get a large bowl, throw a few teabags (depending on how dark you want the paper), and soak a few pieces of paper in the concoction for a few hours.  Take it out carefully and lay it out flat to dry.  You can also crumple the paper before you put it in the bowl to give the paper a wrinkled effect after wards.
13. Breaking Down Grease. Did you have a big dish of lasagna and forgot to soak it right after eating?  Don’t worry.  Let your dirty greasy dishes soak overnight with water and a few teabags.  The tannins from the tea will break down the grease.
14. Freshen Up The House. You can drop a few drops of essential oils into the teabag to create an instant air freshener.  You can even tie it to your rear view mirror to create a car freshener.  I suggest experimenting with different essential oils if you aren’t familiar with them.  Lavender and clove are two of my favourites.
15. Clean Your Dark Leather Shoes. You can wet the teabag and clean your dirty leather shoes by wiping in a round circular motion.  Remember dark shoes only, you don’t want to accidentally stain your white leather shoes with black tea.
16. Make Iced Tea. Bet you never thought about this, even though it’s so obivious.  Brew the tea as you normally would, add sugar, put it in a pitcher, add a wedge of lemon and then ice.
17. Make a Martini. To make a green tea martini, you will need the following:
    

• Ice
• 1 ounce green tea, chilled
• 2 ounces citron vodka
• 1 teaspoon Cointreau
• 1 teaspoon simple syrup
• Orange twist

Fill a shaker with ice.  Add green tea, vodka, Cointreau and simple syrup. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.  Courtesy of That’s The Spirit.

The possibilities are endless!  Use your imagination and don’t be shy.  After all if you aren’t going to drink these or trade with a friend you might as well put good use to them.

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Take A Tea Bath

These guys need a bath

For as long as I can remember I have been taking baths. Some people may think it’s a waste of time or dirty, but I love taking baths and I think they’re very relaxing!  (FYI if you think it’s “dirty” sitting in your own filth take a quick shower beforehand).  Sometimes I bring a book, fall asleep and even talk on the phone. Depending on how I feel I put different things in the bath.  Historically along with bubble bath products from stores I have put goats milk and milk powder, raw oatmeal, oats, fresh roses, fresh rose petals, dried roses, essential oils, and of course tea.  Nowadays its pretty much the only bath I take along with Aura Cacia Organic Aromatherapy Bath Blends.  They’re about $2.49 a packet and they smell AWESOME.

Tea baths are a great way to get rid of tea bags that you don’t want as well.  I have a box of Tim Hortons Pumpkin Spice teas that smell awesome but unfortunately contain artificial flavours.  I toss one or two of them in the bathtub for a relaxing and great smelling bath!  If you have left over tea bags you can put them aside on a plate or paper towels to dry and remove the leaves once it is completely dry and store them in a container.  You can also dry your loose leaf infusions after multiple steepings this way.  The benefits of the tea seep into your skin and your skin will glow like never before!  You must try one.  Be creative!  My tea jar probably contains over 100 different types of tea blends.  I use about 5-6 tablespoons a bath depending on how I’m feeling.  You can keep all the contents in a cheesecloth sachet or other another homemade bag to prevent everything from floating around, or just them them loose!  I personally keep everything loose in the bath because I love how everything floats around.

I’m going to be changing my blog format this week as I’m getting more and more traffic, I gotta make it look more presentable!  Let me know what you think of the new format.

Have a TEAtriffic day!

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