Also, you don’t have to use it solely for making cups of tea. Millions of tea bags are thrown away every day after one use.
Thus, by using your old tea bags for one of the following reasons, you can get much more value out of your tea bags.
You could use your tea bags and make more tea, as long as you use the same tea bag within 24 hours. However, there are a lot more creative things you can do with an old tea bag as well.
In this article, we are going to discuss the 12 things you can do with an old tea bag.
How Many Times Can You Reuse A Tea Bag?
To avoid the tea getting too weak, we advise using the tea bags only one more time. A used tea bag may be kept at room temperature for only a day.
If you don’t plan to use it within 24 hours, then you should refrigerate it to stop the formation of bacteria and mold. Just keep in mind that all natural things, including tea, will spoil after a sufficient amount of time even if they are kept refrigerated.
You don’t want your tea bag to dry out, as this could quicken the chances of your tea bag going off. Therefore, you want to ensure your tea bag remains moist until you use it again.
It is known that the more you reuse a tea bag, it will lose some of its strength and flavor. A lot of people have found that reusing white or green tea is a lot more effective and better compared to some darker blends of tea.
12 Things That You Can With Old Tea Bags
The following things are all things you can do with old tea bags, which doesn’t involve making more cups of tea.
Add Your Tea Bags Into Your Compost
Consider giving your tea bags a little more purpose during their brief lives. After most of us make a cup of tea, the bag goes straight into the bin and will end up in the landfill.
However, used tea bags make a great addition to anyone’s compost pile. This is because they contain plenty of nitrogen and phosphate.
Apartment residents can simply create a compost pile indoors using the Bokashi process or worm bins, if they are unable to have one outdoors.
The majority of waste in landfills is organic material that doesn’t decompose and emits damaging greenhouse gasses.
Thus, turning your old tea bags into compost can be seen as an effort to protect the environment. Just make sure there are no plastic or staples in your tea bags.
Use It For Fertilizer
Make a drink for your plants out of tea bags that you’ve only used once, but still contain a good dose of nutrients.
If you have any potted plants around your home, we are sure they will enjoy a small amount of fertilizer between their usual feedings.
In fact, both indoor plants and outdoor plants will benefit from the fertilizing properties of the calcium, magnesium, potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus included in tea.
Choose a black (5.0-5.5 pH), green (7-10) or herbal (neutral) tea depending on the pH that your plants require.
Simply use an old tea bag to make some weak tea and pour it into your watering can!
Add To Your Soil
Sticking with the gardening theme, you could add your old tea bags to your garden’s soil instead.
Instead of creating a plant fertilization schedule or making your own compost, you could simply scatter the leaves from the tea over your soil. This is a great way to feed and help weak potted plants.
As previously said, tea leaves will increase the nitrogen content and structure of the soil for healthier, and happy plants.
Some indoor plants, such as orchids, are also major lovers of tannins, which naturally occur in the bark and leaves of trees and plants. A tea-leaf shower can replicate this tannin acid for particular plants that require it.
Reduce Puffy Eyes
Each of the elements found in tea leaves has a unique effect on reducing eye puffiness and promoting a more youthful appearance.
For instance, the tannins in black tea reduce swollen tissue, tighten the skin, and drain out fluid to reduce puffiness.
Additionally, the caffeine in green and black teas shrinks blood vessels and aids to lessen swollen areas and inflammation. Flavonoids, which are antioxidants, also possess an anti-inflammatory impact.
Place your used tea bags in the refrigerator to cool down, for a few minutes. Then apply your used tea bags to your closed eyelids for around 10 minutes. This will help to reduce puffy eyes and leave you looking more refreshed.
Be Creative
Use your old tea bags to make some really beautiful pieces of art. You could use the tea bags to paint with or to create a tea bag canvas.
In fact, you can create a lot of beautiful and inspiring work using recycled materials, such as tea bags.
Absorbing Horrible Smells And Odors
Dried tea leaves work similarly to baking soda in absorbing bad scents around the house. Old tea bags can be kept in a bowl inside the back of your refrigerator for a few weeks, then they can be composted.
In addition to that, try adding dried green tea leaves to a smelly kitty litter, since they have antimicrobial and odor-absorbing qualities.
Since the tea has already been brewed, a large portion of the caffeine has been eliminated, so you don’t need to panic about your cat having a taste.
Furthermore, throw a few tea bags infused with essential oils inside your shoes, and you will discover a noticeable difference the next morning. People won’t be able to smell your feet from a mile away.
Removing Toilet Stains
Put the leftovers from your next cup of tea to good use in your bathroom. For good measure, gather a couple of used tea bags, and then soak them for as long as required in a discolored toilet bowl.
Your toilet will be left clean and ready for use after you flush or remove the bags with a glove.
Treatment For Burns
You’re more likely to have tea bags on hand than aloe gel, despite the fact that it’s one of the most widely used home treatments for burns.
Prepare a cup of tea for yourself to relax the soul, then use the old tea bag as a cold pack to heal your skin.
Traditional burn remedies have also made use of the tannins found in green and black tea.
Apply the used tea bags after dipping them in cool water, if you’ve had the unfortunate experience of getting a sunburn near your eyes and face.
Remove Warts
Who would have thought that removing unpleasant warts at home would be so enjoyable? You’ll want to enjoy a warm cup of tea while you’re using the bag to cure warts.
For 10 to 15 minutes, place a heated, still-wet tea bag directly on the affected region, and then leave it to dry naturally. After repeating the procedure for a few days, the tannins in tea will start to work to eradicate the wart.
You’ll be surprised how effective the simple tea bag could be at removing warts! You won’t need to go out and purchase any pricey remedies again.
Treatment For Poison Ivy
Even if you’re not a huge fan of nature, having this rapid poison ivy remedy on hand is a good idea. Swelling and itching will subside if a liquid containing tannins is applied to the affected area.
Apply a chilled used black tea bag to a poison ivy rash, since it is more powerful than green tea. To prevent the rash from spreading, let the tea bag air dry before removing it with gloves.
To get full relief, repeat this procedure using tea bags as necessary.
Infuse With Essential Oils
Avoid the disposable air fresheners from the store and reuse your old tea bags if you like your automobiles, bathrooms, and other areas of the house to smell fantastic.
Simply allow a used tea bag to completely dry before soaking it in your preferred essential oils. Then hang it up for a beautifully scented recycled treat.
Cleaning Greasy Pots And Pans
Household cleaning is one of the most beneficial uses for leftover tea bags, due to the acidity of tea(see also: What Tea Is Good For Acid Reflux?) leaves.
Put a used tea bag in the pan and let it do its work for 15 minutes to save spending time laboriously cleaning a greasy, discolored pan.
Following that, the pan will be completely clean after all the dirt and burn marks have been removed.
Why Should You Consider Reusing Tea Bags?
It may not be something you have thought a lot about. However, if you have a daily cup of tea or multiple cups of tea and only use the tea bag (see also: How Many Tea Bags For One Gallon?)once, then that is a lot of waste being created.
Tea bags are quite small, so they may not seem to create a huge issue for the environment. However, as millions of tea bags are thrown away daily, this all adds up. Then, all this waste goes to landfill.
Even more, it has been discovered that the majority of tea bags contain around 25% of plastic. Due to this plastic, the tea bags can’t decompose fully, posing a risk to the environment.
Due to this statistic, millions of pounds of plastic are being left in landfill sites or in the ocean every year. This then causes a much more serious problem.
As a result, if you care about the environment, you should consider finding other uses for your old tea bags to keep less tea bags in landfill.
Can You Reuse Tea Leaves?
Not everyone uses tea bags, some people may prefer the taste of tea leaves. Thus, you may wonder if you can reuse tea leaves.
In China, re-steeping tea leaves is a widespread habit. The gaiwan with gongfu method of brewing tea allows for the steeping of teas up to eight times or more.
This technique is important for re-steeping tea since it uses a lot of tea leaves and little water, which helps the tea retain its flavor.
Therefore, it is thought that the more times you can re-steep tea without losing flavor, the better the tea will be!
Additionally, you don’t just have to re-steep loose tea leaves. You could also use them in any of the methods outlined above, just like tea bags.
Conclusion
Tea bags don’t have to be used once and thrown away. As you can see above, there are various things you can do with an old tea bag. They are a great way to prevent odors in your home, treat burns and produce healthy plants.
We hope this article has been helpful. Consider one of the methods we have spoken about to make full use of what a tea bag can offer you.
