The Secret To Shiny Hardwood Floors Is Hiding In Your Kitchen Pantry

Cleaning hardwood floors is one of those tasks that can be a bit tricky, especially when you open your closet and find you're out of floor cleaner. Fortunately for any tea drinker, you can just look in your pantry for black tea. Thanks to its high tannin content, black tea can bring out the natural tones of the wood, giving it a refreshed look. Moreover, the compound can lift and cut through grime, cleaning your floors.

Although other teas do have tannins in them, anything other than black tea isn't recommended. The different teas vary in tannin levels, and anything other than black tea either contains a lower amount or is inconsistent.

While boiling water isn't necessary to drink tea, you'll need boiling water and about six to 12 black tea bags depending on the hue of your floors — the darker the wood, the more tea bags you'll need. Essentially, boiling tea leaves brings out the tannins that are needed to clean and polish your floors. Your water needs to be around 212 degrees Fahrenheit for black tea. Once this is cooled, dip a soft cloth in the tea and wring it out well. After all, moisture can be damaging to hardwood floors, but once the cloth isn't dripping wet, it should be safe to use. Wipe the floors following the grain of the wood (this helps prevent streaks), and you should notice a difference straight away. After cleaning your floors, it'll be a convenient time to use tea bags to clean your kitchen windows.

Be sure to save those tea bags after cleaning your floors for your kitchen windows. The used tea bag can remove fingerprints and grime without even the need for much elbow grease. After rubbing down the surface with the tea bag, follow up with a paper towel or dry microfiber cloth to ensure you got everything.

Alternatively, you can brew some tea with the used tea bag and transfer this to a clean spray bottle. As you would with other surface cleaners, spray the tea directly onto glass surfaces and wipe. Furthermore, this tea-based solution is especially handy on bathroom mirrors and glass shower doors, where it will shine everything up.

This method is eco-friendly and extends the use of tea in your household. Whether you're cleaning your hardwood floors or simply washing your windows, black tea is a great alternative to store-bought cleaners. Now, if you're trying to clean stubborn grease, you can steep some grapefruit in black tea — another excellent use of tea for cleaning.