Non-beverage tea uses

Has anyone successfully tried any of the mythical "non-tea" uses for tea? I swear by cheap black teabags (damp) on tired eyes. Have also heard it's a nice hair color touch-up.....can't decide if I should attempt coloring the gray patches with oolong or keemun!

When I had gum surgery, I was encouraged to use black tea bags to soak up the blood from the cuts. Apparently it's very good at helping heal wounds in the mouth. Don't know about external cuts and scrapes, tho'.

I use to make dolls and used tea to give them an aged look. I also use a strong tea as a wood dye. It gives the wood a more natural dark wood color. But I've only used it on small projects. And in Chinese Brush painting, we put a glass on the rice paper and brush a little tea around it and over the paper to give us a sun or moon effect.

I've used it as a dye quite successfully; different teas give different colors. Mostly they are not the color you would expect - more in the peach range than the tan you think of when you say "tea-dye"!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_egg

1. Hard boil egg
2. Crack shell lightly
3. Boil again in tea

I've used it as a dye, and also put the used tea leaves in the garden around acid-loving plants like hydrangeas.

I've had good results treating sunburn with strong (cold) tea, or used bags.

I've made cakes with tea liqor in them if that counts.

And also compost as in #6

I'm not sure if it's a "use" (or could be turned into one?) but I've noticed that the cockroaches in the pantry tend to avoid black tea leaves but are not deterred by the various herbal versions (including rooibos).

Has anyone tried to do the tea-egg? What tea would you suggest?

A damp tea bag will dry out blisters. Turns your skin tan, though.

We'd use them during the more intense periods of training when I was a college rower. Lots of blisters on our hands.

A friend told me she used the paper from tea bags to mend chipped fingernails. I the nail is still attached, apply clear polish, use a small piece of tea bag paper like a Band-Aid to hold the torn bit of nail in place, allow to dry, then apply polish over the paper to cover. Never tried it myself.

PressShift1 (11), that sounds better than what the crew team did when I was in college. They used some chemical-smelling thing or else soaked their blisters in pickle juice. I'd way rather smell of tea and have tan spots on my hands than smell like pickles or chemicals.

I like the idea of cooking with tea. Might try the eggs one of these days....

Tea makes a good meat tenderizer too. Soak your meat in cooled tea and you can add some other herbs and spices of your choice (No salt tho)

Rockets?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac-T3Ts4G6w

>14

I hope it was Liptons...

I think you can use the content of black tea bags in potted plants' soil to ward off pests and mites...

It works for coffee too.

>6
I've used it as a dye too; I was making a tea-themed crazy quilt, and dyed some of the lace appliques with actual tea. Green tea doesn't do much, but black tea turned white lace into a pale orange color.

>10

In my experience, cheap pu-erh tea or black tea works well. Just brew it strong!

Ah and for the blondes chamomile is good for a hair rinse that sort of accentuates the blonde.

I make tea eggs all the time.

>6 and >18

I have used tea as a dye for invitations and letters. I find black/red tea makes a very rich color while loose lavender/jasmine create a rich aroma that adheres to the paper.

>20 I've also used chamomile as a facial steam. Just 3-4 teabags in a largish bowl, add boiling water, and throw a towel over your head.

Bought some spicy holiday tea that I didn't care for the flavor of, but it made a great Christmas potpourri in a simmer pot over a tea candle.

Gmathis (24): I had a similar experience with a tisane (all spices, no tea) that I didn't much like, but it was very tasty simmered with apple cider for a mulled cider.

(This cooler weather has me thinking of mulled cider and other Fall treats.)

>25
It's been over 100 F (about 38C) for 68 days this summer (central Texas) and we're still in the 90s now (over 32C) and the lows at night are above 70 (above 21C), so I'm going into hot tea withdrawal. I started turning up the ceiling fans and brewing up a pot of tea late at night. My spouse thinks I'm nuts. Probably true.

Yes, I drink iced tea. Not the same.

just waiting for winter,
Os.

Several posts referring to the dyeing property of black tea suggest to me that taking a long bath in cold/lukewarm/warm tea might give you an overall tan which, although only lasting a few weeks, would be a lot cheaper and safer than using a sunbed.

Be prepared to bleach the bath afterwards, though!
.

26 (Os) ... I feel your pain from late May to mid-September! It's starting in our whereabouts to let up enough to make a cuppa comfortable in the mornings!

And chamomile does make a nice bath soak!

#27

Finally, a use for the Salada teabags my old roommate left behind! I can never bear to throw out tea, but I can hardly drink that stuff.

I've tried the hair-dying thing.

Keep your used tea leaves for plant fertilizer. Squeeze as much of the excess water as you can out of the tea leaves and then bury them in the soil next to plants and bushes, or in the soil of your houseplants.

My mom used to do that; it's particularly good for plants that like acidic soil.

I absolutely recommend clenching a teabag in the cavity where a tooth was recently extracted. Stops the bleeding, heals, cuts the pain.

After my LASIK surgery, I found the steam from my daily cups of tea to be soothing on my eyes and made a point of "steaming" my eyes at every opportunity for several months. I'm convinced this helped with the healing process and my eye doctor said I healed so well you can barely see the procedure's been done.

My grandma used to sprinkle used loose leaf for cleaning tatami floor and cement patio. It subsides dust cloud when you sweep the area, and aroma of tea remains there a while.

Another way to use used leaf is to mix into flour and water to make face pack (mud pack mask). Recipe varies from person to person, but I like the simplest one.

Used tea leaves have been used in the same way to clean carpets in England and the US since the 19th century at least, though I don't know if anyone still does it!

>36 staffordcastle

I have never thought of cleaning carpets with used tea leaves! I would love to know how, so I can get rid of my guilty feeling that I am wasting precious resources.

Well, I've never done it myself, but I think you just sprinkle the damp tea-leaves on the carpet and sweep them around! Because they're damp, they scoop up the dust.

>38　staffordcastle

Thanks a much!　♪(^^)/

I recently heard that green tea bags soaked in water and placed over the eyes for 15 minutes helps to reduce the size of "bags" under the eyes. It has something to do with the fact that bags under the eyes are caused by blood pooling in the veins and tea helping to minimize the size of the veins. I have no idea if it works though.

Instead of water use brewed tea for making rice in a cooker. Regular rice, I have never tried it with instant. Adds a little different flavor and color, if you use white rice.