Cleaning China Cups

Tea is important to me. I like the ritual of making it, I like the taste, and I like the trappings that come with it. I'm a sucker for an accessory and tea is full of them.

The most basic accessory is, of course, the teacup and saucer. While they come in a variety of colors, traditionally the teacup is white on the inside so that the color of the tea is best showcased. A white interior mixed with a dark tea means, eventually, you're going to get stains. And while a tea-stained cup might be alright for day-to-day, it doesn't do when you are serving tea to guests.

I dislike bleach for cleaning items that contain food unless absolutely necessary, so I decided to try my favorite cleaning method - baking soda and distilled white vinegar. I got the cup wet, then dusted the inside with the baking soda. I put the cup in the sink and poured in some vinegar, enough to make the baking soda fizz and turn it into a paste. Using a clean cloth (I don't use paper towels, but they would also work), I rubbed the paste all around the inside of the cup and the stains came right off. I finished by washing it the normal way and letting it dry.

So far this has worked for both porcelain and bone china and hasn't had any effect on the hand-painted or gold leaf exteriors.