Scavenger Chic

From Paint Removal to Tea Stains

• By Joan
• April 3, 2024
• 3 Comments

From Paint Removal to Tea Stains

How do you get from paint removal to tea stains?  It’s really not that far of a stretch…I have a pair of very decorative  and very paint encrusted hinges attached to an old window that I wanted to save.

If the paint covering your old screws is too thick to insert a screwdriver, my favorite trick is to use a Dremel with a cutting blade to carve out a notch in which to stick the screwdriver.  It works every time.

I didn’t currently have any paint remover in my stash so I googled natural paint removers.   What came up was, add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to a pot of water and boil for about 10 minutes.  Sounded easy enough and I just  happen to have both baking soda and water. 😀 

After 10 minutes of boiling, I let the water cool down for another 5 minutes.  Something was definitely happening in there.

With just my fingers and a light scrubbing most of the first layers of paint came right off. 

It looks like there was a red paint on the right side of the hinge that gave the water it’s rusty color.

Back into the bath he went.  This time, when he emerged,  I gave the hinge a scrubbing with a wire brush.

After his second bath I would say the baking soda method works pretty darn well with a lot less mess than with regular paint removers. I would definitely use this method again.

It was only after cleaning up my paint removing mess did I notice my cooking pot.  My pot that I’m always using to steep tea in.  The pot that always has a perpetual stain. My pot that is about 40 years old.  It looked brand new.

Yes, I have tried to scrub the pot with a brillo pad, yes, it does go in the dishwasher just about daily.   It was just a stain that I’ve learned to live with.

I actually have 2 pots that I brew tea in which gives a great comparison.  The pot on the left is the one I just used to boil my hinges with just water and baking soda. The  tea tannin stain has just disappeared.

After I brew my tea it always goes right into a pitcher in the refrigerator.  So while the tea in the pot may steep for only 15 minutes, more or less.  The tea in the pitcher is always there.  No amount of muscle was removing this tea stain.

Of course I had to continue my experiment.  What would baking soda, water and boiling do to this awful stain?

After 10 minutes of boiling water and a couple tablespoons of baking soda the stain has practically vanished.  You can even see how much water I had put into the pitcher for the first round.

After a second round I have a brand new pitcher. It’s a vanishing tea stain miracle!

As for the window that I took the hinges off of, it now sports a cute little dried boxwood wreath.

I haven’t used the hinges on anything just yet but I do use my tea pitcher every day.

As always, stay inspired.

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