When is the last time you went through your CD collection? I just moved so I found literally hundreds of CD’s that I haven’t seen in years. Ever since the Ipod came out there really isn’t a need for them anymore, so most people just stick them in a cabinet somewhere and forget about them.
The same thing happened to me with teabags. Once upon a time I used to drink regular old teabags. I then found the entire world of loose tea and I haven’t touched the cheap bagged stuff since. So I have some old bagged teas sitting in my cabinet that have been there for years.
Luckily there is a use for these bags, but it isn’t for drinking. If you have hardwood floors then crappy tea is perfect for giving them a good shine.
Black tea will make your hardwood floor shine
The reason why it works is because tea contains tannins. Tannins are the part of tea that can make your mouth pucker up if you steep it too long. Wood also naturally contains tannins so when you use the tea on the wood it really brings out the shine.
The first step is to steep the tea
Steep about 4 teabags in a quart of water, but steep it for at least 15 minutes to maximize the amount of tannins in the solution.
Let the tea cool
This is very important because if you don’t the hot tea could damage your hardwood floors
Pour the tea solution in a spray bottle
I find using a spray bottle gives you the most control over the amount of liquid you use. What you defiantly don’t want to do is dump a bunch of liquid all over your floors because it could warp them.
Test a small area on your floor
While I have never had a problem with using tea on hardwood floors, my general philosophy is to always test any type of cleaning product on a small patch first just to be certain that it won’t do anything weird.
Spray, let it dry and buff
All you have to do is spray the solution on the floor, let it dry and then buff it out with a Swiffer or a dry mop
The best thing is it has no chemicals
This is key for when my baby Niece comes to visit since she is zipping around on the floors all day. No chemicals means no weird reactions, which is good for so many different reasons.
So this is a cheap, all natural way to keep your floors shining for months. And now if I can only find some way to use all of those old CD’s…
Photo courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/tomwachtel/6365453941
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