Cleaning Tea Pots and Cups

I don't have a fancy tea set but I do have nice ceramic mugs that I like to use for hot tea. I have the problem that they get stained with the tea (like a brown rim) and the dishwasher doesn't seem to know how to clean that. I've tried rinsing them out right after I finish my tea and washing them by hand but it always takes a lot of elbow grease and even then, they're not always clean.

Well, I have finally found the solution for cleaning them! You put a generous amount (I used about a tablespoon for each cup) of baking soda in the cup and put in just enough water to form a paste (I had a little extra water, which was fine but you don't want it to be too watery). Then you use a sponge, cloth, whatever you use to wash dishes by hand with to spread the paste along the stain. This will take minimal scrubbing and it comes out just perfectly clean!

You can use this method with tea pots too. If your pot's spout has build up, you can use a pipe cleaner or the sort to get it clean. I wash my cups every time I use them but I am told for tea pots, depending on what kind of tea was in it to begin with, you only need to wash them every 3-4 times you have tea. With how simple this method of cleaning is, you won't mind cleaning them more than that (if need be)!

I'm going to choose to wash the cups like I normally would, even with the stains gone because my sponge wasn't the cleanest but as long as you rinse well, I don't believe it's actually necessary. I would also like to note that these stains were in a white mug that had been run through the dishwasher at least once, if not twice and the stains still came out perfectly fine! (Some stains seem really set in, similar to putting a stain through the wash and the dryer.)