Tea time is over and you’re left with an empty cup and a wet tea bag. You might want to throw it away, but don’t! Here are benefits of green tea that extend far beyond internal health.

From getting rid of under-eye bags to cleaning pots and pans, recycling tea bags are the way to go. Applying these unusual benefits of green tea will be useful around the house and will guarantee some money and time saved!
 
Before listing the ways to recycle tea bags, let’s recap the general benefits of green tea: Some research has shown that when ingested, teas high in the antioxidants polyphenols may help to reduce certain cancer risks as well as the risk of stroke. A critical part of reducing inflammation is also hinged on increased polyphenol intake. Green teas are exceptionally high in these antioxidants. Its active polyphenol, EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), has been shown to be 25 to 100 times more potent than vitamins C and E in terms of antioxidant activity.

Here are seven unusual benefits of green tea that put that potency to work around the house. 

1. Feed Plants
 
To keep your plants moisturized and stimulate growth, add green tea bags to soil under and around the plant. The tea bags retain moisture in the soil and infuse the roots with nutrients. Commercial fertilizer can be high in chemicals and salt, ultimately destroying soil structure in the long-term. You can also empty the tea bags ground leaves into the soil and mix them together before planting flowers or trees. The effect works quite the same.
 
2. Get Rid of Eye Puffiness
 
Whether from a lack of sleep, dehydration, too much salt intake, or an allergic reaction, we’ve all suffered from under-eye puffiness. To remedy this and put our best face forward, use cool tea bags. The tannins found in green tea constrict blood vessels and tame under-eye bags. Place saturated, but not dripping wet, tea bags in the refrigerator until cool. Then, place them under over the eyes and let sit for 5 minutes. They will both cool, soothe redness, and reduce inflammation.
 
3. Prevent Odors

Tea bags are highly absorbent and will take in both liquids and odors. Place dry tea bags in your sock drawer, shoe closet, or locker to get rid of stink and odor-carrying moisture left behind from sweat or heat.
 
4. Clean Pot and Pans

Fill hard-to-remove gunked-on pots and pans to the top with water and a few green tea bags, and soak overnight. The tannins in the tea will help to remove the grease and other residues. The next day, use the tea bags to rub away the gunk. The abrasion is added help in removing the mess without harsh chemicals.
 
5. Flavor Meat
 
Infuse meat with unique flavors by adding tea bags to a marinade. The tea adds a sweet overtone to meat. You can also add it to a vegetable marinades.
 
6. Treat Acne
 
Because of green tea’s antioxidant content, it has a tannic bite and astringency that makes it a natural remedy for acne. Take a few water-saturated tea bags and rub them across skin affected by acne to reduce inflammation, tighten the pores and reveal a smoother, younger complexion.
 
7. Turn Photos Vintage
 
Tea can act as a homemade dye. If you want to give your photographs a vintage look, take a saturated, but not dripping wet, green tea bag and rub it lightly over the surface of the picture a few times. Let it dry and, voila, you have yourself a homemade vintage photo. 

Related on EcoSalon:

20 Unusual Uses for Green Tea

10 Healthy Tea Elixirs You Can Make Yourself

Image Credit: Selma90

The post 7 Unusual Benefits Of Green Tea You Need to Know About appeared first on EcoSalon.

Dust, degrease and disinfect with all natural products and items you already have around the house.

The tulips are blooming, the birds are singing, and you’re on your hands and knees in your ugliest sweatpants scrubbing the grout on the bathroom floor. Spring cleaning isn’t exactly fun, but it’s a necessary evil that can be made a lot more pleasant with the use of natural, non-toxic products that won’t leave you with a headache or require a costly trip to the store. If you’ve got baking soda, vinegar, lemons, an old towel and a handful of other common household items, you can give your house a fresh start without spending any money at all.

Fresh Air In, Odors Out

Closed-up houses may be cozy in the winter, but they tend to smell pretty stale. Get some air moving in your house by opening all the windows and positioning a few fans in strategic places, like hallways and stairways. Placing a fan in the window, facing out, can work wonders for your indoor air quality, making it smell as fresh as the outdoors.

Make Glass Sparkle with Newspaper

Nothing gets glass windows and mirrors quite to a streak-free, so-transparent-it’s-dangerous shine like newspaper. You won’t have problems with smeared text because most newspapers are now printed with water-based inks. The paper leaves behind virtually zero lint. Just spray the glass with a 50/50 mixture of water and white vinegar, rub the glass with a dry cloth and then go over the surface with a piece of newspaper.

Cut Old Towels into Cleaning Rags

Those scratchy towels that are no longer fit for post-shower use could provide you with a dozen or more new, totally free cleaning rags. Just cut them up – most terrycloth towels won’t unravel, so you don’t need to worry about breaking out the sewing machine. It’s far better for the planet than using disposable paper towels.

Eliminate Odors with Fresh Lemons

Even the nastiest of odors can’t stand up to the freshening power of fresh lemons. Get rid of garlic, fish and other strong smells using half a cut lemon or some fresh-squeezed lemon juice. To freshen indoor air, simmer lemon peel on the stovetop, adding water as needed.

Freshen the Fridge with Coffee

Among the many unexpected uses for coffee is absorbing funky odors in the refrigerator. If you’ve got stale coffee grounds, or have a bag that’s no longer good for brewing, place a bowl of them in the fridge for a day or so. You can use the same trick to deodorize virtually anything by placing the object in a plastic bag along with a container of coffee grounds.

Sanitize Sponges With Salt

There’s no use trying to clean anything with a sponge that’s teeming with bacteria. Suds up your sponges, rinse them thoroughly and then soak them in cold, heavily salted water for an hour or two. This process will kill the germs and plump the sponges back up again.

No-Scrub Oven Cleaner

It’s time to tackle that burnt-on mess on the bottom of your oven. Baking soda makes it as easy as it gets, and your next batch of cookies won’t taste faintly of chemical cleaners. Sprinkle it liberally all over the floor of the oven, spray it with water until it’s well dampened, and leave it for a few hours. Then just wipe out the mess and use vinegar to remove the film of baking soda residue left behind.

Vinegar for Cleaning Floors

Use a half-and-half solution of white vinegar and water to clean virtually any type of flooring other than porous stones like slate and granite. You can up the cleaning power for unwaxed wood floors, tile or linoleum by mixing 1/3 white vinegar, 1/3 rubbing alcohol and 1/3 water with 3 drops of dishwashing liquid.

Make Reusable Swiffer Covers

There’s no doubt that Swiffers and other floor cleaning tools that use disposable pads can be convenient. But all those sheets add up fast, not only in cost but in the amount of trash you put out each week. Instead of buying refills, sew up a few of your own covers with a pattern you can find at Berlin’s Whimsy.

De-Gunk Microwaves with Baking Soda and Lemon

The citric acid in lemon juice can loosen even the crustiest food residue that gets splattered all over microwave interiors. Place lemon wedges in a small bowl of water and nuke them for two to three minutes. Let it sit without opening the door for about ten minutes, then wipe out the inside. If you still have any odors or nightmarish globs of unidentifiable gunk left behind, use a paste of baking soda and water to scrub them right out.

Polish Wood With Olive Oil

Add a teaspoon of olive oil to a quarter cup of lemon juice for a non-toxic, gentle furniture polish that will remove dust and bring wood surfaces to a brilliant shine. Because this mixture is free of petroleum and waxes, it won’t build up into a dull, gunky finish over time.

Remove Rust with Salt and Lime Juice

Not only is rust hard to scrub away, sometimes it’s impossible – like when it starts to appear inside a tea kettle. Most commercial rust cleaners are highly toxic, so they’re not exactly ideal for use in bathrooms, let alone on a furnace that comes into contact with food. For spots you can reach, slather them in a paste of salt and lime juice, let it sit for a few hours and then scrub it off. To clean the inside of a tea kettle, just add a cup of lime juice and then fill it up with water. Let it sit overnight and then boil it for about ten minutes.

Disinfect Surfaces With Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil instantly kills bacteria, viruses and mold, so it’s an ideal antiseptic cleaner for extra-germy spots like doorknobs and toilets. Add two cups of hot water to two tablespoons of 20 Mule Team Borax, plus 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap and 1/2 teaspoon tea tree oil. Put it all in a spray bottle, shake it and apply it to any surface that needs to be disinfected.

Deodorize Carpets With Baking Soda

Carpets absorb odors all too easily, making it hard to get rid of a smell like smoke or pet urine. Make them smell almost new again (minus the overwhelming plastic smell of off-gassing VOCs) by sprinkling them with baking soda and letting it sit overnight before vacuuming it all up.

Dust With Old Socks

If your dryer is in on the sock-eating conspiracy, you probably have a few lonely socks sitting around. No need to throw them away. Put one over your hand like a glove and use it to dust surfaces around the house. This works especially well with athletic socks that have been turned inside-out, since the inside is usually textured.

Polish Metal Surfaces With Half a Lemon

Easily remove food residue, fingerprints and other grime from stainless steel or chrome surfaces by slicing a lemon in half, dipping it in salt and rubbing it on the surface in circular motions. Rinse with water.

Unclog Drains With Baking Soda and Vinegar

Drain cleaner is enough to give anyone a migraine. Next time, don’t put yourself through the trauma of gagging on toxic fumes. Dump 3/4 cup of baking soda down the drain and chase it with 1/2 cup white vinegar. Plug the drain, let it sit for 30 minutes and then rinse it out with a kettle full of boiling water. If you do this on a regular basis, you probably won’t have a problem with clogs anymore.

Brighten Yellowed Linens With Lemons or Salt

You don’t need bleach to get white sheets, towels and other laundry looking crisp and bright. Add a quarter cup of lemon juice to the assign machine and then hang them out to dry in the sun. Alternately, you could boil them in a big pot of water with a few tablespoons of salt plus a few tablespoons of baking soda.

Kill Mold With Borax and Vinegar

Mix half a cup of white vinegar with half a cup of Borax (the type sold in the laundry aisle, not the bug-killing kind.) Dilute that mixture with 1/4 cup of warm water, then pour it into a spray bottle. Apply it immediately to moldy surfaces to kill and loosen the mold spores so they’re easy to wipe away.

Organize Cleaning Supplies with a Shoe Holder

Over-the-door shoe holders can organize a lot more than just shoes. Keep all of your cleaning products and tools – which should include boxes of baking soda, bottled vinegar, Borax, empty spray bottles, dish soap, reusable rags, socks and essential oils – visible and handy. Everything will be easy to access and you’ll be able to tell at a glance when you’re running low on a certain item.

Photos: Muffet, Horia Varlan, Beaufort’s TheDigital, Andrew Comings

The post 20 Ways to Spring Clean Without Spending a Cent appeared first on EcoSalon.

House-cleaning made sexy. 

I could so do some serious scrubbing with this eco-cleaning kit from The Laundress. Their products smell amazing (scented with a blend of bergamot, thyme, lavender, musk and ylang ylang) and are fully green. The white enamel pail adds a classy touch, a definitive upgrade from the industrial blue plastic ones you’re likely to find in the cleaning aisle of your local box store.

We’ve written about how to keep house naturally before. The Laundress takes it to an entirely boutique-y level. Let’s call it haute clean. Because the products are so concentrated a little goes a long way, hence the minimal and sophisticated packaging.

Available from The Laundress for $65 and up.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

The post Lustables: Eco-Luxury Cleaning Products appeared first on EcoSalon.