40 Weird And Wonderful Uses For Tea Bags That You’ll Probably Want To Share With Friends
Almost 80 billion gallons of tea are consumed around the world each year – and that probably means a lot of tea bags are thrown in the trash. But when you see the results of these ingenious tea bag hacks, you’ll never look at a used tea bag in the same way again. Don’t believe us? Well, just watch what happens when you dip a tea bag in a dirty dish – or apply one to an insect bite. Whether it’s black, green, white or Oolong, today’s used tea bags offer all of the following surprisingly clever uses.
40. Reduces puffiness and dark circles around the eyes
Applying a cool or refrigerated used tea bag on your eyes for ten to 15 minutes can reduce dark circles and puffiness. The magic ingredient is the tea’s tannin – which reduces swelling. For the best results, however, use green tea as it has a higher caffeine content and contains an anti-inflammatory called EGCG. And it’s those two compounds that help reduce the excess fluid that causes the issue in question.
39. Face mist
When the weather heats up, it can be a relief to apply a facial mist throughout the day. Yet University of Illinois alumna Jessica recommends a DIY recipe of green tea and vitamin E on her College Fashion blog. She claims that not only is the concoction an instant freshener, but the EGCG and vitamin E can also help repair damage caused by sun exposure.
38. Keep pests away
Tea is the most popular drink in the world after water. But other creatures — such as rats – aren’t so fond of the stuff. So place used tea bags around your kitchen to keep the room rodent free. The tea experts at website Your Tea Headquarters also suggest adding a few drops of peppermint oil to dry sachets to keep ants away.
37. Plant fertilizer
Tea contains nutrients that can be beneficial to plants. In fact, there is appreciably more nitrogen found in tea leaves than in shop-bought plant fertilizers. What difference does that make? Well, nitrogen helps to encourage abundant growth. Plus, used tea leaves will help keep soil moist as well as discouraging weeds from sprouting around your flower beds.
