tea stains. smoked cheese.

[darkoshi]

How to Clean Coffee & Tea Stains In White Mugs - linked for the comments more than the article. I first tried what one person suggested - making hot cocoa in the mug (I heated chocolate soymilk in the mug using the microwave, and then drank it); that didn't lighten my stains much, if at all. Then I tried the suggestion of using a toothbrush and toothpaste on the stains - that worked wonders. I now have a white mug again.

Miyoko's Smoked VeganMozz - a smoky vegan soft cheese. The texture and flavor don't make me think of "mozzarella" at all (as in the kind of cheese shreds usually put on pizza), and it doesn't get stretchy when melted. But it tastes wonderful, either cold or heated. I just realized today, the flavor reminds me more of what German leberwurst used to taste like, or the vegan pates that come in small metal cans, than cheese. Here is a better photo of what the cheese really looks like. Of course, like most vegan cheeses, it's expensive.

Comments

[marahmarie]

This is an amazing conversation to have as I got back from the store not more than a few hours ago, where for the first time in my life I saw Brillo without soap in it: a box for something like $1.10, dirt cheap. I was amazed (and almost bought it; now I wish I had bought it, just to snap a pic to show you).

If you have a Winn-Dixie near you, that's where I found it tonight. But (ETA) as far as one wad lasting forever, if it's made of the same stuff as classic Brillo is, it won't, because it rusts before you can get more than a few uses out of it (which was why I was impressed with the price on the box I saw tonight, because I know I tend throw out wad after wad so can go through a box rather quickly).

And while the rust won't actually stop the pad from still working somewhat well (at least, for a short time) it can create surface stains of its own that are even tougher to get rid of.

As to harshness, yes, it is harsh, so commenters who said Brillo/SoS/steel wool in general will finely abrade and eventually ruin the inside of your mugs are right.

But when the mugs are easily replaceable dollar store crap it's quantity over quality for me; I for one won't waste time/money/bleach/salt/lemons/bicarbonate/etc. on something I'll be just as likely to drop and break within a year that only cost me a dollar to begin with.

That said, there's one mug I've had about 15 years that quite sadly I've abraded inside and out; it has some sentimental value and is highly unusual, attractive, and perhaps would be a collector's item by now if I hadn't messed it up so bad. Shouldn't have used the Brillo on it, but I began doing so long before I knew what the result would be.

Which reminds me, just for the curious: one of the article commenters asked can't a restaurant or nursing home use a bucket of soapy bleach water to soak the stains out of all the mugs at once? And the answer is yes, they can, and that's in fact how many restaurants I've worked in do it - minus the soap, which comes afterward, when the cups are run through the dishwashing machine again.

So the process goes something like this: 1) wash a bunch of cups, 2) observe they're stained inside, usually to varying degrees, 3) gather said cups into one or more of several large dishpans, 3) fill dishpans with hot bleach water, 4) soak cups until the stains fade out, 5) run through the dishwasher again, air dry and use.

It *is* sort of fascinating stuff, for me, anyhow.. :)

[darkoshi]

We used to have a few Winn Dixies here but they closed. I'll look for the soap free Brillo though. That's a coincidence! It would last forever, because I wouldn't need to use it very often, and what I used to do was pull off a small amount to use, rather than using a full wad all at once.

[marahmarie]

Huh. Similar to what I do when things are really tight (as opposed to uh, I guess, the usual tightness?): I buy a box of eight Brillos at the dollar store for $1, cut them all in half, and use the halves up until they rust out so bad I just can't use them anymore.

In better times I don't cut them, just use them up and throw them out - since they're much smaller than the standard grocery store size to begin with - but maybe for the environment I should keep that up, even when there is an extra dollar or two floating around.

Nut sure if that dulls my scissors, though (I should look that up; I've heard that cutting tin foil sharpens them, but I ought to just go refresh my memory on both). ETA: just checked; cutting through either is said to actually sharpen your scissors! So can't go wrong there.