Advice with coffee/tea stains

[tomturbomatic]

Our first GE portable with the pink interior had an interesting owner's manual. I remember the procedure for removing coffee and tea stains from dishes in those days before chlorinated detergents. After you loaded the stained items, BUT NO METAL ITEMS, one cup of bleach was poured into a glass measure which was set directly over the center of the impeller on the grid at the bottom and then the machine was run through a complete cycle. The positioning of the glass where it would not be knocked over by the water allowed bleach to overflow into each fill. I don't know how well it worked because we used a chlorinated institutional dishwasher detergent and never had stains.

I have several Rubbermaid one gallon iced tea pitchers and only one of them develops stains in the pitcher and its cover. I just take care of it periodically with a little bit of bleach and hot water and wash it out with a paper towel. The bleach eats up the paper towel. There is almost nothing to throw away.

 

[bradfordwhite]

...or you could just...

do a quick rinse of the item with cold water

and/or soak the dish in plain water before putting in the dw and starting the machine.

 

No chemicals needed.  No need to get your hands dirty.  No hot water needed.  But whatever....

 

[tomturbomatic]

I don't know if you are talking about plastics, but from the time plastics were invented, coffee and tea stains have been a problem and manufacturers of Melamine plastics cautioned against using scouring cleansers to remove stains so soaking in clear water does not remove the stains nor does washing with a non-chlorinated detergent, not even with a heavy hand and a heavy dishcloth. Does anyone remember the campaign to use baking soda for cleaning plastics?

 

[DADoES]

 
<blockquote>...or you could just...

do a quick rinse of the item with cold water

and/or soak the dish in plain water before putting in the dw and starting the machine.

No chemicals needed. No need to get your hands dirty. No hot water needed. But whatever....</blockquote> Doesn't work on plastic tea pitchers with recurring history in the refrigerator for a week at a time between batches, or for stains on the funnel of the iced tea maker.

 

[circlew]

I remove tea stains from my plastic pitcher with Bar Keeper's Friend. I wet the container, sprinkle in some BKF, and wipe away the stains.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Using abrasives on plastics will, over time, make the propensity to stain worse because it abrades the surface. I just tried some baking soda on a damp paper towel on some light staining inside a Rubbermaid pitcher and it removed it. It is supposed to be a mild abrasive and was recommended for removing stains from Melamine dinnerware.

 

[gansky1]

I've been using this for some time now, works well for the pre-wash on loads that have staining or discoloration.   I don't care for it as a daily detergent, doesn't handle baked on soils, egg, etc. so I use an enzyme based detergent for the main wash.

 

There are two Cascade gel versions on the shelf at our local store, a dark green bottle and this lighter green.  $4.94/bottle.

 

[johnb300m]

Update and likely solution!

Figured I'd give this sunken thread a little update.

I've been experimenting with a few things and I think I found an acceptable solution!
There's a supermarket in my area called Tony's Fresh Market, and they sell select boxes of Finish Advanced Powder. So I tried that, and I had some rather positive results!
One caveat. The Finish powder must dissolve quicker than other powders I use, because 4/5 times, if I check the detergent cup for the main wash, most of it is flushed out.
Either way, if I manually add it to the main wash after the prewash on Normal, I've been getting some really nice results with coffee stains being neutralized on almost every mug.

In order to curb the annoyance of adding the powder to the MW, I've been trying the Finish Quantum pacs again, in addition with the Finish powder in the pre-wash, with equally good or better results. The pacs don't pre-flush away through the barely sealing old KA dispenser cover.
The Quantum pacs, with my water, also do not seem to cause excessive foaming in the KA23, like the Cascade Complete and Platinum pacs do.

So I'm not sure what it is. Finish has been working great on my coffee stains.
Maybe they have different ratios of bleaching agents than the others.
On the cups that had lingering stains, I scrubbed them off with BKF, and they have not returned.

 

[askolover]

This is wonderful stuff...used in my KUDI23

Palmolive ECO gel has chlorine in it too but I personally prefer the powder above.