Tea cup scale

Over the years I have noticed one thing about my wife's and my teacups. Her cup developed a scale that had to be scrubbed off, my cup didn't. I have always thought it was due to me taking sugar. Now thanks to a recent blood test I have given up sugar and now both our cups get scaled.

Just wondering has anyone else noticed this?

Calcium buildup. Like you get in kettles, steam irons, etc. ???

And I thought this was 1/2 pint to 1 imperial gallon

As an aside my coffee cup develops more sludge than OH who drinks hers black so potentially complex issues with protein binders as well as saturation levels (she dilutes her coffee more) and residual water minerals still in solution.

And I thought that I'd see a wee steam engine sitting in a teacup...

for several years as a student and after I worked in various backstreet garages businesses that shared a common yard. As the junior I had to make the tea which stained the mugs with tannin and every so often bleach them out.

I remember a deep philosophical discussion - did the bleach remove the tannin or just bleach it so it was still there but invisible against the white inside of the mugs?

Was drawn to this thread thinking it was like 3.5" 5", T or N !!! But yes ! leave a pint glass 3/4 full of water round here for a week or 2 Then empty it, you will have a chalk line round the slowly dropping water line and a devil of a job to remove - H2SO4 ! This brings me to a similar point that I will post as a new thread. Noel

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I’ve not noticed it, because neither of us takes sugar [and anyway, I drink black Coffee] … But it does seem reasonably logical.

The micro-surface of the cup will almost inevitably be pitted; forming sites where limescale [and tannin] deposits take-hold.

I would posit that the Sugar effectively ‘gets there first’ and forms a protective layer [similar in concept to Teflon coating?]

MichaelG.

Although living in an area noted for its soft water, it is still surprising to see white deposits around a glass of water used as a humidifier on a radiator.

Regards Ian.

Perhaps you should modify your statement to "Coffee without milk" MG. PC and all that.

Edited By Circlip on 30/12/2021 10:42:53

Tannin stains in tea cups remove very well with a washing soda solution. Sodium hydroxide works as well, but will etch the glaze on the Cups.

Since we drink tea by the gallon in this household we often have a couple of mugs soaking by the sink.

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NOT A CHANCE

MichaelG.

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P.S. __ You are dragging Politics into a perfectly innocent statement

And if you use CIF it will adequately clean the tea stain, but produce fine scratches on the cup and spoon that then increase the rate of brown stain depositied. Contains limstone dust as a 'mild' abrasive.

Bill

A strong solution of baking soda's pretty effective too. I leave it to soak overnight.