This is more of a tip for upkeep

[Marthe48]

I have pottery or ceramic mugs for coffee. I think the newest one is about 3 years old and the oldest is over 30. Anyway, as I use them their white interiors get stained from the coffee. I have no dishwasher, so I wash everything by hand. I learned a trick from my grandmother. Fill the stained cups with warm water and put a few drops of bleach in each cup. Let them sit for awhile and the stains will disappear. Wash and rinse the cups well, let them dry, good to go. I just did 4 mugs. What a difference.

[Walleye]

1. Thanks for the tip. I discovered the same thing only with Clorox spray cleaner

Tea and coffee both really stain

[surrealAmerican]

2. If you don't want to use bleach ...

... and you know the stain is from something acidic (like coffee or tea), baking soda works. Combine a tablespoon or two with a little water; rub it on the stain; leave it for a few minutes; wash as usual.

[Marthe48]

4. Thanks

I want to go over the interiors with a magic eraser before I'm done. Some of the stains looked like build-up.

My Mom used a brown mug with a drip glaze. She never washed it, rarely rinsed it out. Said it would ruin the taste of the coffee. I have that mug wrapped up and put away.

[Warpy]

3. My dishes 50 years ago were Woolworth's white

During one particularly nasty arthritis flare, I told the ex I needed a set of cheap plastic dishes for the duration because even though I found hot water soothing when I washed dishes, the weight of the china was getting to me. The ex grumbled and moaned and brought his nasty coffee mug from work home that night, said if I could get rid of the stains and smell I could get the damn dishes.

I did the bleach trick (that's why they call it "bleach" ) and an hour later, presented him with a clean mug. He shut up and I got the cheap plastic dishes that I used during bad flares for the next 10 years. After I dumped the ex, I just used paper plates during flares and tossed them into the trash when I was done. That was even better.

[MadLinguist]

5. I LOVE your story of the exodus of the ex

bleach, plastic, dump ex, paper. I bet the cadence of your arthritis flares slowed after the exodus

[EverHopeful]

6. Don't know if it works on pottery but Efferdent

worked wonders on a badly stained enameled pot.

My cousin used it to make big batches of iced tea and it was awfully stained. Read the tip about Efferdent and there was no elbow grease required to quickly bring it back to pristine white.

[Marthe48]

7. I forgot about Efferdent

It was a trick I learned to clean vintage dishes. I had a big box in the hall closet, and forgot why I had them