Thursday, August 25, 2016

A mysterious teacup ailment

Some months ago, I mentioned finding my current favorite chintz teacup, this $3.33 find from one of the area Goodwill stores. It was stained in the bottom (and now it is again), but I bleached it out and it cleaned right up. But then …

Some days later, I prepared a cup of tea and saw these mysterious black spots  begin to appear …

And these! So now I'm rather spooked and don't use the teacup anymore. I've Googled and learned I shouldn't have used bleach, but the reasoning was only that bleach can damage the teacup, not that it could cause a stain. Now since chemistry was never my best subject in school, I'm wondering if any of you smart people might have an explanation for the black spots on my teacup. Anyone?

13 comments:

  1. I don't have any ideas for the black spots, but I have started using baking soda instead of bleach to clean my tea cups. Not sure how it would work on stains that are rather permanent, though. It's a beautiful tea cup! Hope you can find a way to remove the black.

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  2. Hmmm, that's a mystery for sure! I hope the baking soda works or you can find something else that will be a permanent fix.

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  3. A friend of mine said to make a paste of vinegar and salt and put on the spots and let them sit for about 20 minutes and rinse. Then repeat if stain is somewhat stubborn. I don't know if this will work, but it won't cost much to try it. Good luck!

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  4. Um. Hi. I'm an aracheological materials person with two masters degrees in ceramic analysis. Your teacup has metallic lustre on it (the gold) which requires a special lower firing temp and has actual metal components. Sometimes you can taste this. It looks to me like the bleach reacted with the metal particles and oxidized them. What you're seeing is a pigment tarnish stain. As a rule, the older the cup the more I'd recommend against drinking from it regularly. Sometimes there might be lead glaze concerns, metallic particles if they break off can be dangerous to ingest, as well as any glazes in the red color arena or any that display crackle or an irredescent petina. It likely won't kill you but it's never a good idea to get involved with a ceramic that's not totally inert.

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    1. Thanks for the excellent explanation, Gail! Sounds like I've just found a nice new container for a miniature African violet. I had a feeling someone who did better than I in chemistry class would be able to offer some thoughts on these black spots on my teacup. I so appreciate it!

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    2. Wow, that was the most impressive response! Thank you for the education Gail. I'll revisit this from time to time to make sure I am being safe with my vintage tea cup finds.

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  5. Wow! I have always used bleach too, I will start using baking soda. Thank you Gail for the education. I have never had the black spots appear before, good to know.

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  6. I must agree with Gail, as my first thought was that it was a reaction to the gold line inside the cup. Good to read her explanation.

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  7. I would try making a little baking soda paste and using a paper towel or cloth rub the paste over the black areas or the entire inside of the cup. That might take it off. I don't know what the black is from, and I would put that cup where I could admire it and not use it. Hope we get to the bottom of this mystgery.

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  8. Thank you for the useful information i love tea and my teacup, look like not good condition so thank's for useful information.

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  9. What a beautiful cup. My first thought when I noticed the black spots along the gold line was oxidation of the metal, like silver and copper jewelry will oxidize.
    I keep baking soda in an old parmesan cheese shaker container, a little shake of baking soda in a tea stained cup, tea pot or pitcher and a wet rag rubs off easily. It's so convenient even hubby uses it to wipe out stains.

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  10. So sorry to see that happened, Angela - that is such a beautiful tea cup! Glad to know you had some helpful comments on what might have caused it, glad to know you will be repurposing the cup. Joanie

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  11. I use denture cleaning tablets to get rid of tea stains.

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