Are you a tea drinker? Here are some easy and unique ways to use those leftover tea bags.

By ALEXIS ROCHESTER

This is a great post to read during the winter if you are a tea drinker!

I love drinking hot tea when it is cold outside, and I have dozens of leftover tea bags each week and instead of throwing them away, we have some great ideas for how to use them.

Why are tea bags beneficial?

The chemistry inside tea is fantastic! You can head to the blog post to learn the breakdown of chemicals and how it works.

(Note, all of these ideas are for black or green tea.)

Used tea bags for eyes

With all the antioxidant activity, caffeine and minerals in tea bags, it can do wonders for the skin under your eyes!

It can lighten dark circles, de-puff, help the appearance of fine lines and make you feel more awake. Keep a few used tea bags in the fridge, take them out when you are ready to use them, then place them under your eye area.

Allow them to sit for about 15-20 minutes to get the benefits!

Used tea bags for acne

You can use either black tea or green tea for this, but green tea will contain more of the catechines we talked about in this article.

Green tea will do a few things for acne. It will soothe swelling and inflammation, but it also works as an anti-bacterial. These are all great things for acne.

Take a few leftover green tea bags and brew them in a small pot with about 1 cup of water.

Let this liquid cool and add to a spray bottle. Spritz your face after washing it. You can rub it gentle around your face and let is sit for a few minutes, then rinse off. Apply face cream as you normally would.

This is best to use within a few days, store leftovers in refrigerator.

Carpet freshener

After you finish up with black tea or green tea bags, sit them out and allow to dry completely. You can also cut open the tea bag, sprinkle the contents onto a paper towel, then let it dry.

The key to this tip is DRY tea leaves.

Use them in this great recipe to freshen up your carpets!

Soothe bug bites

Remember this post on homemade remedies for bug bites? One of the tips in there is tea bags!

If you have a used tea bag that is still damp, use it to soothe bug bites! Just place the tea bag directly onto the bite. Let it sit a few minutes for relief.

Plant food

We have a post about this from last year. You can read more here!

This can work for used tea bags or new ones.

Cut open the tea bag and sprinkle around plants. All those vitamins and minerals help nourish the soil which nourishes your plants. I use leftover tea bags for potted flowers, flower beds, even the grass.

This can work any time of year too.

Create plant water with old tea bags

Take a bunch of old tea bags, brew them in a pot of water, allow to cool, then water your potted flowers. This leftover tea bag water is weaker than the tea you drink, but contains just enough nutrition to boost blooms.

I talked to a lady who has done this for 30 years, and she swears by it for flower blooms!

We have a lot more ideas for old tea bags in the blog post, so head over to check out the rest of them!

Alexis Rochester is an investigative chemist, blogger and founder of Chemistry Cachet. She shares science-based skin care, cleaning, gardening and health tips. She was diagnosed with RA at age 10, so she has a passion for pain management tips and research, along with sharing her journey through this disease. When she’s not writing for Chemistry Cachet, she is taking Pilates or Barre classes, and also received her Barre teaching certification this year! She grew up in Stephenville and recently moved back with her daughter, husband and bulldog. You can find her posting pictures and fun stories daily on Instagram. Also look for Chemistry Cachet on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn.