I Made Tea…Now What?

I Made Tea…Now What?

You finished making the perfect cup of tea. You have made multiple cups…now what? Either you can throw away your perfectly good used leaves or find something else to do with them! I personally like option two. I often find myself buying expensive tea, and feeling bad when I am done brewing. So I took it upon myself to find five ways you can reuse your old tea bags!

1) Create a Bath Scrub

Winter is currently upon us and I know my skin is suffering because of it. So the first and one of the easiest ways to reuse your tea leaves is to make a salt scrub. The recipe is extremely simple. To make a Black Tea Salt Scrub, you need:

  • 4 black tea pouches (ground or leafy does not matter)
  • 2 cups salt (iodized or sea salt)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil

This is the basic recipe, the best part is you can, in turn, customize it. For example, you can add lavender essential oils and lavender flowers to the scrub. Or you can make the recipe a Chamomile Black Tea Salt Scrub by using 2 chamomile pouches/parts and 2 black tea pouches/parts instead of 4 black tea pouches. You also can easily substitute the salt for sugar. You can also use any kind of tea you wish: herbal, white, green, black. The choice is yours! Each tea has its own health benefits as you can read in my earlier article The Tea about Drinking Tea. This makes a wonderful spa treat for yourself and you did not have to waste any leaves to make this!

2) Take a Tea Bath!

If you have read my previous article I took a Tea Bath, you will know I fully support this idea. (If you haven’t read my article, it’s pretty good if I say so myself) But if you are an avid tea drinker like myself, used tea leaves, once you start saving them, pile up fairly quickly. What better way to get rid of tea leaves then to make yourself a beautiful relaxing bath? Even if the bath water does not turn colors or it is very subtle, those leaves still have all of the health benefits contained in them! But I will give you more than that, here is a bath salts recipe that will combine the tea leaves and other great products! To make Black Tea Bath Salt Soak, you need:

  • 1 cup Epsom Salt or Pink Himalayan Salt
  • 3 bags Black or Green Tea
  • 1/8 Cup Coconut Oil or Shea Butter (optional)

Again this is a very basic recipe and you can customize it a lot for your own wants and preferences. Switch out oils or salts for different kinds or even add essential oils. Another ingredient you can add is rose petals or lavender flowers. And again there are different health benefits to whatever tea you use so do not be afraid to switch it up and try different kinds! Next time you soak, try this marvelous concoction!

3) Reduce Dark Circles!

Putting cooled black tea pouches under your eyes can reduce dark circles and swelling. Pretty cool right? So if you have just brewed some nice tea, you can pop those beauties in the fridge or freezer if you are running short on time (make sure they do not freeze but are chilled) and then put them under your eyes! It is the same idea as using cold spoons, but with the added punch of the benefits of the black tea as well (helps with skin aging, tone, and acne).

4) DIY Hair Rinse!

There are a lot of benefits of doing hair rinses! It can stop shedding, improve hair growth, and make your hair beautiful and shiny. Even though you used the leaves for a cup of tea, the vitamins do not just stop being in the leaves! Just steep the leaves in hot water (I would use boiling water just to get all the juice out of those leaves!) for about 15-20 minutes. Allow the tea to cool completely before using and pouring on the scalp and massaging in the tea to your hair and scalp. Using used tea leaves for a hair rinse might actually be safer for your hair color as well! When using new black tea leaves, the rich color that is shown when steeping can actually make your hair darker. Each kind of tea can actually provide different individual benefits:

  • Black Tea: strengthen hair roots, darken hair
  • Green Tea: prevents early grey hairs, strengthens and shines hair
  • Peppermint Tea: cools and refreshes itchy, irritated scalp
  • Chamomile Tea: Brightens blonde hair, soothes the scalp
  • Lavender Tea: moisturizes and conditions hair

If you would like stronger results, of course, you can use new tea bags or even make it half new and half old. But this could be a fun treat for your hair and yourself!

5) Black Tea Face Mask!

There are a lot of ways to make a face mask (Thank you Pinterest!) But I found a recipe that was so simple, anyone can have time to make it! The lady who made this recipe owns a blog called Tattooed Martha and the original post can be found here. It calls for three simple ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp damp black tea leaves (rinse under water)
  • 1 tbsp raw honey
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Mix these ingredients together and then apply to face. Leave the mixture on for five minutes, then gently start washing the mask away with water, massaging and exfoliating your skin as you do so. The antibacterial properties in the honey and lemon and the caffeine from the black tea will make your skin say thank you!


And that is five ways to reuse your old tea bags – spa edition! I hope you learned something and found perhaps something new to try! Happy Brewing!

-Danielle

3 thoughts on “I Made Tea…Now What?

  1. I like the hair rinse idea. Thanks for putting the benefits of each tea type. Might try next time I save some tea bags ??

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