TEA AND TEABAGS

When your eyes ache from reading or staring at a computer all day, pamper yourself with some tea. You can drink a cup. or you can wet two tea bags with warm or cool water, and lie down with one tea bag on each eye. Relax for 15 minutes and you will feel invigorated. Chilled chamomile tea bags are particularly effective against puffiness.

To feed you houseplants, for lush, luxurious ferns, give them an occasional spot of tea. Use tea instead of water once in a while, or work wet tea leaves into the soil.

If you can't afford expensive cuts of meat, try marinating or cooking your meat in tea. The tannins in tea work as a tenderizer to make the meat tasty and delicious.

Burns and Sunburns. If you stayed out on the beach just a little too long, and even your sunscreen didn't keep you from getting an uncomfortable sunburn. Wet tea bags can take out the sting. Just pat them onto affected areas or keep in place with gauze. You can put tea into your bath water. This works for other types of burns as well.

Bleeding gums after extractions. If you've had a tooth pulled, or if you have a youngster who just lost a tooth, tea bags can help stop the bleeding. Just wet a tea bag with cool water and press into the spot the tooth came from.

Dust down. Sprinkle damp tea leaves over the ashes of your fireplace before cleaning it out. The tea will help keep the ashes from rising and getting all over the place while you lift them out.

Remove old furniture polish. Boil two tea bags in a quart of water and let cool. Soak a soft cloth in the tea and wring out. Wipe off and old polish, let dry, buff and then decide if you need to reapply polish.

Mirror shine. Brew up a batch of strong tea, let it cool, then use it to clean your mirrors. Buffit dry with a soft cloth for a great Streak-free shine.

Tea for roses. Tea leaves sprinkled under your rose bushes will give them a new lease on life in mid-summer. Tea provides tannic acid, which roses love.

Messy shave. A wet tea bag is a soothing way to treat shaving nicks and cuts.

Fresh breath. A cup of mint tea is a good tasting breath freshener for after meals, especially if you can't brush you teeth, or don't like gum or candy mints. Carry a few mint tea bags with you so you'll always be prepared.