Iced tea stains in a glass jar

How can I safely remove tea stains from the inside of a glass jar? You know those old 2-quart glass jars that orange juice used to come in? With a narrow opening and a screw-on lid? I use those jars to store iced tea in and then keep the jars in the fridge. The problem is that they're slowly getting a nasty stain in them from the tea. 

Here's what I've tried (compliments of Google):

Put the jars in the dishwasher. (Does not work)

Soak the inside of the jars in dishwashing liquid. (Does not work)

Soak the inside of the jars in bleach. (I haven't tried this; it's bleach! Is that OK for something that stores food?)

Soak the inside of the jars in baking soda in hot water (Does not work)

Scrub the jars with a paste of lemon juice and salt. (How do you scrub the inside of a jar when you can't get your hand in the jar? I have a bottle brush; it doesn't work.)

Scrub the jars with an SOS pad. (Again, I can't get my hand inside the jar!)

Can somebody please tell me how to get my glass jars clean again?

Something like this should work:

View media item 182313
You could probably MacGyver one with a regular scrubber sponge.

The glass inside is likely etched (scratched), and the stains are deep into the glass. It may not be possible to get the stains out.

I would try the straight Bleach in the bottle mixed with some boiling water (probably 50/50, and then swish it around as needed.  And then rinse and rinse and rinse.

If that doesn't work, nothing will.

Try denture tablets. Really it works.

Doing the bleach now. Thank you. I'm going to let the bleach set in the jars for a while, then rinse them out, then throw them into the dishwasher.

I asked Rick to ask his mom for some denture tablets....if the bleach doesn't work, I'll try them next. Thanks!

I always make sun tea so if it stains the jar,use a SOS pads to clean it. Get a long knife and put the SOS pad in the end. It works for me.

BBDOLL22 said:

Try denture tablets. Really it works.

Click to expand...

That's a good idea.

FWIW, to use baking soda I think it helps to mix it with something acidic like vinegar or lemon juice. I used that to clean a white baking dish that had stained. It really worked.

My only suggestion is to let it soak in a mixture of water and dishwasher, not dishwashing, detergent. That's worked for me before, but it sounds like your stains are much too tough.

put some ice cubes in the jar along with some lemon slices and about a tbsp of salt and then swirl it around in the jar. it works really good on coffeepots so it might work on tea stains too

learned that when i worked in a restaurant many years ago

Actually, the bleach worked fairly well. I let straight bleach sit in the jars a little over an hour or so. Then rinsed them out. Added some dishwasher detergent and water, shook the jars well, and let them sit for another hour or so. Rinsed them out. Then dishwashing liquid and water and a good scrubbing with my bottle brush. Followed by a really good rinsing. They're a lot better than they were. I'm thinking if I do this every month or so, I can keep the stains down to a minimum. I always keep a jar of decaf sweetened iced tea on hand for Rick and a jar of decaf unsweetened iced tea on hand for me. (I don't like using plastic; that's why my jars are glass.)

Thanks guys!

I also get coffee stains in the coffee pot and SOS pads works best.

BBDOLL22 said:

Try denture tablets. Really it works.

Click to expand...

AbbysMom said:

My only suggestion is to let it soak in a mixture of water and dishwasher, not dishwashing, detergent. That's worked for me before, but it sounds like your stains are much too tough.

Click to expand...

The dishwasher tabs work really well, too. Just fill the jar, pot, carafe, etc. with hot water, throw in a tab and let it sit for a couple of hours.

I really would not scrub much or you get scratches that may harbor bacteria.  I would just keep the bottles for just tea.  That is natural for them to stain-that is why on tv they used to do tea staining for fabric-gives it an old look.

If it really bothers you look into posting a wanted add for those types of containers on craigslist.

Bleach would be safe(used to clean water) but I would use a regular unscented one.