Tanin stains

Jif (sorry, Cif) on a damp cloth or fill with Steradent, but rinse out the Steradent well - horrid stuff.

Salt on a damp cloth

I use diluted bleach. Have done for years.

Obviously rinse thoroughly.

Soak in a solution of bio washing powder - I use Persil, but I'm sure others will work too. And, as others have said, rinse (and rinse again!)

Household bleach - easy peasy.

Sterna dent tablets

Steradent!

Diluted bleach and a good rinse.

Bicarbonate of soda sprinkled on to a damp cloth, doesn't leave taste or aroma.

My grandmother had a metal teapot, and she always used to clean it, and discoloured saucepans, but pooling up remnants of rhubarb in them. They came up sparkling, and she would say, with great satisfaction:

"If it does that to a saucepan, just think what it's doing to your insides!"

Think it is oxalic acid that does the job?

Not a lot of use to you, though. Sorry!

Mum (or Dad) used to boil up the rhubarb leaves in saucepans to clean them. I only found out years later that they are poisonous!

Tomato sauce cleans coins - apparently

A dishwasher!

charleygirl we don't have a dishwsher!

Ariadne I love tea far too much to worry what it's doing to my stomach

Thanks everyone - guess will have to try the bleach route. If yo don't see me post again you'll all know I didn't rinse out enough

Steradent is evil stuff it will remove the stain and the top layer of anything you put it into! Cif instead!

White vinegar mixed with bicarbonate . X

Soil from the garden worked for my grandma

Yes. Boots sterilising fluid . You will find it in the baby department. Big blue bottle for about £2

You just need a tiny bit and dilute. You will see it immediately remove stain.

The same would happen with diluted bleach - at a fraction of the price!

I was just going to say Milton sterilising fluid, Pogs
Boots own will be cheaper

A metal scourer works really well

I used to use Milton for terry nappies. Didn't know it was still on the market so I will be buying it to try and get whites white again. Nothing I am using is working. Obviously certain ingredients have been removed from washing powders but I am fed up taking bed linen and towels out of the machine that are not as white as they should be.

Any suggestions or tips would be very welcome.

Oh how life has changed, here I am on a Saturday night asking if anyone has tips on how to get my whites whiter

Milton tablets.

Bleach.

Diluted, of course. Why pay extra for Milton?