If you look inside your tea cups and coffee mugs you might discover they are riddled with brown stains, and scrubbing away at them will not help clean up the marks.

This is because dark mug stains are caused by tannins, a plant compound found in tea leaves, and coffee grounds which is known to be incredibly difficult to remove once they are absorbed onto the surface of a ceramic mug.

One way to avoid unsightly tannin stains is to drink your hot beverages out of glass or double-walled mugs, but you can also get your old mugs “sparkling clean” again using kitchen ingredients you likely already have in your cupboard.

Carolina, a cleaning expert from Truly Blissful, has shared that the easiest method to get rid of mug stains is to clean them with baking soda.

She said: “Our cleaning method involves only two ingredients: baking soda and water. It’s that simple!”

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Baking soda is slightly alkaline, meaning it can naturally break down acidic stains such as from tea and coffee.

Its slightly gritty texture also stops it from scratching surfaces making it the most effective way to get rid of stains from your mugs.

This ingredient can usually be found in most people’s kitchens, but it is also very affordable to buy as it costs 65p at both Tesco and ASDA.

It is even cheaper at other supermarkets as it costs only 59p at Aldis, Morrisons and Sainsbury.