Can These Buzzy New Cleaning Tablets Really Remove Coffee And Tea Stains From Your Favorite Mug?

If you're the type who brings tea or coffee with you wherever you go, your travel mug is probably looking a bit dingy. Maybe, on the other hand, you only drink these beverages at home, in which case your once-white ceramic mug may be stained a much darker color. Because these containers are used so often, perhaps even every single day, they can easily become discolored and trap unpleasant odors inside. And with the kind that have narrow nozzles, it can be near impossible to clean the bottom without a special tool, making it even harder to remove dark spots and stenches. If this has happened to your favorite cup, chances are you've lost hope that it will ever be returned to its former glory.

We know the struggle, and so does a company called Bottle Bright, which makes dissolving cleaning tablets that cost $8 for a pack of 12 on Amazon. These tablets are getting quite a bit of traction online and were recently recommended by Buzzfeed, where over 1 million people have shown interest in the product. To see if the cleaning tablets can really remove stains and smells, we tested them on both a well-worn metal travel mug and a ceramic mug.

The Bottle Bright cleaning tablets have two main claims: First, they should provide a fresh look and smell, and second, there shouldn't be any scrubbing required to achieve this result. The tablets also contain natural ingredients that are safe for both you and the environment. The process of using these tablets should be extremely easy. Simply fill the container with warm water, drop a dissolving tablet inside, and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes before rinsing. According to the instructions on the packaging, for extra stained containers, you can leave the water and dissolved tablets to sit overnight. 

This product is quite popular on Amazon, with a 4.6 star rating out of over 29,000 reviews. One verified purchaser raved about it, saying, "I, too, was skeptical of this product even after seeing pictures like mine. But I'm here to say it really does work!" However, that reviewer also added a tip about how it didn't fully live up to its claims even though it worked well. "I found that a little scrubbing with a brush while soaking helped to loosen the stains." Let's see how our cups fare while following the directions exactly.

To test the Bottle Bright cleaning tablets, we filled both the metal and ceramic mugs with warm water up to the top. The instructions on the product's packaging say to use one tablet for every liter of water, or about 4.22 cups. Because our mugs were both smaller than 4 cups, we used a single tablet in each, but you'd have to use more for a larger container. Both of the mugs were stained on the inside from carrying countless drinks and definitely needed some deep cleaning. We were hoping the tablets would remove the discoloration and musty odors without having to scrub at all.

As soon as the tablets hit the warm water, they started to dissolve and bubbles rose to the surface. Once both tablets had been dropped into their containers, we set a timer for 30 minutes. After the time was up, each of the tablets had completely dissolved, leaving lots of white foam. To finish the test, we poured out the water and rinsed each cup.

As demonstrated in the before and after images above (left and right, respectively), the natural cleaning product completely removed the stains from the metal travel mug, but the same cannot be said about the ceramic mug, which was left looking quite dull and stained. While it did remove some of the dark marks from the very bottom of the mug, the sides aren't the pure white we were hoping for. The travel mug also has a new, fresh scent of baking soda (one of the main ingredients in the tablets), but the ceramic mug does not.

Overall, these cleaning tablets were simple to use and required zero effort. They're sold for a great price, are easy to purchase on Amazon, and contain natural ingredients, which we like. Would we purchase them again? Yes, but only for metal containers like water bottles and travel mugs. Our experience seems right in line with many of the reviewers' comments on Amazon. One person wrote, "My metal cup had over a year's worth of tea staining even though I washed it out every day/use. After using one tab, the inside of the cup is so shiny! I couldn't believe how easy it was and how well it worked!" Our advice to you: If you're going to give the Bottle Bright cleaning tablets a try, stay away from ceramics and stick to metal containers. It's clear that's where they work best.