Hands up who doesn’t mind coffee rings on their furniture?

Not many of us, I suspect.

Perhaps bars and cafes don’t mind the tell-tale circles of beverages that have dripped down the sides of their customers’ coffee and tea cups too much, but home-owners are often not so keen on it.

So what’s the solution?

Besides being super careful about spillages and drinks, the usual answer is to use coasters to protect tables and other furniture from coffee stains.

However, as reported by Gizmodo, there has been a new idea to avoid this problem.

The designer Kim Keun Ae has come up with a special way of tweaking the design of the humble mug to stop the drips from reaching the table surface and creating a ring.

How?

By adding a special groove around the circumference of the cup to catch the drips, that’s how.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?

But aren’t all good ideas often extremely simple at their essence.

Check out this design   it should be out soon.

But in the meantime, what can you do to get rid of unexpected coffee rings?

In short, it depends on the surface the ring has been left on

Non-porous surfaces (erg, tiles or glass) can simply be wiped clean with all-purpose cleaner.

Vinegar is a good cleaner for surfaces made of fibreglass, rayon and acetate although you’ll need to rinse it with water afterwards.

Natural porous surfaces (such as marble) can be trickier.

Try first to blot off the excess coffee, rinse and dry naturally.

If there is still a stain, you’ll need a special solution to get rid of it.