John Desmond wrote
> Somehow, over the past four months or so, the strings on the teabags
> I've bought have been breaking about a third to a half of the time.
> This has happened with different brands of tea bought from different
> supermarkets.

About 6 months ago, I went 'stringless' and bought loose tea. It seems
fresher, cleaner and no dust. I use my small caffatiere/press pot (about
10oz) which doubles up for coffee and tea. It's easy to shake the 'plug'
into the trash.
You can always adjust the dose and loose tea opens up a lot more varieties.

Bertie