Alternative to metal tea balls?

How about a travel press? You stop the brewing by pressing the plunger down to isloate the tea, instead of taking it out like a basket. There’d be less mess, and then you could empty & wash the mug at your leisure (maybe during a lunchbreak?). Here are a bunch of Bodum brand models: (I have their non-press travel mug, and my husband uses their non-travel coffee press, and both are great products, so I imagine these are as well).
http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Double-Wall-Stainless-Travel-Coffee/sim/B004AUDLRU/2

I would also imagine that resteeping would be as easy as pulling the plunger back up and adding more hot water? I’ve never used these before though, so maybe someone else can weigh in

The ingenuitea and various other Piao-I type devices would definitely be a one piece system to consider.

Janefan and David Lau- those ideas are definitely do-able. Thank you!

Sorry if someone suggested this already but have you tried a tea tumbler? I have a glass one from Teavana that may serve your purposes.

I just bought this recently (when I was visiting the museum), its a mug with a ceramic strainer and a lid. I just rest the strainer on the lid until I’m ready for a second infusion or to dump it later:

http://www.mjtgiftshop.org/products/tula-tea-room-mug-with-lid-and-strainer

I bought this tea thermal as a gift for a friend who wanted to use loose leaf at work: http://www.amazon.com/Copco-2510-9941-Tea-Thermal-Blue/dp/B003PVHI92/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1334523612&sr=8-8

It seemed very durable and is double insulated, and my friend uses it a lot. If you’re busy/feeling lazy, you can just drink enough so that the leaves are no longer steeping and dispose of them later. I haven’t used this myself, but will probably get one soon. There are other products like this, but I though the price was very reasonable and liked that you can see the tea. Just a suggestion.

I have both an ingenuiTEA (Adagio) and a PerfecTea Maker (Teavana) which are basically the same thing, just different brands – you put the leaves + water into the steeper, let it steep, and then rest it on top of your mug, and the tea filters out of the bottom leaving the leaves in the steeper. It’s great for reusing and fairly easy to clean.

I have to mention aladdin tea infusion mug: http://buddhashand.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/meet-my-new-crush-my-aladdin-tea-infuser-mug/

It’s a travel mug with a metal tea ball inside the cap. On the cap there is a lever, so you can choose for how long to steep the tea. Then pull the lever up, and the tea ball is put up in the cap and no longer steeps the tea.

Of course, you still have the metal tea ball, so it’s probably not what you were looking for. But i love this tumbler.

I just make my tea before I go to work and put it into a thermos that keeps it hot for at least 4 hours! It also has an autoseal so you can’t spill – great for the cubicle.

http://www.amazon.com/Contigo-AUTOSEAL%C2%AE-Stainless-Blue-Green/dp/B005GPFAM2/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1334700937&sr=8-10

I use a metal infuser basket like this (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO5KQ4O?psc=1) to make tea at work. Fill a cup with water and heat it in the microwave. Add tea leaves to the basket, and drop it into the cup. Works great for reinfusing tea too.