Hubby always suggests I own the best dishwasher on the globe – HE! That is why I always want to cook him a better meal to make sure he won’t quit.
Well, but when it comes to cleaning stains, I like doing it myself, seeing my pots, pans, or gadgets recovering from their dull-looking faces.
What actually helps me doing that beautiful job is only a small amount of baking soda, the same one we use for cakes, breads, or pancakes. And it is the only thing needed apart from a kitchen towel.
I did the scrubbing in circular motions with a slightly damp cloth and about half a tea spoon of baking soda. The stains in my 2.5-litre stainless pot were off in roughly a minute (and washed away easily under water).
Do not use a dry cloth because we need some moist to work over the stains. After you apply baking soda on the cloth, most of the powder should stay on it than dissolved. If not, the towel is too wet and you may want to squeeze out any excess water. If you do this every once a while, the stains can be removed fairly easily each time.
At the time I bought my ceramic knife, I was advised to clean it with mild detergent which however didn’t shown to have removed much stains. But the soda did. I massaged gently a little of it on the blade, also with a towel, and the brown stains faded. Again, no abrasive detergent and material are used.
For the grater that have been used for making ginger juice, I clean it with a moist small brush plus a little of the baking soda. This is it, the grater, which stays with me for no less than a decade:
I own two slow cookers and the inner pot of both them are white in color. The stains there seem to be more stubborn. Since they are ceramic, I usually soak them with some vinegar solution or rub the cut side of a lemon wedge all over the stains (and let the acids stay there for hours) before cleaning them with baking soda. To save your elbow grease, you may also try using a nylon mesh scrubber. And adding a pinch of coarse salt also helps.
Some says that 99% of experiments won’t succeed. I had that 1% luck the first time when I did the same to remove stains from my enamel coated cast iron pots.
Although using baking soda in cleaning might not be more effective than strong detergents, it is non-abrasive, inexpensive and versatile. The best of all, it is safe.
Have fun!
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hey, i’m impressed by how effective baking soda is! my pot stains have been around for a long time, hope they come off just like yours!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
@Charsiew,
You are welcome! For such stains, you may want to soak – or even boil – them with vinegar or lemon solution (provided the pot is acid tolerant) before scrubbing them with baking soda and a mesh towel. Good luck!
Thanks for the tips. I’m using baking soda to clean the pot too; however, I let it sit with water but not using the towel to scrub it. I’ll try it next time.
Thank you so much for the tip…so the secret is baking soda!
Hope you are having a wonderful week Maureen…btw, so sorry for not trouble in regards to placing a comment on my previous post…I was having some issues with the server… my email still not quite fixed 🙂
@Kimi,
Thanks for sharing! Scrubbing with soda powder should help if soaking alone can’t get rid of the stains.
@Juliana,
That’s fine, no worries. Hope your server will be fixed soon.
Great tips!! Thanks for sharing. I had heard so many good things about baking soda but never give it a try. I usually use white sponge to clean those tough stains on my cooking utensil. No detergent is used.
True. I use baking soda to clean/scrub my sink too and find it naturally effective 🙂
@food-4tots,
You are welcome! Hope this little trick helps save you both time and effort.
@tigerfish,
Yes, it is truly versatile.
Amazing, I love reading up on useful kitchen and home tips!
Please share more with us, it will def make my life a lot more easier! 🙂
@Lucy L,
Thanks! Hope this helps, and wish I could do so : ).
you know, i actually forgot abt the use of baking soda in removing stains . this is such a good reminder and helpful!
I’m back to tell you that it works with my stainless steel pots and pans. Thanks so much for such a useful tip.
@kimi,
You are welcome and thanks for writing again!
Baking soda is amazing…I clean the splash on my oven door and the burnt fat on the oven floor using baking soda n lemon juice…works wonder and smells good too 😀
I also like to take great care of my cooking vessels ! Must be a women’s fancy 🙂 Thanks to these advices I could thoroughly clean the blade of my small food processor.
@ Lisa H., thanks, I’m going to try this tip too ! I can never clean my oven satisfying enough with detergents.
Baking soda is useful in cleaning. I’m fan off baking soda too…
Yes, baking soda is very useful. I use it in cleaning the stains of tea pots and cups too. They turn out just like new ones.
Have you tried it on black ceramics pot like the one in crock pots?
@stefania,
Yes, on the inside glazed area of this and this.
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This is the first time I’m giving any review. This time I’m compelled to say kudos to you for your beautiful and informative website! I can see that you have put in a lot of love and passion doing it… I luv all the dishes you hv recommended and your little tricks really make a big difference to the dish! Keep it up!