Even if you are making a transition to glass containers for your lunches and leftovers, chances are you still have a small stockpile of plastic containers in your kitchen. And no matter how thoroughly you scrub them, there comes a point where they start to smell a little...stale. If you have any plastic containers that could use a little spring cleaning, here are six ideas to freshen them up — without resorting to harsh chemicals.
Always start by giving your container a good scrub with soap and hot water. Then try one of these methods to get rid of lingering odors.
• Newspaper: Crumple newspaper and stuff it into the container. Snap on the lid and leave it overnight or longer.
• Charcoal: Place a piece of charcoal in the container. Seal shut and let sit until the odor has been absorbed.
• Baking soda: Make a paste of baking soda and water and rub over the interior of the container. Let it sit for a day or two and wash off. Repeat if necessary.
• Lemon: Rinse container with lemon juice or rub a cut lemon over the interior surface.
• Coffee grounds: Place used coffee grounds (wet or dry) in the container and let sit until odor is gone.
• Sunshine: Place your containers outside on a sunny day to simultaneously air them out and take advantage of the odor-fighting power of the sun.
Do you have any other tips for removing odors from plastic food containers?
Related: How To Control Plastic Container Clutter
(Image: MSPhotographic/Shutterstock)
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My aunt also used sunlight to bleach tomato sauce stains out of her plastic containers. Worked really well.
I wonder if these would work for nonstick cookware? I am always at a loss for what to do when an odor attaches itself to my nonstick cookware.
This is why I collect Pyrex!
Whenever I visit my grandma, I often see a lof kitchen stuff like chopping boards, wooden utencils and plastic containers outside in direct sunlight.
This is great to know. I like using glass (partly for this reason), but I keep some Snapware around because they are so easy to travel with, and I keep some crappy plastic (Ziploc) around because I can give people leftovers in them and not care if I get them back. Thanks for the tips!
I use warm water mixed with white flour and leave it overnight. It works amazingly well!
Such a timely post: I'm currently soaking silicone ice cube trays in vinegar baths...and hoping for a miracle!
Another solution: switch to Glasslock containers!
Cold water. After thoroughly cleaning item run cold water over it. Cold water washes the smell away. Try it. It works.
Thanks for this post. Yes we are very happy to be almost plastic free by now. The only trouble is our ice cube containers. We use them to make colorful ice cubes with juice and such. But yeah, I prefer glass much more.
It looks like AT isn't keeping up much with the Renest blog (which I loved) but I'm really glad to see green ideas integrated into the Kitchn blog. Thanks guys.
For better health, use glass containers or silicone, at least.
Yeah, most of the time I check that tag (I have it saved as a separate bookmark) there's nothing new on it. Sometimes for 2 or 3 weeks. It's really sad. Maybe we were a small community within the larger AT ecosystem, but we were committed and growing. :(
I agree! I say bring it back. And keep integrating green ideas into AT and Kitchn. People love it and some of the ideas are cool, many beautiful!
My main concern is dishwashing detergent smell in my plastic containers. Even my pyrex lids smell like the last detergent I bought. I'm worried that they don't just smell like the soap, but have actually absorbed some of the perfume and I think it's seeping out into the food. Maybe it's time to just get rid of them?
We used some plastic containers for easy travel, however we also use glass. I find with the glass containers, the lids for them are best to soak and handwash so they do not absorb dish detergent smells or break down.
I totally agree with @yoohoo and @SweetHomeAntique! Switch to glass! They're easier to clean, safer to use, and easier to stack and store.
http://tinyurl.com/c7jy6dd
Great tips-- it also helps to rinse with cold water BEFORE you actually use warm water/soap to clean your items-- it helps gross smells like sauce, eggs, etc. to not stick in the first place.
me too! glass is easier to clean.