Expert: Jan Hayner - 1/3/2008

Question
I eat a lot of Italian and Mexican foods with tomato based sauces and put them in a Gladware or Ziploc brand type plastic containers to store them in or even take them to work.  Problem is that no matter how short of a time the sauces/foods are in the plastic containers, they always leave a red stain inside the bowl.  No matter how much hot soap and water I use to clean it, I can't remove the stain from the tomato-based product in the food.

How do I easily remove these red stains from inside my plastic containers to leave them looking clear and new looking?

Thanks!


Answer
Hi Ivory;
This question comes up a lot! First of all, let me warn you that the discoloration is a chemical reaction. Once a chemical reaction takes place, it reduces the molecular content of the plastic (don't I sound like a chemist?) It is true. Sometimes you are better off getting rid of the ones that you have and starting out fresh.

I do have some good suggestions and I have tried all of them and can tell you that they all work!

1. Rub the container with a baking soda and water paste, let sit for about 30 minutes, then wash with dish soap as usual. It will remove all of the stain.

2. Set the container out in the sun and let nature take it's course. It takes a while (about 1-1 1/2 hours in hot sun) but it will bleach the red right out!

3. BEFORE putting anything into plastic that has a tomato base to it. Spray the container with cooking oil, Pam or a cooking spray. This will coast the container and the tomato won't penetrate. Plus, it will not change the taste of the food.

4. Fill the container with HOT water and throw in 2 denture cleansing tablets and let sit till water is cold. Wash as usual with dish soap and the discoloration will be gone.

5. You can also fill the container with pure bleach and let sit overnight, but I haven't tried this one because I don't know if the bleach will soak into the plastic and cause a problem. The choice is yours, but I don't recommend it!

6. Dip-it, the same stuff that you use for cleaning coffee pots is also a way that you can go. I am sure that there are more cleaners like this on the market, but this is the one that I used. I put a teaspoon (this is strong) into my container, added hot water to the top of the container and let sit over night. It washed out totally clean the next morning.

I hope this helped. There are more ways, but I don't usually recommend something that I haven't tried myself. These all work, some are a little slower than others, but it will save you from buying all new containers.

If you have kids, they like watching the one with the denture tablets, they can check it every once in a while and still see the fizzle in the container.
Good Luck and Happy Cleaning,
Jan Hayner