Ten Kitchen Cleaning Hacks

Here are ten cleaning hacks and tips. OK, maybe they’re not all “hacks” because I’m not exactly sure what qualifies as a hack…

If you cook a lot, you make a lot of messes, and it can be a challenge getting things clean. Before you toss that stained Pyrex, the pot you forgot on the stove, or the reusable bottle your son or daughter left in their camp bag over the fourth of July weekend, and now smells so bad it is sitting outside, try some of these easy techniques to get things out of the trash pile.

1. Stained and discolored Pyrex, as well as roasting pans that have become impossible to scrub clean, will be restored if you use oven cleaner. This stuff is toxic, and pretty awful to be around, but if you do everything at one time you could be doing it less than once a year
2. If you have a sturdy roasting pan that can stand the heat, put it in the oven next time you set your oven to self clean, the high heat will turn any food debris into ash. I don’t recommend doing this with lighter pans, I tried this with some half sheet trays and the warped.
3. To keep your sponges clean and fresh, put them in the dishwasher every time you run it, if you have a santize option use that
4. To clean those nasty reusable bottles try some denture cleaner. Sigg sells some pricey tablets you can use, but Efferdent (or any brand) will work just as well, at a fraction of the cost! They will often remove the stains from coffee and tea stained mugs, and any other glass, ceramic and plastic items that get stained and/or stinky like blenders
5. Do you have copper pots, or copper bottom pots? You can use Twinkle, or you can make your own mix of salt, flour and white vinegar, use a ratio of one part salt to three parts flour, and enough vinegar to make a paste, apply the paste thickly, and let sit for thirty minutes, then rinse off. Or if you’re out of silver polish, toothpaste will polish any silver, or copper, just make sure to use old-fashioned non-gel toothpaste, 
6. Is your coffee carafe stained? Put a bunch of ice cubes and a handful of kosher salt into the carafe, hold your hand over the top and swirl the ice around quickly for about a minute the stains should be removed by the abrasion of the salt
7. Champagne glasses, never use soap on the inside of the glass! Even the most fragile glasses can stand up to high heat, so run them in your dishwasher with no soap, or wash them by hand using soap on the outside (where someone’s mouth would touch) and keep the soap out of the bowl of the glass. The soap leaves a residue that can pop those lovely bubbles.
8. To clean you stainless appliances, apply flour to a rag, then buff it into the appliance or surface. Wipe with a clean rag for a fingerprint-free finish.
9. You made beans, or rice or some other starchy item and you left the pot on the stove and now it’s a burned on mess, first scrape out whatever you can with a wooden spoon or spatula,  fill the pot about 1/4 full with water, and add baking soda (2 TBL per cup of water) and boil on the stove for about fifteen minutes, you should easily be able to scrape out the rest with your wooden spoon, of any remains repeat this process.
10. Baking Soda mixed with salt will clean almost any surface, and, salt and lemon rubbed on your wood cutting boards will clean them beautifully

Has this left you wanting more? Check out these sites for more great kitchen cleaning and fun cooking hacks!