- 15 mins
Ingredients
- From Food 52
Preparation
Step 1
Here are your best options for cleaning and storing your Tupperware:
Do a preliminary rinse (and wash if possible!) the moment they’re empty. The first step to eliminating food smells from plastic containers is to wash them at the earliest possible moment. A thorough wash with hot water and dish soap is best, but a water rinse before a later wash is helpful, too.
Store them with a pinch of salt. Although Thai curries and other pungent foods make for an exciting desk lunch, they often leave lasting smells in your storage containers, even after washing. Adding a large pinch of salt to these containers will rid them of the scent so that your turkey sandwich doesn’t taste like green chiles and coconut milk. Make sure to wipe out the bottom and inside of the containers before using them though, or you’ll encounter a mouthful of salt!
Expose them to direct sunlight. Yes, sunlight improves almost everything. Placing containers outside on a sunny day will air them out and take advantage of the sun’s natural ability to fight odors.
Rinse them with vinegar. After washing your containers with hot water and dish soap, fill them with white vinegar and let them sit for at least three minutes to remove icky, lasting smells. Then, pour out the vinegar and wash again with soap and water.
Store them overnight (or longer) with newspaper. Don’t ask us how or why it works, but persistent smells in plastic food containers are often eliminated by newspaper. Place the crumpled newspaper inside, snap on the top, and store overnight or longer. Remember to wash with soap and water after, since newspaper’s not always known for being hyper-clean.
Wash them on the dishwasher’s top rack. If placed on the bottom rack of the dishwasher, plastic containers may come into contact with the washer’s super-hot areas, causing them to melt and warp. Place them on the top rack to avoid shape-shifting during the wash.