If you cook enough, eventually you’ll get a burnt pot or greasy pan. Don’t worry though. You can restore your pots and pans with minimal scrubbing. We have a few techniques that produce clean pots and pans even after the dirtiest of kitchen cooking battles.
Vinegar
Nonstick doesn’t mean non-stain! If the bottoms of your pans are covered in black marks or gunk, it’s easy to fix. Add enough water to cover the bottom of your pan, then add a cup of vinegar. Boil this for 5 minutes. Dump the hot water and then scrub with a clean cloth, sponge, or scourer if marks still remain.
Lemons
Use lemons to shine up dull pots and pans. Just cut a lemon in half and rub all over the cookware. Then dry with a soft cloth in a buffing motion. Check out other ways to clean using lemons on our How to Clean with Lemon page.
Denture Tablets
Fill the pot or pan with warm water. Drop two denture tablets inside (if the pot is little then one tablet should do). The water will fizz. Wait until the fizzing stops then dump the water out in the sink. Rinse with warm water and dry.
Remove Stuck on Food
Burnt-on food is usually a challenge, but we have an easy out. Fill the cookware with water and add a few drops of fabric softener. Let the cookware soak for 30 minutes to an hour. When you go to clean, the stuck-on food should wipe away easily. Once it’s off, wash as usual and dry with a clean cloth.
Remove Grease
Baking soda is a powerful grease cutter. Add two tablespoons to the usual amount of liquid you use to clean cookware, then clean as usual. The baking soda will cut through grease like a hot knife through butter. For more uses for baking soda, check out our 7 Amazing Uses for Baking Soda page.
Clean Pots and Pans Again!
You now have lots of techniques in your cookware-cleaning arsenal, so even your oldest pans can look brand new. If you have a tip on how to clean pots and pans that we didn’t cover here, we invite you to tell us about it by leaving a comment below!