Tips on Cleaning Plastic Food Containers I

Plastic food containers are portable and won’t break easily. Unfortunately, they also have a habit of getting stained fairly easily, especially when they’re used to store brightly dyed substances, such as acidic substances, tomato sauce and so on.

Whether your plastic food container is a reusable container or a disposable container, you should be able to clean it and get it looking like at least almost new if you follow this advice.

Before you can remove the stain from your plastic food container, you have to get the food off of it. The most important ingredient in the perfunctory cleaning regimen for your plastic container is hot water.

Whether you’re planning on hand-washing your container or throwing it in the dishwasher, rinse it with this hot water before you continue with cleaning it. Also, if the container is heavily coated with grease, wipe it out with a sponge or paper towel.

You can then wash it in the sink with warm water and a dish soap for hand washing or put it in the top rack of the dishwasher and run the normal cycle. If you want, you can add a plastic booster in the dishwasher’s detergent dispenser before setting it to run. Just put it in the section labeled for a rinse aid. This can help to get the stain-removing process started.

Next, dry your plastic food container using a kitchen towel or the low-heat cycle on the dishwasher.

If your plastic food container is too flimsy to survive without melting in hot water, it’s probably not meant to be reused, nor is it microwave or dishwasher safe. Sorry, but you’re going to have to throw it out. This is true of most takeout containers and those that you purchase food products in, such as cottage cheese tubs.

The same goes for containers that have craters due to previous melting. It’s not healthy to eat from these containers, since the chemicals from the plastic could seep into your food. And use your good judgment if your container is covered in a substantial amount of mold.

Well, there are other plastic food containers that are not microwave safe, such as plastic collectible plates. These are usually marked as such. If you wish to keep them, a gentle hand washing is your best bet.