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We can put a man on the moon. We can speak to people all across the world. We can beam one hundred and fifty channels into a family’s home and we can build bridges that span great lakes. With all our advances in science, engineering and technology, however, we have yet to find a way to keep our plastic containers from turning orange.
It’s a source of frustration for homemakers across America. How do we keep our storage containers from changing colors after storing pasta or other foods containing tomato? Better yet, how do we remove these stains?
When it comes to stained Tupperware, there’s good news and there’s bad news. First the good news. Keeping your plastic containers from staining is quite easy; removing those stains, however, is not. You see, the plastic used as food storage is porous. When staining foods such as tomato products, especially tomato products that are hot or warm, are stored in the plastic, they get embedded in the pores making them quite difficult to remove.
There are ways to avoid this, however. The best way to keep food from staining plastic is to completely spray your containers with cooking spray before filling and storing. The spray acts as a barrier and coats the pores of the plastic. This trick is now being used by amateur as well as professional chefs across the world. Even if you don’t like to use cooking spray in your everyday meal planning, it wouldn’t hurt to have some on hand for food storage.
Also avoid microwaving tomato-based products in plastic containers. Instead, use glass or other types of microwave-safe materials. In addition, wait until food is completely cooled before storing. Cold tomato products are less likely than hot food to infuse itself into the pores of your plastic containers. You should still give your Tupperware a spray with the cooking spray to be on the safe side.
If your plastic is already stained, there’s a good chance you might not be able to remove the stain, especially if it’s been stained for awhile. It wouldn’t hurt to try a few tricks, however.
- Rub the plastic with lemon and leave out in the sun. The sun plus lemon will bleach the Tupperware.
- Fill the container with hot water and drop in two denture tablets. Leave this overnight.
- Mix one cup bleach and two cups of hot water. Pour this into the container and let sit overnight.
After soaking your plastic with bleach or denture tablets, run them through the dishwasher to be sure all of the bleach or denture cleaning materials have been removed. If you don’t have dishwasher, wash and rinse several times to remove any residue and then fill up with clear water and let soak for a few hours. Give your plastic one more good rinse and, hopefully, you will now have a clean plastic container. If the stain doesn’t come out, the container is still useable, just pink.
Don’t let tomato products discolor your Tupperware. Before food storage, coat it with cooking spray. In addition, never heat up tomato products in the microwave…at least not until scientists figure out a way to come up with some tomato-resistant plastic,
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