The Paper Towel Trick For Cleaning Stubborn Grease Stains Out Of Plastic Containers

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Tupperware is the backbone of our home kitchen empire, the plastic pinch hitter that facilitates leftover storage, to say nothing of containing prepped ingredients and meal planning. We appreciate plastic containers so much that we even covered a dollar store hack to declutter their lids in our kitchens with a wire napkin holder and gasped in horror when Tupperware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a year ago (a move that may have actually revitalized the company). What we don't love about plastic food storage, however, is the nasty, greasy staining that can take root after storing certain meals. Marinara is a huge culprit, such as when we're using Giada De Laurentiis's leftover spaghetti recipe, but it's not the only one. Curries, coffee, and anything with deep color can also stain your plastic.

Yet there's a way to come back from this staining, and you need not suffer stained Tupperware or, worse, throw it away. All you need is some dish soap (plain blue Dawn dish detergent is beloved for a reason) and a paper towel. As per social media posts, you simply fill your container with warm water and a bit of dish soap, then add a wadded paper towel. Put a lid tightly on the container and then shake the whole thing vigorously. Like magic, the greasy stains will cling to the paper towel and leave the plastic! When you're done, simply drain the water and throw out the sodden paper towel.

According to one TikTok reel, the reason that this offbeat cleaning method works so well is because the lycopene in tomatoes (the source of the staining in the clip) is hydrophobic, meaning that water won't eliminate such stains. Therefore, as this TikToker stated, you can greatly enhance your cleaning process by rubbing butter all around the inside of the stained container before adding your soap and wet paper towel(s). Almost no shaking is required before the staining transfers to the paper towel, making your containers just as clean as when they were new. The unspoken thought process seems to be that the hydrophobic lycopene molecules will bind to the fat in the butter, and the paper towel and dish soap will collect all the mess.

To be clear, we don't pretend to moonlight as scientists; we just know that we hate using stained Tupperware that carries the color and stale scent of meals gone by. If there's a trick to eliminate this staining, which, we must admit, has caused us to toss more than one perfectly serviceable container in the trash, you can bet that we are going to try it! With or without the addition of butter, we will be attempting to degrease all our stained plastic containers using paper towels and dish soap.