Salt, vinegar, baking soda, hot water, and some good habits, that was pretty much the arsenal that grandmothers and great-grandmothers had to keep their kitchens squeaky clean, and they managed just fine.
I’ve been gradually rediscovering some of their cleaning hacks myself, especially as I’ve become fed up with the scent of commercial cleaning products (and the cost of continually having to buy more of them). I’m happy to say that, for the most part, these grandma-approved cleaning hacks have exceeded my expectations.
Some of these are about what you clean with. Some are techniques for keeping your kitchen cleaner with less effort. And many of them boil down to timing, because cleaning things while they’re warm instead of cold makes a world of difference.
Below you’ll find 33 of my favorite old kitchen cleaning tricks, complete with a few caveats along the way.
1. COARSE SALT AND HALF A POTATO FOR RUSTY CAST IRON
If you let a cast iron skillet sit around wet and get rust spots, don’t panic. There’s an easy way to take care of that rust. Coat the rusted area with coarse salt and take a potato cut in half. Scrub the rusted areas with the cut side of the potato and the salt, making sure to scrub firmly.
The salt should turn orange with rust. Rinse off the skillet and set it on the burner to dry completely. When it’s dry, apply a light coating of oil to the pan and heat on the stove.
I know this isn’t exactly the fastest or most modern way to remove rust from cast iron. But I still think it’s genius. The potato keeps the salt from blowing all over your kitchen and the salt is tough enough to scrub away rust but not so tough that it will scrub away seasoning.
Again, this method is only for surface rust on cast iron. If your skillet has rust spots that look pitted, it’s time to strip and reseason.
2. PLAIN VINEGAR THROUGH THE COFFEE MAKER
Another classic kitchen tip that works better than the trendy new approach:
Mix a solution of white vinegar and water in your coffee machine’s reservoir (one part vinegar to one part water), then run the solution through the machine without any coffee in the holder. Follow up by running two full pots of water through the machine without any vinegar solution. Do this process about once a month if you live in an area with hard water, or every other month if you have soft water.
Vinegar breaks up the chalky buildup in the heating tube of the coffee maker that causes it to run less efficiently (and makes lukewarm coffee) as the machine ages.
The little descaler packets they sell for this are basically citric acid and cost about 10 times more than the vinegar alternative. Just make sure you run enough pots of plain water through afterwards so that the first pot of coffee you make doesn’t taste like pickle juice.
3. BAKING SODA PASTE LEFT OVERNIGHT ON A SCORCHED PAN
If the bottom of your pan burnt on, put baking soda over it (with just enough water to make a thick paste) and leave it overnight. You’ll be amazed at how much of the black crud comes off with a plastic scraper (the rest will sponge off easily).
Soaking in soapy water loosens burnt-on crud, but baking soda actually chemically changes the bond between the carbonized crud and your cookware. Give it time and you can save a pan you might have otherwise chucked. This won’t help on a flaked nonstick pan though, because the burn will be right onto the metal.
4. A LEMON HALF DIPPED IN SALT FOR WOODEN BOARDS
This is a once a month job (not daily or your cutting board will become rough around the edges) that I do to my wooden cutting board. I sprinkle some coarse salt on the board, take a lemon cut in half and rub the board down with the lemon, squeezing it slightly as I go. The salt and lemon mixture gets into all of the knife cuts and draws out the gunk and the gray color.
Let the lemon and salt mixture sit for five minutes. Scrape off and rinse with hot water. Your cutting board will smell like lemon not onions and will look almost as good as the day you bought it.
Finish up by oiling the cutting board (this process can dry out the wood on your cutting board).
5. CREAM OF TARTAR FOR DULL ALUMINUM
Combine two tablespoons of cream of tartar in a quart of water in the pot and bring to a boil.
Simmer for 10 minutes, drain, and wipe clean with a soft cloth.
The baking aisle staple can also help return aluminum pots and pans to their former glory. Cream of tartar’s mild acidity will remove discoloration that occurs when acidic foods are cooked in aluminum without scratching the material. The dishwasher makes the darkening worse, so wash these pots by hand.
And since most recipes only call for a small amount, the jar will likely last for years to come. Coated and anodized aluminum should not be treated this way, and it does not need it.
6. CORNSTARCH TO SHINE STAINLESS POTS
A spoonful of cornstarch rubbed onto a dampened stainless steel pot with a dry rag along the grain of the steel then buffed and rinsed off leaves the pot free of fingerprints and streaks and gives it a nice shine (not a greasy shine).
This is an abrasive cleaner and degreaser just like the fancy stainless steel cleaners.
Add a bit of vinegar to the cornstarch for stubborn rainbow coloring on the bottom of pots.
You may have to make a baking soda paste to get burnt on mess off.
7. A PINCH OF FLOUR TO POLISH THE SINK
You’ve probably heard this one before: Once the sink’s been cleaned and rinsed off, make sure it’s dry, then sprinkle a Tbsp of flour on the sink, and buff the flour around with a dry cloth. (Important: Shake out the flour in the trash, not the drain. Wipe away any excess.)
Sounds silly, right? Flour and sinks just don’t seem to go together. But it’s actually a great way to get rid of stubborn spots on stainless steel sinks, and leaves them looking as shiny as a freshly waxed car.
Just remember to use flour sparingly. And, again, don’t forget to make sure your sink’s dry first, or else you’ll just end up with a big mess of flour paste on your hands.
8. BOILING WATER AND BAKING SODA DOWN THE DRAIN EVERY SUNDAY
Once a week, on the same day, pour half a cup of baking soda down the kitchen drain, add a cup of vinegar. After about 10 minutes send a kettle of boiling water down the drain. The grease will be softened from clinging to the pipes by the reaction of the ingredients and will easily go down the drain with the hot water.
If you have neglected this chore for a month, you may find that a drain snake will be necessary. This tip is for drain maintenance and prevention of clogs, not for clearing already backed up pipes. But I haven’t needed the snake since I’ve been following this tip.
9. A VINEGAR SOAK FOR CLOUDY GLASSES AND DULL FORKS
If your flatware loses its luster or your glassware loses its sparkle, soak both together for an hour in a dishpan of warm water and a cup of white vinegar. Rinse and dry with a soft cloth (not in a rack). They should emerge looking good as new.
(The culprit is hard-water buildup; in the case of glasses, the dishwasher aggravates it. The vinegar solution breaks it down.) Note: This will not restore glasses that have been etched by the dishwasher, and if you hold them up to the light you’ll notice a scratchy pattern instead of a foggy cloud, and etching is permanent.
10. SIMMERED LEMON PEELS AFTER FISH NIGHT
Never mind the electric ones, they just cover kitchen smells with even worse ones. This is an oldie that still outperforms its modern equivalent:
Simmer lemon rinds in two cups of water for half an hour. Add a stick of cinnamon, if you have it. Makes your kitchen smell like a bakery, not the fish you fried for dinner.
The steam releases the oils in the rinds and neutralizes the smell. Just keep an eye on it and add more water if necessary. (Nothing good comes of simmering a stick of cinnamon in an empty pot.)
11. USED COFFEE GROUNDS TO SCOUR THE STEW POT
Don’t use it on a white pot (or anything porous) though. The grounds can stain, and a white enameled Dutch oven will show it.
Coffee grounds can be used as a gentle abrasive, being softer than steel wool but harsher than just soap and water. They won’t scratch your pots, but will still scrub away stuck-on food.
Put a handful in your pot, add some hot water and use a sponge to rub away the stuck on stew sauce. Bonus: if you rub them on your hands, they’ll help take away the smell of chopping up onions and garlic.
12. AN ONION HALF ON A HOT GRILL GRATE
People don’t use wire brushes to clean their grill because they’re afraid the bristles will fall off into the food. But rubbing a hot grill with half of an onion will do the trick. The heat and onion juices will work burnt-on gunk off of the grill.
Stick a fork into half of an onion and use this to rub the hot grill (this is another one of those tricks that doesn’t work if the grill isn’t hot, and you have to rub pretty firmly). Afterward, use a wad of paper towel on the end of your tongs and some oil to polish the grill grate.
13. A CUP OF VINEGAR WATER STEAMED IN THE MICROWAVE
Microwave safe bowl. A cup of water. Two tablespoons of vinegar. Five minutes on high in your microwave. Let it stand for another five minutes and then just wipe the inside of your microwave with a cloth and watch the miracle.
The steam loosens up the crud that’s been welded to your microwave and the vinegar breaks down the grease in that crud. No more chemicals with funky smells hanging around in the place you cook and eat your food and no more elbow grease needed to scrub. This trick worked so well I couldn’t believe it the first time I tried it.
Just be careful when you go to take the bowl out, it’s going to be boiling and sloshy. You’ve been warned. Use a bowl bigger than you think you’re going to need.
14. STOVE GRATES SOAKING WHILE THE DISHES ARE DONE
Old trick here, and one that trumps any modern shortcut. Rather than making cleaning the stove grates an entirely separate task (which means they probably won’t get cleaned), do this instead: Before you start on the dishes, remove the burner caps and grates. Set them in the sink to soak in hot, soapy water (hot as the faucet will go and plenty of dishwashing liquid).
Wash the dishes. By the time you’re done, the grease should release easily from the grates. For heavily soiled grates (think black and sticky), try the next tip and soak them in a bag overnight.
15. OVEN RACKS AND GRATES IN A BAG OF AMMONIA OVERNIGHT
Another one of those cleaning tips from way back when that are still superior to newer methods:
If you want to get oven racks or particularly nasty stove grates really clean, place them in a heavy trash bag and add 1/4 cup of ammonia. Tie the bag tightly and leave overnight outside or in the garage. Grease and grime will sponge right off in the morning.
What’s actually doing the cleaning isn’t the ammonia itself, but the ammonia fumes, so that’s why the bag needs to be tightly tied and why it’s best to leave it overnight outside or in the garage. When you do untie the bag, do so keeping it well away from your face. And obviously, don’t ever, ever mix ammonia and bleach together.
The racks will look like new.
16. A FREEZER TRICK FOR A GREASY ROASTING PAN
Roasting pan full of fat from cooking a roast? Don’t reach for a roll of paper towels (trust me, you’ll use at least half a roll trying to get it all and some of that fat will find its way into your drain). Instead, let the pan cool (it doesn’t have to be completely cool, just cool enough that you don’t think you’re going to melt your kitchen if you put it in the freezer) and chuck it in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
The fat will congeal and you can fish it out (in one or two big chunks) and toss it in the garbage. Your pan will be as easy to clean as if you’d boiled water in it.
This same trick works great for a pan you cooked bacon or a pound of ground beef in.
17. WIPE THE STOVE WHILE IT IS STILL WARM
It’s another case of an old trick trouncing its modern counterpart. Once you take the pan off the flame and before you sit down to eat, take a damp cloth and give the stovetop a quick once-over.
Grease and food bits that have splattered on the stove will wipe right off, because they’re still warm and not yet dried. An hour later they’d be much more difficult to remove.
Many stove cleaners promise to soften dried food and grease, so the idea behind cleaning your stove while it’s still warm is to avoid needing that step altogether. Just remember that we’re talking warm, not hot. If your cleaning cloth makes a hissing sound on contact with the stovetop, wait a few minutes before giving it another go.
And don’t spray cleaner on a warm stove. Just use a damp cloth.
18. HOT WATER AND A STIFF BRUSH FOR CAST IRON, NO SOAP
Cast iron should never go in the dishwasher, nor should it soak or get scrubbed with soap, as this will strip the seasoning (think of seasoning as baked-on oil, which is what makes cast iron nonstick). If it’s already seasoned, a little soap here and there won’t kill it, but otherwise stick to the tried-and-true method of cleaning cast iron: As soon as you’re done cooking, put the pan back on the burner and turn it to low. Run hot water over it while it’s still warm, scrubbing away any stuck-on crud with a stiff brush.
After two minutes on the burner to dry off, wipe the pan down with a paper towel dipped in a few drops of oil. And there you have it, the oldest trick in the book is still the best.
19. THE DISHWASHER DOOR OPEN AN INCH AFTER THE CYCLE
A tip that seems to have been lost in the shuffle is to leave your dishwasher door cracked open a couple of inches after a load is done and leave it that way until you unload your dishes. This prevents that mildewy smell that some attribute to the dishwasher (but is actually caused by leaving all those warm wet dishes in a closed space, which is perfect for mildew). I find that my glasses, especially, dry better this way than when I use any of the heated dry options on my dishwasher, and it doesn’t cost a penny.
20. BAKING SODA OPEN IN THE FRIDGE, SWAPPED EVERY SEASON
A box of baking soda on the back shelf of your refrigerator will soak up the odors of onions and other leftovers so your butter won’t take on their flavor. But baking soda can only do this until it’s saturated with those odors, then it’s time to toss it and start again. Swap out your odor-absorbing box of baking soda on the first day of each season.
When you remove a box of baking soda from the fridge, dump it down the kitchen sink drain and run hot water down the drain after it, which gives your baking soda a second job before it’s tossed. If you’re not sure when you last switched out the baking soda in the fridge, consider a year to be the longest you should leave a box in there.
21. TWO RAGS, ONE FOR COUNTERS AND ONE FOR FLOORS, BOILED TOGETHER
Paper towels add up fast, and a set of rags will last you years. Try this old-fashioned method, as it still works better.
Use one color for floor/trash rag and another for the table/counters so you don’t wipe your bread making surface with the floor rag. At the end of the week, boil them with a spoonful of washing soda for 10 minutes.
Wring them out and hang to dry. A boiled rag will be cleaner than one washed in the machine with your towels.
22. A CRUMPLED BROWN PAPER BAG ON THE OVEN DOOR GLASS
Instead of using paper towels to wipe down the oven door after spraying it with vinegar water, try using a brown paper bag. Crumple it up and use it to rub off grime. The bags have just the right amount of grittiness to scrub off oven grime, and won’t shred like paper towels.
Plus they don’t leave any lint behind. It takes half as long as using paper towels to clean an oven door this way. For a heavily soiled door, spread on a paste of baking soda first, let it set for an hour, then finish with the vinegar water and the bag.
23. A WOODEN SPOON TO SCRAPE, NEVER A KNIFE
Next time you clean out your kitchen junk drawer, set aside an old wooden spoon for your sink area. Instead of using a butter knife to scrape the food off your dishes before soaking them (thereby etching tiny grooves into your nice plates and nonstick pans, which will in turn cause your food to stick next time), use the flat edge of the spoon instead. It’s sturdy enough to do the job, but won’t scratch anything.
And it’s great for getting the last of that brownie batter out of the bowl. Not a kitchen-cleaning trick, but important nonetheless.
24. AN OLD TOOTHBRUSH UNDER THE SINK
Save an old toothbrush in a jar under the sink. Use it, dipped in a baking soda paste, to scrub around the base of your faucet, along the backsplash/counter seam, in the grout line behind your range, etc. Sponges can’t get in those areas, but that’s where the black crud grows.
Mark it with a rubber band so you don’t use it for anything else. Or worse, so someone else does. I can tell you that one only has to happen once.
25. A PASTRY BRUSH FOR THE TOASTER
Unplug the toaster and empty the crumb tray. Use a clean, dry pastry brush to sweep out the insides of the toaster and the heating elements. Finish off with a good upside down shake over the sink. Do this once a month and your kitchen won’t reek of smoke in the morning. (Crumbs in a toaster are a fire hazard.)
Crumbs cause that burnt toast smell; brushing is safer than using a knife or other utensil that might bend the elements.
26. FLAT PAPER BAGS LINING THE CRISPER DRAWER
Lay a piece of paper (not plastic because that will only retain the moisture and make the problem worse) from a brown grocery bag on the bottom of your fridge’s vegetable drawer, replacing it as it becomes damp.
This will absorb the moisture that makes lettuce slimy and collect the filth that gets tracked in on carrots etc. To clean the drawer, remove the paper (and thus the grime) and give it a quick wipe, which is much easier than scrubbing out the drawer.
27. THE FRIDGE SHELVES ONE AT A TIME ON SOUP DAY
Instead of pulling everything out of your fridge to give it a good once-over (which never happens), try taking just one shelf out and washing it off each time you make soup or stock. Since you’re already in the kitchen with your stove cranked, give one shelf a good scrub down in the sink using warm soapy water.
Dry it off and pop it back in your fridge. Next time you make stock, do another shelf.
Note: don’t run a glass fridge shelf straight from your fridge into hot water as it can crack. Give it a few minutes on the counter to warm up before washing.
28. SWEEP AFTER DINNER, MOP ON SATURDAY
Kitchen floors should be swept every evening (after the dishes of course) and mopped weekly (pick a day). This simple routine will keep your kitchen floors cleaner than if you just do a thorough cleaning once a month.
Why sweep every day? Because crumbs that you leave on your kitchen floor will turn into a sticky film by Friday if not swept up. Sweeping the kitchen floor only takes a few minutes. Three at the most. Sweep while the kettle boils.
Why mop once a week? Mopping your kitchen floor will take you half as long if you sweep regularly. Hot water and a splash of vinegar is all you need to clean kitchen floors that are vinyl or tile. Wood kitchen floors should be mopped with a damp mop. Do not use vinegar on wood kitchen floors.
29. A DISHPAN OF HOT SOAPY WATER ON THE COUNTER WHILE COOKING
Put a dishpan filled with soapy, hot water by the stove while you cook, and put all of your utensils in there as soon as you’re done using them. By the time you’re ready to put dinner away, all of your dishes will be soaked and probably only need a quick rinse before putting them in the dishwasher.
Knives are the exception to this rule, and you should wash and put them away immediately. You don’t want a knife laying at the bottom of a pan full of soapy water since that is a recipe for cutting yourself.
This is a great tip because the sink is often taken up by whatever you’re using it for in the cooking process, so this way your dirty dishes aren’t piling up waiting to be washed.
30. DRY THE SINK LAST
I know, I know. You bought that fancy new stainless steel sink for your kitchen remodel (or it came standard with your new home) and thought that would be the end of scrubbing out your sink every night. But if you don’t dry your stainless steel sink every night, you’ll be stuck dealing with rust rings, water spots and that disgusting pink mold that colonizes in moist environments.
Avoid all of that by simply drying off your sink and faucet every night with a clean, dry rag. It only takes thirty seconds and you’ll never have to scrub out your sink again. Hang up the rag when you’re done, too.
31. HANG THE DISH TOWELS, NEVER FOLD THEM WET
Think twice before blaming the drain for a funky-smelling kitchen, chances are your dish towels are to blame. To keep dish towels from smelling funky, make sure they’re able to dry completely by hanging them open (not bunched up on the oven handle) in front of a fan or out in the sun.
Swap dish towels every other day. If yours has dried your hands, wiped the counter and grabbed a hot pot out of the oven, it’s time for a new one.
32. EMPTY THE TRASH WHEN MEAT IS TRIMMED, NOT WHEN IT IS FULL
Take out garbage that has chicken or fish guts in it that same day, even if it’s only a quarter-full. Wrap fish guts and chicken carcasses in a newspaper so they don’t leak in the garbage pail.
If your garbage can smells on day two, it’s because you haven’t taken out the garbage.
Once a week, pour hot water and vinegar into the trash can, let it dry upside down. Garbage cans don’t stink when they’re clean and dry.
33. TEN MINUTES OF OPEN WINDOW AFTER EVERY BIG COOK
Crack a window open after (and during) cooking to help clear away smoke and cooking odors that would otherwise find their way onto your cabinets. Yes, even in the winter.
The film that forms on top of your fridge and cabinets is mostly grease from cooking. Instead of that smoke and cooking odors hanging around your kitchen, crack a window to help them escape. (For best results, crack a window that’s on the opposite side of your home from your kitchen window for 10 minutes after frying or roasting.)
An exhaust fan that leads outside also helps remove smoke and cooking odors. Beware, though: many range hoods lead to filters that recirculate air back into your kitchen, not outside.