My Aunt’s Famous Stain Removal Trick That Keeps Storage Containers Spotless

You know that one family member you always call when you have a stain you just can’t seem to remove? For me, that’s my Aunt Gigi. I’d like to say it runs in the family—both her, my dad, and I have tendencies to over-scrub, constantly wipe down surfaces, and rearrange piles into neat little stacks. However, Gigi takes the cake when it comes to keeping the kitchen sparkling clean.

I’m not entirely sure where she finds these seemingly science-backed cleaning methods, but every time we see each other, she is ready with a bevy of wisdom. During our last visit, she gave one of the very best pieces of cleaning advice I’d yet to receive: Tossing a Dawn-soaked paper towel in a storage container to remove stains.

How My Aunt Keeps Her Storage Containers Spotless

I had made pasta earlier in the week and, making room in the fridge for even more leftovers, I threw out the few pieces of penne alla marinara left in the bottom of a Tupperware container. I turned to her, expressing a certain level of exasperation at the oily, orange film covering the interior of the container, knowing it would be stubborn and nearly impossible to remove.

When you have red sauce—or any strong-willed substance, really—that just seems to permanently stain a reusable container, it’s gross.

Unsurprisingly, Aunt Gigi had a trick up her sleeve. “Watch this,” she said, as she promptly tore a paper towel into a few pieces, squirted on some Dawn dish soap, and tossed them in the storage container with a little bit of warm water.

She then closed the lid and shook the container vigorously for about a minute. Once this whole process was done, she wiped the inside of the container, tossed the oily, soapy bits of paper towel, and, voilá, the tupperware was so much cleaner.

Now, I’m not going to say that Gigi’s trick is complete magic; the container still needed a run in the dishwasher. But I was left with minimal stains, smells, or oily residue. A huge improvement from the orange-stained containers that I’d come to accept as normal.

How This Hack Works

Dawn is widely known for its amazing ability to break up grease. It’s strong stuff—I mean, we use it to clean oil-covered wildlife after oil spills. So, it makes sense that the soap would help dislodge the oil from the container’s surface. Combine that with a little agitation and something to soak up the grease, and there’s no wonder the method works.

A word to the wise: This method works best before a wash, so it may not revive old, discolored containers. But if you’re looking to cut back on the stinky, unsightly stains of the moment, you can thank my Aunt Gigi.