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    Home » HEALTH » Natural Living

    Non-Toxic Way To Clean Stainless Steel Pans

    Published: Mar 29, 2011 / Modified: Mar 6, 2021 by: Dr. Karen Lee / This post may contain affiliate links. As Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. /

    Stainless steel pan in front of red stripe towel

    All my pots and pans are stainless steel. I ditched all the non-stick Teflon pans years ago because of PFOA - perfluorooctanoic acid - a solvent used to make Teflon coated pans that are toxic to our health. I'll admit; it took months of getting used to stainless steel pans because, as you can imagine, everything sticks to the pan if I'm not careful.

    But time to time, I get distracted and things DO stick on the bottom. And what's worse, the stain gets baked into the pan. And no matter how much I scrub, it does not come off....unless I use Brillo pads, which I hate to use because I don't like the soap that comes with Brillo pads. I even tried using copper scouring pads but it didn't work either. It just scratched the pan. Boo Hoo!

    So, I decided to try the Non-Toxic Silver Polishing method, except, I replaced the Salt with Vinegar. The stain was worse than this when I started but I stopped the process so that I can take the photos for you to see.

    What you'll need:

    Size and amount will vary depending on the size of your pans and the stains

    • ½ C White Vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon Baking Soda
    • 6" Square Aluminum Foil

    Instruction:

    Stainless steel pan with vinegar and crumpled aluminum foil
    Foaming vinegar and baking soda in stainless steel fry pan and aluminum foil
    Foaming vinegar and baking soda next to aluminum foil in stainless steel pan
    Piece of aluminum foil in cleaned stainless steel pan
    Cleaned stainless steel pan

    Pour the vinegar and place the aluminum foil piece in the pan. Add baking soda. Swirl the pan around so that baking soda gets evenly distributed. While the solution is bubbling, gently rub the stain with the aluminum foil without scratching the pan's surface/finish. Rinse with water and dry thoroughly with dish towel. Voila! The scratches were already there as I was using the copper pads earlier. ;( I wish I thought of using this solution before I did that.

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    About Dr. Karen Lee

    I am a food writer, recipe developer, and a cookbook author sharing my family’s favorite simple & easy, allergy-friendly recipes with you! Let's connect on Instagram || Facebook || Pinterest || YouTube Learn more about me on the ABOUT page.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lukas says

      February 14, 2016 at 11:02 am

      Not so fast with calling this "non-toxic". Aluminium is toxic and therefore even the German health administration advises people not to wrap acid food (e.g. tomatos, fruits etc.) into Alu foil any more, especially not for kids. I really doubt that aluminium in combinaton with vinegar and scubbing aluminium particles into the stainless steel pan is really better than cooking with teflon particles in your food. Take also a look at http://www.nutritionfacts.org with regard to aluminium and interference with human health (animals' too). There are other options like pads without soap or dergents. BTW: I have as well discarded all my teflon pans quite some time ago, but all aluminium pans and pots as well.

      Lukas

      • Dr. Karen says

        February 26, 2016 at 8:05 am

        Lukas, I totally agree about aluminum being bad for you. I don't recommend using aluminum with food at all so I don't recommend canned foods or wrapping ANY food in aluminum, not just acidic foods. Having said, the reaction aluminum with vinegar and baking soda in this formula for cleaning the surface of stainless steel pans gets washed off when you follow the directions. I'm sure there are scouring pads that can clean but (unfortunately) most people have aluminum foil wrap at home so using what you have at home was the point of this post. And I'm glad you stopped using teflon pans! Thx for your feedback!

    2. ubutate says

      January 19, 2016 at 10:34 am

      Nice idea, but why not simply season the pan? Facilitates utilization of fond and aids against burning. Ounce of prevention.

      • Jann Forrest says

        March 21, 2016 at 3:16 pm

        Unfortunately seasoning does not prevent sticking of some foods and the stains. I have used baking soda, tried the various other methods that did not work. That is why I really don't like aluminum. This is a pressure cooker that I use constantly.

    3. tommy says

      May 25, 2011 at 1:58 pm

      I used thick tactic and yes it works. So I cleaned all of my cookware now with easy. So I find myself cooking more with no fear. Thank You..

      • ecokaren says

        May 25, 2011 at 2:41 pm

        That's great Tommy! So glad it worked.

        Don't worry about running out of things to clean. I can send you some of mine. 🙂 Thanks for giving us your feedback.

    4. KnittingGuru says

      May 12, 2011 at 11:38 am

      Thanks so much for this information. I can't wait to try it (never thought I'd look forward to cleaning pots!!)
      I also got rid of my teflon and fortunately have never used abrasives on my stainless steel. I use either Bon Ami or Mrs. Meyer's Surface Scrub. They both work, but I'd like to try your method for some tough stains.

    5. Lori Popkewitz Alper says

      March 29, 2011 at 3:02 pm

      Burnt oil is so hard to scrub out (and that happens a lot over here!). I'll probably have to give this a shot tonight. Thanks again.

    6. stacy hancock says

      March 29, 2011 at 2:50 pm

      i loooooooove vinegar and baking soda! works on cookie sheets, too!

      • ecokaren says

        April 04, 2011 at 10:36 pm

        Yes, they do!

    7. Lori Popkewitz Alper says

      March 29, 2011 at 11:33 am

      I am going to give this a try! I have all stainless pots and pans too. I usually let them soak overnight. Everything comes off pretty easily in the morning. Your pan is sparkly 🙂

      • ecokaren says

        March 29, 2011 at 12:24 pm

        Lori, I do soak my pans for a couple of hours - not even overnight - and most of the time, they all come off. But I don't know what happened with this one. The stain was just baked in. I think the oil got burnt. But this worked like magic!! Let me know if it works on yours.

        • Lori Popkewitz Alper says

          March 30, 2011 at 5:03 pm

          Tried it today and it was great! Thanks for the tip Karen.

          • ecokaren says

            April 04, 2011 at 10:35 pm

            Ha! Just saw your reply. So glad it worked!

    8. Rachel says

      March 29, 2011 at 10:35 am

      This is just the info I needed! How did you know?! Such a great solution-thanks!

      • ecokaren says

        March 29, 2011 at 12:22 pm

        I have telepathy.....:P

        Oh, just make sure not to scrub so hard with the foil. Let the solution do its trick. If you need to scrub, try it with a rough non-scratching type of a pad...or maybe even wooden spatula's edge.

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