How can you clean tomato stains from plastic containers?

Question

Everytime I cook chili or any type of tomato sauce in the microwave, I can't get the stains out and it ruins the containers. I hate to have to throw them away or put anything else in a container that isn't quite clean.

Has anyone ever solved this problem? I would appreciate any secrets or hints.

Answer 1

These stains are permanent. Nothing will remove them, as they are now part of the plastic, which has been modified on a molecular level.

This change is caused by the high temperatures experienced in isolated areas on the perimeters of containers used to heat or re-heat food in a microwave oven. The worst part is not the tomato sauce becoming part of the container, but the plastic container becoming part of the food!

There are ongoing studies on the effects of chemicals that mimic estrogen, which are found in most plastic packaging and plastic containers. Researchers are currently trying to draw the link between this, increased in infertility in men, and increased breast cancer in women, caused by these xenoestrogens. Yikes!

Not to fear monger, but it might be best to err on the side of caution by tossing those plastic containers and only use glass or ceramic dishes in the microwave.

Answer 2

From Anyclean:

Plastic Container Stain Removal

If you stored a tomato based product, such as pasta, in a plastic container, chances are your Tupperware is stained. If you heated the pasta in the microwave using the same container, chances are your plasticware is stained permanantly. Washing the dishes will help, but your containers may be stained beyond repair. To avoid this, spray your bowls or containers with a no stick cooking spray before each use to keep your plastic containers from getting stained from red sauces.In addition, one should never place a tomato based product in the microwave if one is using a plastic container. Because the plastic is so pourous, the tomato gets embedded in the pores. If a container is already stained, you have to get a little creative when washing the dishes. Your first option is to fill the bowl with hot water and drop in a couple of denture tablets. Leave for a couple of hours and when you come back the stains will hopefully be removed. You can also try soaking the container in one part bleach to two parts of water. Make sure you give the bowls a thorough rinse, maybe even a run through in the microwave, before using again.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Everytime I cook chili or any type of tomato sauce in the microwave, I can't get the stains out and it ruins the containers. I hate to have to throw them away or put anything else in a container that isn't quite clean.

Answer 4

There are two ways. I usually just poor a lot of bleach in the container with a little hot water and some dish detergent and let it soak for 1/2 and hour. The other thing you can try is to put water and dishsoap the container and put in the microwave on high for a minute or two so it is almost heated to boiling but not quite that hot. The heat tends to remove the stain.

Answer 5

Soap made for dishwashers works. Like Cascade, Electrosol, etc. Put a little of the soap in the plastic container, fill with water and leave in the sink for 10 minutes or so. Then wash and the tomato stains are gone.

Answer 6

I found this out by chance. I was making cucumbers in vinegar. You know let them soak for a while.... well the plastic bowl had a old tomato stain on it. After about 2-3 hours the stain started to come out. I don't know how long to let it soak, but it is a safe, natural way to remove it.

Another tip for you: Spray the plastic bowl with a non-stick spray like "Pam" and it will not stain, or if it does the stain is not as bad.

Answer 7

I am not sure that there is anything because tomatos are pretty acidy....

However, to prevent it, before putting the tomato sauce in the container, you can spray the container with the cooking spray or cover the entire container with butter... Put some on a paper towel and run it through the container....This will prevent it from staining.
Either one of the above works really well....

Answer 8

Be careful but you can use a cap full of bleach to a gallon of water and let the plastic containers soak. Be sure to rinse them and possibly let them soak for an hour or two in extremely hot water to get the bleach out of the plastics before you use them again. Might try soaking them in straight lemon juice from a bottle too. What happends is the plastic is porus and thicker fluids like tomato sauce gets into the pours of plastic making it almost impossible to get stains out. My mother has taught me to use bleachy water but be careful because bleach can make one very sick if not totally rinsed really good. Lemon juice sometimes is used to take out stains in a lot of different things. That is why I suggested Lemon juice soak over bleach it's safer. Hope this helped.

Answer 9

I'm really not sure how to get the stains out. I put a little bit of Clorox and water and let it sit but wash it out good. Here's what I do know. If you get new containers. Spray your plastic containers with cooking spray like Pam before you put chili or tomato sauce in them.They won't stain anymore. Hope this helps in the future.

Answer 10

I would recommend abscorbic acid - you have to purchase it at the drugstore, but if you've cooked it in the microwave, there's not much hope. The container is clean - just stained.
Next time, get a glass container to cook your stuff in - I mean any kind of cooking. It's really not healthy to be cooking in plastic - I mean - would you cook anything on the stove using plastic? If it's a time thing - get a crock pot and leave the stuff cooking all day while you go about your business.

Answer 11

Definitely use the cascade product they have out that cleans plastics in the dishwasher. But, in the future, before you put tomato products in your plastic containers, spray the container with Pam or non-stick spray first. Just spray a light coating, this will not affect the taste, and will keep the tomato stains from absorbing into the plastic.