How to Get Odours Out of Your Plastic Containers

Do you have plenty of plastic containers that you use in your kitchen and you find it smelling after several days?

This is quite a common thing to happen but there are ways to get rid of the smells and stains. Use these simple tips to remove any odours you may find in your plastic containers.

1. Clean With Dish Washing Liquid

This is the first thing you can try doing. Simply wash the plastic thoroughly with sponge. After rinsing it and letting the water flow out, just pour a good amount of dish washing soap into the container. Just allow it to soak into the plastic. You can eventually fill the rest of it up with water and leave it there for a little bit to soak. This will help get rid of the grease and slowly get rid of the smell. Sometimes, you may find that letting it stay there for longer than an hour is much needed to get the job done (even overnight).

2. Use White Vinegar

To get rid of the great and overall smell, the next good trick to try is the vinegar technique. Just grab some white vinegar and put about half a cup into the plastic. Pour about half a cup of water into the container right after, and allow for it to soak in for a good 24 hours. Vinegar contains natural ingredients that can cleanse it of all the grease that has been built up. The smell will eventually disappear if you use the right combination of water and vinegar. You can also use apple cider vinegar.

3. Let your Containers Sunbake!

Grab your plastic container, open the lid, and just place it in the sunlight. Be sure to wash it before placing it in the sun, and then make sure you do not let it melt in the sun either, so keep a close eye on it. Even just placing it on a sunny window sill inside will help.

4. Bicarbonate of Soda Trick

Take five teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda (also known as baking soda) close the lid, and start shaking the container. Shake it for a good minute or two to really get the bicarb soda in there. Doing this will usually remove the majority of the smell, but if it doesn’t completely remove the odours that have developed inside, you can start all over and use five teaspoons again of bicarb soda, put in a teaspoon of water to help get the bicarb moving, and then start shaking again until the smell has disappeared.

5. Newspapers

Believe it or not, newspapers hold some very amazing power on absorbing moisture and smells. This is why they get so dirty so easily. Simply grab a few newspapers, crumple them up little by little, and then place them inside your plastic container. This will enable them to really grab the odour found in the plastic and really soak it all up, including the annoying grease that may still be leftover. The key is to let this remain in the container for a good 24-48 hours, and then take the paper out and wash it thoroughly before cleaning it out and reusing it again.

Plastic containers are used to store a wide variety of foods, but the smells that may develop can be very annoying to deal with and tough to get rid of. The key is to make sure that you use as much solutions as possible if ever one or two are not as powerful for you. Each one has worked for others in the past, so be sure to give them all an honest try. Plastic containers are not always made the same, especially if they are different sizes and use different material, so try one of the solutions above until you get the best one.

6. Pop Them in the Freezer Overnight

The freezer is actually AMAZING when it comes to getting stinky odours out of pretty much anything.  It works on plastic containers, jeans (yes really), that good silk shirt that smells like cigarette smoke – just pop in the freezer overnight and they will be fresh in the morning!

How do you get the odours out of your containers?