I love Pinterest. In fact, I am probably slightly obsessed with Pinterest. It is such a great way to get new recipe ideas, house projects and my favorite is cleaning tips. So, a couple days ago I searched on Pinterest for a way to get the tomato sauce stains out of my food storage containers. Three ideas later and I still have tomato stained Tupperware. I had five containers I tried these on and it failed on all five! I was so bummed about these Pinterest fails.
I first tried baking soda and water. I made it up into a paste and then rubbed it on the containers. Multiple articles mentioned that within a few minutes you could see the paste suck out the color from the container. It sucked for sure. 🙂 Thirty minutes into it, with lots of scrubbing the stain hadn't budged.
I moved on to another popular pin. Rub the container with the lemon and the stain will go away. I tried it, then I let it sit for a few minutes. Nothing. I scrubbed at the container and let it soak. Still didn't lighten at all.
Finally, I finished with another idea I had seen. Lemon juice with salt mixed in. The salt would help scrape away the stain. Nope, no luck. After trying for about 10 minutes I gave up.
By this time I needed to pick up the kiddo at practice, so I just gave up on cleaning the stains. I guess we are forever doomed to eat from stained Tupperware. I still love Pinterest, it is awesome. But, I have to say Pinterest let me down this time.
What about you? What has been your biggest Pinterest fail? What are your tips for getting stains from Tupperware? I would love to hear them.
Carmen Smith says
Oh boy. We started using glass tupperware specifically for this reason. My biggest pinterest fail to date is trying to make homemade almond butter. WHAT A DISASTER :'( I actually published a post about this... https://apinteresthousewife.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/failed-it-homemade-almond-butter/
Funny to look back on now but boy was I angry at the time, haha
Natasha Daniels says
I have almost all pinterest FAILS! I am glad I am not alone. I loooove pinterest, but when I actually do it the way it is supposed to be done - I am shocked!!
Corinne says
I am so glad you linked this up at This Is How We Roll Thursday. I've had almost as much fun reading the comments as I did reading your post. I agree with the suggestion to throw them out and replace them. That seems like the most reliable method! 🙂
Danielle @ Poor and Gluten Free says
Sorry about your fails! I switched to glass containers years ago, partly because the stains creeped me out, but also because glass lasts longer, doesn't stain, can be heated or chilled without worrying about chemicals, and is recyclable. Stain problem solved 😉 Thanks for sharing this on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday!
Julie says
I think I might try switching to glass. Thanks for the tips!
Beth McIntire says
Sorry to hear about your fail, but at least you can laugh about it now and got a great post out of the experience. I don't think I've tried anything like this from Pinterest. I have tried some crafts and recipes, though. Tide Oxi might work for your stains, but I've never actually tried to get the tomato sauce stains out of my bowls. I just assumed I was stuck with them.
Keri says
I think I remember reading somewhere that if your plastic containers are stained, it means they've been damaged by heat. I'm paranoid about toxins leaching out of the plastic into my food, so I try to buy BPA-free. Those seem to stain a lot less than the other ones. I know that doesn't help with getting the stains out, but maybe an ounce of prevention?
Julie says
I have heard a lot of people suggest glass. That might be my best bet. Thanks for stopping by!
Zan says
Trust me, they may not have been Pinterest but I sure do have some web recipes fail. I am surprised that none of these worked for you!
Zan says
BTW: Thanks for sharing with us at Home Matters linky party. Hope you join us again!
LaKita says
Yes I have had a few Pinterest fails as well, but I think its been previously mentioned I usually just allow mine to soak in warm soapy water with a few drops of bleach and that usually removes the stains. Stopping by from #SITSBlogging
Julie says
Thanks for stopping by!
Jaime says
I do like to see how sometimes Pinterest isn't perfect, lol. =) I tried to do the Dr. Seuss cookies, the pastel swirled ones, but something went wrong and all the cookies ended up a pastel brown.
Julie says
Isn't it fun to check out the pinterest fails? I could see how the Dr. Seuss cookies could be an easy fail. 🙂
MM says
I had to laugh at your pinterest fail post! We recently have decided to not use plastic storage any more, and I bought a couple of sets of glass storage ware, and they have been wonderful so far. No more tomato-ish stains to deal with! May be this is your best bet 🙂 Glad to have found you today through A Wise Woman!
Julie says
I might have to try that! Thanks 🙂
Debbie says
I have found that you have to be really careful of everything on pinterest ... I've had a couple recipes that look so good ... then turn out poorly! But, I too ... am hooked on pinterest! I use denture tablets to get stains out of plastic containers ... doesn't always work on tomatoes, however! Depends upon the type of plastic. Enjoyed your post. Thanks for sharing!
Julie says
I will have to try denture tablets sometime. Thanks for sharing.