I have this lunch box that is huge but works really well for me. I made a mistake a few weeks ago by leaving rotten food in it over the weekend and the stench is unbearable.
This lunch box has a removable interior made of some kind of plastic so I removed it and soaked it in warm water and dish soap for 48 hours in the sink and then I scrubbed the interior with a sponge.
When I got done, it still smelled like rotten food! I also cleaned the lid which isn’t removable but made of the same material. But just used the sponge on it.
Sticking my head inside is where I smell it most, so I think it’s the removable tub.
I also tried teabags as I heard of something like this with smelly shoes, but now my lunch box smells like feet lol.
So I’m at a loss. I love this box and don’t want to trash it. It was hard finding one like it.
Anything else I can try?
Edit: thanks for the suggestions! I forgot to mention that I did put some vinegar and baking soda in last night and kept the lid closed. I’ll leave it this way until tomorrow night and see.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Dunk it in vinegar overnight. It will kill bacterias, and the smell of vinegar itself will go away pretty quickly.
I can 2nd this advice. Vinegar will basically get rid of any smell I’ve ran into.
Same same. I had a thermos I accidentally left hot cocoa (made with milk) in for about 6 months when it fell behind my car seat. I thought I was going to have to throw it out because it smelled so horribly rancid. I booked some water and flushed it out and used white vinegar for a few overnight soaks and it got the smell out. Like a brand new thermos…
Whenever I’m in doubt about cleaning, I try sprinkling a good amount of baking soda and then pouring copious amounts of vinegar, then letting it do its thing. It’s an inexpensive experiment to try and could solve your problem.
Baking soda works, vinegar works. When you mix them together it’s just salty water. It does nothing.
Doesn’t the bubbly reaction do anything? It sure looks impressive.
Yeah. The acid in the vinegar is what gives it cleaning power. The base in the baking soda gives it cleaning power. They each will clean different things. When you mix them you get an acid base reaction which makes water, co2, and a salt. None of those have good cleaning properties in that situation.
Have you tried vinegar and baking soda? Those are basically the default at-home stench-and-stain removers any household should have.
Vinegar or baking soda individually will help. Mixed together they will immediately react to form slightly salty water and CO2- neither of which will help.
Plastics are notorious for catching smells and keeping smells.
I just replaced a plastic kitchen trash can with a metal one because of this.
I laughed to myself as I took the old one to put in the trash. I had never removed a sticker advertising “Traps Odors Inside!” That sticker wasn’t fucking kidding as this thing had sucked up every bad smell that had gone in the trash over two years. It “trapped” those odors all right, and every time I lifted the lid, they would come out to greet me.
As much as it sucks, the best solution would to be replace the lunchbox with a similarly sized metal one or fabric one (that can be washed).
make Indian food and leave it in there until it rots.
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This is my go to for things that I can easily move around. It works well and minimizes use of chemical cleaning agents.
Vinegar might work, but if you want it to really work, use bleach instead. A cap full should be enough.
Bleach could potentially damage the lunch box given that OP says it’s plastic. I’d stick with just vinegar.
Why would bleach damage it?
Bleach can react with certain plastics and corrode it over time.
Why does bleach come in plastic containers ? Acids on the other hand (like vinegar) come in glass containers .
- Vinegar is a weak acid and doesn’t react with any kind of plastic. It often is sold in plastic.
- Certain plastics != all plastics. There are many types of plastic. Unless you know what kind exactly you’re using, it’s better to err on the side of caution.
As far as I know, only HDPE is suitable for vinegar. Other types of plastic react with even a weak acid causing swelling/softening.
It’s highly unlikely that a cap full of bleach is going to damage the plastic in any meaningful way.
One could go for a less aggressive base, like baking soda. It is also slightly gritty.
Alternating between one and the other with hot water and then drying in the sun should be enough to remove the funk.
The problem is we are very very sensitive to rotten food.
Water and soap will do very little to remove any of that if that’s bound itself to the plastic.
You could use a high pH solution to try to tear up any organics. An extended soak in week hydrogen peroxide or a soak in a light lye solution might get the job done.
Ozone, sunlight, retrobrite, barkeeper’s friend, vinegar they’re all trying to do the same thing destroy those organics left on the plastic. But in some cases that stuff just binds and there’s not that much you can do about it.
Make a paste out of baking soda and dish soap and scrub it thoroughly, then rinse with hydrogen peroxide and again with lots of hot water.
Baking soda is very good for this.
I learned this technique from MythBusters
I usually use a wet paper towel and a little bit of bleach, then I set it out in the sun for a while.
Cut a white onion in half and toss it in the lunchbox and close it. Put it in a plastic bag and tie it up and place it outside in the sun for 24-48hrs. I do this when I forget to dump/clean a protein shake out of my blender bottle and it ends up smelling like Satan’s asshole. It’s the only method I’ve found that pulls the stink out of the plastic reliably.
I’m assuming the reason this works is a combination of the onion and UV rays hitting a see through plastic bottle. YMMV with a closed lunchbox. Might need to keep it open in a bag facing the sun instead if closed doesn’t work.
Yeah good old fashioned sunlight is what this needs.
I really hate when plastic tupperwares ooze grease even if you wash them ten times . If baking soda doesn’t work, there is an even stronger option: washing soda.
I use baking soda to wash holiday glassware that spends all year on top of the nasty cabinets above the stove and it kills the sticky mildew feel almost instantly. But when push comes to shove, washing soda is even more insane than baking soda.
Just be sure to rinse thoroughly so it doesn’t end up in the food
I’d start with washing and letting it sit in the sun a couple of days. If that doesn’t work I’d go nuclear with an ozone generator just be easy with it or it will turn the food smell into an off-gasing plastic smell, and don’t use it in an occupied space. Idealy stick it in a tote outside or something like that.
Baking soda, couldn’t be easier
This is an out of the box idea (no pun intended), have you considered using an effervescent denture cleaner like Effordent? Fill container with warm water and dump a bunch of tablets in it.
Yep. Denture cleaners are quite good for food-safe stuff. When we cleaned out grandmas flat, I put her cleaner tablets aside, astonishing the other family members with my move: “But you’ve got no dentures?!?!” Those pills are great for cleaning vases or thermos bottles.
Yeah, they’re fantastic for, uh, “vases”
They are also good for coffee and tea cups.
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