We like tomato sauce, but one must be careful with what to put into the dishwasher, to not have plastic bowls, storage boxes or other things dyed red…Why is tomato sauce this potent in coloring plastic. It’s like it’s in the fabric of the plastic itself after it comes out of the dishwasher…why not the same effect with strawberries or raspberries? And is there a way to prevent this?
Edit: Wow, this got some momentum…I see a lot of people like tomato sauces. Thanks for the awards as well!
In: Chemistry
**The standard answer:**
The stain is from a hydrophobic (repels water) solid substance called lycopene, which is responsible for the red in tomatoes.
As it turns out. plastic is also a “hydrophobic solid”. When two hydroponic things get wet, they stick to each other, thus the stain.
**The standard fix:**
Lycopene is however soluble in oil. So spray on some oil and wipe of the red before getting it wet.
**But I am confused by your situation:**
I am not sure I understand what you mean by “tomato sauce”. In Australia tomato sauce is similar to “ketchup” but it tastes better. Both these sauces have significantly less lycopene than raw tomatoes and should not stain anything a tomato can’t. Typical tomato stains are from a puree (eg: “tomato paste”) which has up to 20 times as much lycopene than a raw tomato.
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