I have all these containers that are stained red from pasta. The stains are almost impossible to get off too. How can they be prevented and removed too?
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Tomato sauce is very acidic and it just so happens the chemical that gives tomatoes their bright red coloration (lycopene) is very hydrophobic. It repels water and seeks to get inside any kind of porous material it touches. It’s not noticeable to the naked eye, but most forms of plastic are porous rather than smooth and the high acidity of the tomato sauce can cause those small imperfections to grow and let even more pigment leech into the plastic.
Because the lycopene is hydrophobic AND non-polar soapy water won’t work at washing it out. It repels the water and soap has nothing to grab onto. The best way to get rid of those stains is by soaking the containers in vinegar or (more aggressive but more effective) small amounts of diluted bleach. Rather than washing away the difficult stains, they break the chemical down into something that can’t stick around.
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