Fix Your Soapy-Tasting Silicone Kitchenware With Two Common Household Ingredients

Parents like to give their kids silicone plates, cups, and utensils since they're safer to use during mealtime. If a toddler is in a throwing mood, plastic won't shatter like glass or porcelain when it makes contact with the floor. While it's definitely convenient, it also has its drawbacks. For example, silicone kitchenware tends to hang onto smells and tastes. You can often smell last night's dinner on the plate, and even worse, taste the soap you used to clean it off. That's because silicone products are known to retain oil residue on their surface, and it usually comes from the soap you're using to clean it. 

Whether you pop it in the dishwasher, soak it in soapy water, or handwash it thoroughly after every meal, that soap residue is slowly layering onto the surface, leaving behind a plastic-y taste. This will then transfer to the food, making your kid push away their meals more often than not. The good news is it's easily reversible. Here's how.

To remedy your issue, you can use either baking soda or vinegar to strip the soapy taste from these products. It all depends on whatever you have handy at the moment. If you are using the baking soda cleaning hack, create a slurry using baking soda and a little bit of warm water. Spread it around the kitchenware with a sponge or scrub brush, and leave it on there for a few hours, allowing the baking soda to deodorize the items. Simply rinse them afterward and they'll be as good as new. 

If you want to go the vinegar route instead, grab a gallon bag and put your kitchenware and utensils inside. Mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/2 cup of hot water and 2 tablespoons of salt, and close the bag. Give it a shake to thoroughly mix the ingredients together, and allow the mixture to penetrate the kitchenware for about an hour. Then rinse it with soap and warm water to remove any traces of vinegar. 

However, you don't want to use the same dish soap as before since it's what caused the funky taste to begin with. Avoid anything with essential oils, lotions, or anti-bacterial properties since they each contain oils. Instead, try to use an unscented dish soap with a neutral pH.