Fight Stubborn Stains On Enameled Cast Iron With This Popular Pantry Ingredient

If you do a lot of cooking using cast iron — which has a market worth of over a whopping $3 billion, per Statista — then over time, staining can become an inevitable part of the picture, whether it's from food or other culinary usage. Although it may seem like game over at this point, it turns out that there is an easy way to get rid of those pesky old stains: baking soda. As it turns out, this magical cupboard staple can work wonders on enameled cast iron cookware, helping you cast away any stubborn marks in no time so you can continue using your cookware exactly as you did before. All you have to do is dash a little onto any affected parts and watch as the stains wash away. Not only is this great news for your pots and pans, but it also means that you won't have to waste any of your hard-earned cash on replacing the affected items or spend forever aggressively rubbing away at the damage.

Of course, if you often create a mess, then this nifty trick should be able to reverse the negative impacts in no time. Likewise, you can utilize it as many times as you want, and as baking soda is a natural solution, you shouldn't have to worry about the environment or any negative impact on your pots and pans. All you'll need is a few items and you'll be ready to get the job done.

To try this baking soda cleaning hack out for yourself, arm yourself with some of the product, the stained items in question, and a sponge or washing brush — that's it. To start, you can take a generous amount and add a dash of it over the stains in question before splashing a couple of drops of water on top, allowing it to soak in. However, if they are on the sides of your pots or pans, you may find this more challenging. In this case, you may want to combine the two beforehand and then place it on top of your marks as you go along.

Now, you can either attempt to eliminate the damage after a few minutes or wait several hours before doing so, a step that will be highly subjective for each individual. When you're ready to jump the final hurdle, simply take your sponge or brush and scrub away at the stains under some water in your sink until they peel off, leaving you with pots that look brand-new and sparkling. On the other hand, if you find that some are particularly stubborn, you may want to try leaving the baking soda on for a longer period before washing it off. You can repeat this process whenever you find that hard-to-remove areas begin to appear more often — after all, practice makes perfect.

If you often find yourself having to turn to this cupboard staple or other methods of stain removal regularly when working with your enameled cast iron, then your best bet is switching to less intense heat settings with your gas or electric cooker. By experimenting with what works best, you should struggle less when it comes to a buildup of unsavory patches. However, if you do end up having to use some baking soda, it should make it much easier to deal with the issue. But what exactly makes this cupboard staple perform so well? 

The reason why this hack works all boils down to the fact that this cupboard staple has a slightly corrosive nature and is slightly alkali, which chemistry professor May Nyman from Oregon State University explains to Live Science: "Baking soda is the opposite of vinegar. It is harsh like vinegar but dissolves organic matter." These factors combined help you eliminate any burn marks or food stains. Without this, you may find that it's much more challenging to achieve the same results.