What’s the Best Way to Clean Ecofriendly and Reusable Kitchen Products?

Because it’s been a while since I’ve washed either thestainless-steel bottlethat lives on my desk or the one in mygym bag, it was a wake-up call hearing Angelica Mastronardo (office manager atBlack + Blum, makers of some of our favoriteBento lunch boxesand steelthermoses) say that “bottlesshould be cleaned on a regular basis, at least once a week, to avoid bacterial growth, especially in hot weather.” She says the most natural way to clean bottles or thermoses is to fill them with a tablespoon of dry rice and a tablespoon of water, and then shaking vigorously. “The rice acts as an abrasive and should get them gleaming again,” she says. “When done, swill it out into a little sieve, and the rice can then becomposted.” Follow up by rinsing with hot water andsoap.

Beads like these, made from stainless steel or copper, will do the same job as rice, and they can be reused.

To sanitize your bottle, Mastronardo says to fill it with a mix of boiling water and a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate, wait an hour or two, and then rinse it out. She adds thatdental cleaning tabswill also sanitize and deodorize.

Instead of going through rolls of Saran wrap for lunch sandwiches or baked goods,beeswax wrap— which adheres to itself with a bit of rubbing — is an ingenious natural alternative, and luckily, beeswax isn’t that hard to clean. Zamudio rinses hers with lukewarm water and Common Good dish soap. “I like using it because it’s a little more liquid-y, and not as thick,” she says. “It’s nice and natural-smelling and is plant-based.” She does recommend replacing your wraps every six months, but the old ones can be composted or cut into strips and used as a fire starter.

For stubborn food bits stuck on the wraps, Bee’s Wrap founder Sarah Kaeck turns to a gentle, but effective, scrubber. “We use the Twist scrub sponges at the office,” she says. “They’re made from plants, dye-free, and biodegradable.”

Produce stored incloth bagslasts longer and doesn’t get slimy like vegetables kept in plastic, and cloth bags are also among some of the easiest ecofriendly products to clean. “Put them in the washing machine, cold, and then take them out and line dry,” says Sharon Rowe, founder and CEO ofEcobags Products, Inc.“You can put them in the dryer if you want, but they do shrink.” Rowe, whose company sellsproduce bags,shopping totes, andlunch sacks, says she likes using detergent from Seventh Generation because “they’re concerned overall with the environmental impact of their products.” The same detergent can also be used to hand-wash bags if a washing machine isn’t an option.

Cloth napkins and“unpaper”towels can also be simply thrown in the washing machine. Zamudio is a fan of Common Good’s detergent. If a napkin has a tough stain, she’ll rub a few drops of detergent on first before putting it in the wash.

If you’re ready to give up plasticstrawsand don’t want to go theTwizzlerroute,glassandstainless-steel versionsare classic-looking and ecofriendly alternatives. And if you buy a quality straw, they aren’t that difficult to clean either. Kim Erickson, director of marketing atSimply Straws, says that “the nice thing about glass [straws] is that they are so strong and durable that they are fine in a dishwasher.” As long as they’re on the top shelf or grouped with utensils, she says she’s never had any issues putting them in the dishwasher, and that the same process will work with stainless steel. Like Rowe, Erickson likes Seventh Generation because it’s natural and nontoxic, with no synthetics or fragrances.

For hard water stains and mineral buildup on glass straws, Erickson recommends washing them in a vinegar bath — a solution of one part water and one part vinegar. Organic and nontoxic, apple-cider vinegar naturally disinfects glass while its acids break down buildup.

Most reusable straws you buy will come with their own brushes, but how to clean them? An apple-cider vinegar bath, once they’ve done their job, is the expert-recommended solution.

Keeping your straw in a sleeve protects it from getting dirty or damaged in a crowded bag — and is also a sustainable way to carry a used straw if you don’t have time to clean it on the go. Erickson says the Simply Straws sleeves are also machine-washable.

Because the high temperature of dishwasher water can warp and distortBento lunch boxes, Mastronardo recommendshand-washingthem instead. For food stains, she says that “the first wash should always be with cold water. It sounds strange, but hot water will make the residue cling on even more. Once most of the oily residue has been removed, you can then use hot soapy water.” She likes this environmentally friendly soap made from biodegradable, plant-based ingredients.

To prevent future stains, Mastronardo advises eating with reusable wood cutlery instead of metal, as “metal cutlery will scratch the surface of the box and those tasty, colorful juices will sink into these scratches and will be almost impossible to remove.”