For many women, cleaning stainless steel items is necessary because they get stained or dirty after a period of use. Ms. An Thuy (46 years old, from Hanoi) shared with Thanh Nien her secret of cleaning stainless steel items to make them look white and new.
Ms. Thuy said that she had heard a lot about baking soda and other cleaning agents for cleaning kitchen items. However, on one occasion, while waiting to buy goods, she saw a stainless steel shop employee using a cloth and a white powder to clean dirt stains and rust caused by long exposure to the outdoors. She asked and found out that the white powder was lime stone powder.
“After that, I immediately bought it to try and found it to be very effective compared to the cleaning agents I was using. I have tested it many times on various stainless steel items, kitchen surfaces, induction cooktops, dishwashing sinks, bathroom sinks… and got very satisfactory results,” she shared.
Ms. Thuy’s method is as follows: Put a small amount of lime stone powder in a small bowl. Use an old toothbrush, a damp cloth, and a dry soft cloth.
Next, take the pan or pot that needs cleaning and dip it in water. Use a damp cloth to slowly dampen the lime stone powder, then scrub vigorously on the area to be cleaned. If you clean multiple times, all the stubborn stains that have been there for a long time will be removed. For corners or handles of pans and pots, you will need to use a brush to clean them.
“After cleaning all the items, you should immerse them in a basin or rinse them under clean water. If necessary, use a dry cloth to ensure the result. I also apply this method to the glass tea pot that has stains from long-time use, and it gets completely clean and transparent again,” she said.
Currently, Ms. Thuy’s family uses a lot of cast iron pans, enamel-coated cast iron pots, and stainless steel pots. After a while, they inevitably get oil stains, so she has to clean them occasionally. Lime stone powder is sold in all stores that sell construction materials and accessories.