One Very Resourceful Reason to Keep Some OxiClean in Your Kitchen

I have a favorite kitchen trick that has nothing to do with cooking.

Although I’ve learned not to go overboard, I like to keep recycled glass jars around. I use them for food storage—I like tall bottles for storing homemade dressing, and wide-mouthed pasta sauce jars for storing dry beans or popcorn kernels. But I also use small jars as vases for holding cut flowers, too.

The point is: I love my thrifty, recycled storage jars. But I do not love labels that don’t match their contents, or that detract from a humble floral vignette. And I don’t love sticky residue left by labels that used to be there!

So here’s my magic trick for getting rid of jar labels with zero scrubbing: soaking jars in an OxiClean solution. OxiClean—a brand name for sodium percarbonate—is great as a laundry pre-treat stain remover, but it also makes quick work of releasing stuck-on labels cleanly from repurposed jars. You can also use this trick to get stubborn price tags off of dishes or anything else.

Fill a plastic basin or your sink with hot water. Place your jars in the water, making sure to fill them with water so they sink under the water.

Add a generous scoop of OxiClean to the water and stir around to help it dissolve. Let the jars soak for an hour or so.

When you return to the sink, your labels should be floating on the water and no residue will remain on your jars. It’s so thrilling. If there is any residue left, rub gently with a sponge and it’ll slip right off.

While this alone is reason enough to keep OxiClean in the kitchen, here are some other compelling reasons to keep our favorite laundry aid in the under-sink cabinet in the kitchen:

Your range hood is probably loaded with grease and grime. To clean it without scrubbing, use OxiClean. Make a solution of half a cup of OxiClean per gallon of water. Dissolve the OxiClean in the hottest water you can. Remove the range hood, soak it in your solution, and rinse clean. Set it out to air dry before replacing.

A paste of OxiClean and water makes your kitchen grout clean again. Dip an old toothbrush or small cleaning brush into your paste and scrub on your grout. Let it sit for about ten minutes and then wipe with a wet sponge.

OxiClean is an excellent cleaner for your garbage can, recycling bin, and compost container. Make a paste of OxiClean and water and apply it to your receptacles with a cloth or sponge. Scrub to whiten plastic. Rinse clean, making sure that metal cans get immediately.