Dirty container labeled Meatballs near a kitchen sink.

The Hack for Cleaning Greasy Containers

This quick container cleaning hack will save you lots of dishwashing time.

Before Pesach, we’re cooking a lot in advance and storing food in containers. And then we serve or cook such food, and we’re left with lots and lots of greasy containers that need to get washed so they can be used again (or put away for next year).

Somehow there’s some magic in this method that we can’t explain. The paper towel picks up the color of the tomato sauce and the grease that usually doesn’t come out when you simply scrub. It’s an amazing thing. 

Dirty container labeled Meatballs near a kitchen sink.

Does this look familiar? If you’ve ever tried to wash these with a sponge, you might remember that it’s hard to get that greasy residue off. You can scrub the container with a sponge and tons of dish soap but it still feels greasy. This method literally gets that squeaky clean result. Like a new container.

Holding a piece of paper towel near a running kitchen sink.

First, wet a paper towel until fully saturated.

Pumping dish soap onto a wet piece of paper towel near a running kitchen sink.

And add some dish soap.

A wet piece of paper towel with dish soap in a dirty container from Meatballs.

Add the paper towel to your container.

Closing the lid of a dirty container from Meatballs with a wet piece of paper towel with dish soap inside.

Close and shake!

Shaking a dirty container from Meatballs with a wet piece of paper towel with dish soap inside, in a kitchen sink.

And shake some more.

A wet and soapy container plus lid from Meatballs with a dirty paper towel in the container that absorbed its grease.

The paper towel really does a great job of absorbing that grease! We can’t explain why this works so much better than simply scrubbing with the paper towel, but it does! If the container is really super greasy, you may need to do it twice. Grab a new paper towel and do it again.

Holding a wet and soapy container from Meatballs with a dirty paper towel in the container that absorbed its grease.

Then, just a quick rinse will get rid of both the soap and any other food that didn’t get picked up by the paper towel. 

Holding a clean container plus lid over the kitchen sink.

And it’s all clean!

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Between Carpools is a collaboration between five talented friends who like to get a lot of stuff done “between carpools.” Since 2016, we’ve been sharing home and organizing tips, parenting insights, activities, how-to’s and DIYs, and of course, entertaining ideas, recipes, and inspiring reads both on the site and app.

6 responses to “The Hack for Cleaning Greasy Containers”

  1. B Avatar
    B

    Wow! Looks amazing- I want to get a container greasy just to try it out!

  2. Gitty Avatar
    Gitty

    Hi I think the paragraphs got mixed up here?

  3. Leah Avatar
    Leah

    Wow, what an amazing tip! Can’t wait to try! I usually rely on my dishwasher to get my containers squeaky clean, but don’t have the luxury of a dishwasher over Pesach.

  4. Dena Avatar
    Dena

    And the smell can only be rid of with cold water not hot!
    I line these containers with the smallest sz crock pot liners from Amazon.

  5. Yehudit Kotlyar Avatar
    Yehudit Kotlyar

    I found an even better way! I use theKosher L’Pesach wipes in a bucket.

  6. Chana Avatar
    Chana

    I do the same but without the paper towel. I put a bit of water and pump some Dawn soap. then close and shake well Then I pour it out and wash with a sponge as usual and it generally comes out new. And same as mentioned in the post, if it’s rly badly greasy, a second round works before washing with a sponge.
    It works wonders without, I wonder if the paper towel is truly necessary for this method. I will try this to compare.

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