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December 14, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Click here to read my disclosure policy.

DIY· Frugal Living

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For quite a few years we had non stick pans.  You know, those Teflon ones that are a breeze to clean because everything just glides right off.  If it didn’t glide off initially, a long soak in a sink full of water with some dish soap took care of it.  But after 6 years of continual use on gas and electric stoves, the Teflon was no longer there and I was a little concerned about what we were eating in addition to what I had cooked.

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

When we were gifted with a new stainless steel set for Christmas, the Teflon went out the door very quickly.  When reading up on how to clean stainless steel pans, the instructions on them seemed so restrictive to me.  Mainly, I couldn’t take the easy way out and let them soak in a sink full of water.

One day I had made scrambled eggs for Monkey and Lady Bug for lunch.  The eggs didn’t come off entirely after using dish soap and water.  Enter a quest to find a new method for cleaning them that didn’t require a ton of work.

I’m all about simplicity people.

After a lot of research, I noticed that Bar Keepers Friend was the most recommended choice.  The ingredients didn’t seem too far off from Comet though, and I was not about to put it on my pans that we would continue to cook with.

Instead, I bought Mrs. Meyer’s Surface Cleaner at $4 for a small container.  It’s made from natural ingredients, so I figured it had to be better than Bark Keepers Friend, right?  After two rounds of some serious scrubbing, it finally cleaned the entire surface and rinsed off thoroughly.  The only problem was it left a funny taste the next time we used that pan to cook.  Back to square one.

After some more research, and not coming up with much, I talked to my mom.  She suggested baking soda.  I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner because baking soda has a lot of uses in our house, but cleaning my pots and pans was not one of them!  So it was time to put it to the test to see if it could claim the title of stainless steel cleaner.

Enter the pan; it was used to saute onions and peppers for sausage sandwiches.  Yum!!

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

 

But what was left behind made me cringe just thinking about having to clean it.

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

Enter the workers.  Both of these, and some water, I have on hand so there was nothing extra to buy.  Even better!

Sprinkle some baking soda on the pan, add a drop {or three, or five} of dish soap, and enough water to turn the mixture into a paste.

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

Scrub the pan for a little bit so that the paste is incorporated and focusing on the really stuck on bits.  Don’t scrub for more than five minutes.  Better yet, no more than two minutes.  Seriously.  Just rub the paste around, and walk away.  You could add a splash of vinegar before walking away, but it’s not necessary.

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

I’ve let them sit like this for a few minutes to overnight, depending on what’s going on.   When you come back, the pan should look something like this.

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

Run a sponge around if it makes you feel better, but you don’t need to.  Then just rinse your pan, and dry.

Homemade Stainless Steel Cleaner

Voila!

I seriously love using this homemade version.  It doesn’t leave a nasty aftertaste, and it gets the job done.  I’ve cleaned stuck on rice, scrambled eggs, fried chicken… you name it, it’s cleaned it!  And the best part?  I don’t have to spend money on yet another cleaner!

Have you tried using baking soda as a homemade stainless steel cleaner?  How has it worked for you?  Let me know below!

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makingcentsmatter
Only you can determine what your financial goals a Only you can determine what your financial goals are. If that means you're adding money to your savings account, or contributing to your retirement, while you are paying off debt, then so be it!⁠
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The trick to meal planning is to make it predictab The trick to meal planning is to make it predictable. But predictable doesn't mean the same thing week to week. You could have a chicken meal, a soup meal, a pasta meal, a leftovers meal, a family favorite meal, and so on.⁠
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I can only hear about my extended warranty I never I can only hear about my extended warranty I never purchased so many times. 😣⁠
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March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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House: $511.13⁠
Citi: $0 – this has a residual $3 in interest charges since payoff, due in April⁠
D NelNet: $100⁠
K NelNet: $100⁠
K Chase: $600⁠
Explorer: $336.27⁠
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Total Paid in 2021: $8,258.84⁠
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Extra Payment: There isn’t one this month since we were $25 away from zeroing out the budget for our February 15th monthly paycheck. That $25, and monies left from our January 15th paycheck, covered our OOP costs for Hubs’ filling. We also have some savings goals coming up that need to be met, making our debt payments a little lower for the time begin.⁠
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The battle for who can charge what tonight is abou The battle for who can charge what tonight is about to begin. 😬⁠
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My kids run off with my charger, plug it into one outlet 5 feet from where they found it like that particular outlet is the only one in this house, and then proceed to fight over who can charge their device first at night.⁠
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Then they get grumpy when it's their turn and it's not the proper input cable. #itwasmychargerfirst #dontlikeitgofindyourown⁠
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A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a bit in our February Budget Check-In about how much of this I think we'll owe, and you can check that out on my YouTube channel if you're interested, but I wanted to say here...⁠
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It was a lot of money for us at the time. Our kids were 6, 2, and 3 months old. I don't think we even had $500 in savings, and I just left a part-time teaching job because it wasn't paying the part-time daycare bill, so paying our portion in full was just a dream I didn't think was achievable.⁠
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Nearly 10 years later, we are still paying off our debts. Student loans suck. But I see this bill as a reminder of how far we have come. Seeing a bill like this doesn't stress me out like it used to, and I know we can easily create a plan that can get it done and out of the way.⁠
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It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budget It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budgeting categories are working out for the pay month.⁠
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Food is looking good this far into our paycheck, probably because miscellaneous - which includes eating out - took a hit with unexpected purchases. Pet is low for this time of the month, and Household is spot on.⁠
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Fuel looks like it'll be lower than last month (yay for weeks of snow days & delayed school starts), and Therapy had one more appointment than initially planned.⁠
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Garden, Dental, Medical & Propane are not included in these estimates so far because those expenses are coming from sinking funds. Once we're done with the month and review the budget, I'll move over the total amount spent from those sinking funds.⁠
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Automating your finances makes saving money and bu Automating your finances makes saving money and budgeting more convenient, and therefore easier on you. Out of sight, out of mind, right?⁠
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What's one thing you can automate this week to make your finances easier?⁠
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Me? I'm going to set up our sinking fund transfers to automate every payday (the 15th of every month). Our bank set up a feature on their app where we can schedule savings transfers now, and I'm going to take advantage of it!⁠
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Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone a smidgen overboard this month!⁠
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I foresee a goal for March's paycheck to at out less than twice. That's where this category went awry. $99.16 of it went to eating out. 😑 Some of it was avoidable, but not all of it. Having to drive to multiple appointments in one day during snow squalls and rearranging our whole day was one of those unavoidable instances.⁠
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Tracking our expenses - much like a budget review - is vital to sticking to your budget!⁠
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