This Unexpected Kitchen Staple Cuts Through Stubborn Pot And Pan Stains

If you're at your wits' end trying to remove stains from pots and pans, perk up. We've got a simple, effective solution that's free, void of chemicals, and a sustainable way to recycle: used coffee grounds. Cookware with grease or maddeningly caked-on food is one of the worst kitchen items to have to clean, but there's hope. Just fill your pot or pan about halfway with water that's soapy and warm, then pop in about one tablespoon of those coffee grounds or apply them right to a sponge, scrub, and rinse.

The coffee grounds are abrasive, so they effectively lift build-up off the pan's surface, plus their acidity cuts through grease. Similar to baking soda, with coffee grounds, you're cleaning with abrasion rather than harsh chemicals, so you can finally de-gunk your cookware with no risk of harmful flavors or aromas left behind. Just remember that because these grounds are abrasive, you don't want to use a sponge that's abrasive, too. And for similar reasons, take care with what you clean with grounds.

They're a game-changing way to clean stainless steel cookware, but could possibly scratch non-stick coating. Often, the best way to clean ceramic pans is simply with warm, soapy water, and the same goes for tiles made from ceramic or other, more delicate, scratch-prone materials. Test anything you're planning on cleaning first by applying grounds to a small, less noticeable spot. 

Coffee grounds similarly work wonders for oven and grill grates. It's best to let these soak in warm, soapy water for about 45 minutes before giving them the coffee-ground scrub and rinsing. You can also make a general cleaning solution for kitchen surfaces by mixing a few tablespoons of coffee grounds with water. As with cookware, though, always be careful with what materials you're cleaning with coffee granules' abrasiveness. 

Another factor is staining. You know how coffee can, over time, stain your teeth with tannins? It can have the same effect on lightly colored surfaces, especially when you're scrubbing a dense dose of grounds directly onto it. With anything that's pale in hue or porous in texture, again, first test a relatively out-of-sight spot. Alternatively, consider other hacks for certain materials, like baking soda as a magic cleaner for enamel cookware.

Once you're done cleaning and celebrating your finally spotless pans, there are plenty of other ways to make good use of coffee grounds. They're one of the best everyday kitchen items to repurpose in your garden for healthy soil, and their nitrogen makes them a powerful deodorizer. Just sprinkle them along the bottom of garbage cans.