2 out of 5 leaves
Over time, most any well-used metal baking sheets tend to develop a patina of copper colored gunk. Some consider this a good seasoning that develops over time, or a record of your kitchen history. Others feel that it is a sign that you are not cleaning your pans well enough. A quick web (or Pinterest) search suggests that a soak in hydrogen peroxide plus baking soda will eliminate the bakeware staining with virtually no effort. Can hydrogen peroxide and baking soda easily remove the baked on stains?
The Good
- Better for you – no yucky chemicals in contact with your skin or cookware
- Better for the earth – no yucky chemicals entering the waste stream
- Saves money – peroxide and bicarb are cheap, and probably in your cupboard right now
- Easy (?) – this method is supposed to be virtually scrub free
The Bad
- Did not work – staining did not magically wipe away
My Experience
I came across this nifty (and practically magical) trick on Pinterest. The pin linked to one of my favorite DIY sites One Good Thing By Jillee. It seems that Jillee had sprinkled baking soda and peroxide on her yucky baking sheets, waited an hour or two, and then easily wiped away the grime. Look at how promising this photo is!
This is what I was looking forward to. Photo by Jillee.
I followed the directions as closely as I could from the description I found. Sprinkled baking soda on. Wet it with peroxide, sprinkled more baking soda. After a couple hours I wiped it away, and….. nothing! See for yourself — I could just barely make out which half had the treatment, and which didn’t:
Yes, the right half is slightly cleaner, but I expected an obvious improvement!
A Green Idea Fail! How disappointing!! I don’t know what I did wrong. Perhaps I needed more of all the good stuff? Perhaps my tray just wasn’t dirty enough? Or maybe this really takes a little more elbow grease than just a magically quick wipe down? I’m not sure, but I will certainly be adding to the list of green ideas to try again one day (ala Mythbusters Revisited
Have you ever tried this trick to clean your baking sheets? Did it work for you? Or do you even care if your trays looks like this?
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I found your blog through Better Mom Monday! I found your link-up intriguing so I clicked on over to say hi! Thanks for sharing your “fail”. I’ve used vinegar and baking soda since it’s an item I can buy cheaply, but not peroxide. Very interesting. Just goes to show that lots of stuff pinned or online are NOT true.
Thanks for visiting Thaleia!
I tried this with no results as well. The thing that worked for me was soaking them in ammonia for a few hours covered with plastic wrap to reduce the smell. I then took some steel wool and they cleaned up beautifully. It is a harsh chemical method, but I haven’t found a gentle way that works.
Hmmmm…. I think I’d pick the brown trays over ammonia soaking.
I was also inspired by this idea. I was equally disappointed. I even scrubbed the dickens outta those pans! I will try the ammonia method when my courage is peaked and I am again disgusted by my pans, lol!
My best idea to not think about the pans is to use parchment paper when I use them. Lazy way to make me feel better!
thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one!
How sad that it didn’t work! I just started using parchment paper for everything. I know, it is the lazy way out but I just got lazy!
Thanks for sharing on Natural Living Monday! I am excited to see what you have to share this week.
Hi Victoria! I have tried this too, with the same (lack of) results. I have read in a few different places that Cream of Tarter works well for this type of thing? I haven’t tried it yet…and I am not sure if you have to use the Cream of Tarter with peroxide or vinegar….I personally hate my pans looking like this…
Okay folks, I understand the need to save, recycle, go green, etc. I love all the ideas shared on these blogs; I use a lot of them
In this case, my best advice would be to replace the pans with new ones – I just purchased a sun oven and it came with new baking pans. I thought it would be nice to have a new cookie sheet – inexpensive and oh so nice. The old one will be recycled under my worm compost bin to catch drippings. Use the money you spend on cleaning supplies trying to restore old worn out items and treat yourself to something new.
Do this ~ put your baking pan inside a plastic bag with a small container, or rag soaked in ammonia. Close tightly and let it sit all night. The next morning you can easily scrub off (using a stainless or copper scrubber) the good on your pans.
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doing this right now but i’m going to let mine sit overnight and see how they come out. will let you know tomorrow
Any update Sarah?
sadly nothing happened but it was easier to take the baking soda off after it had hardened but as for cleaning it was a zero. guess I’ll be getting a new one.
That stinks! Thanks for the follow-up!
I also tried this combination on my kitchen sink and didn’t find it the miracle worker, as written about on One Good Thing (the same site you read). It left a pasty white residue which I had to repeatedly rinse. I finally ended up spraying my sink with Windex to get it shiny again. I also tried using the baking soda and peroxide mixture to clean the grout in my shower, no luck there either.
I tried it this morning and found that it did work. All I could remember was baking soda and peroxide, not the instructions. So I made a thick paste of the two and spread it on the cookie sheet. (Should have taken before/after photos) I walked away. Had to scrub a bit, but it all came off. I was pleased with the results.
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