Keeping stainless steel rust-free can be tricky because, despite its name, it is not completely stain-proof. A cleaning guru has shared how you can effectively use lemons around the house to keep things fresh and clean – including stainless steel pots, pans and cutlery.
Chantel Mila, known on TikTok as Mama Mila, urged people to avoid throwing away used lemons. In a video from February, the cleaning influencer shared five cleaning hacks centred around lemons. One included using a mix of lemon and baking soda as an effective way to remove rust and grime from stainless steel utensils and cutlery. Chantel described it as her favourite lemon cleaning hack.
Simply cover the stainless steel with a generous sprinkling of baking soda, before squeezing over the items.
Allow the two natural ingredients to react, leaving the paste on the affected area for around 15 to 20 minutes. Then using a halved lemon, scrub away any remaining rust.
After this, thoroughly rinse the area with water and allow it to dry completely.
The lemon’s citric acid, along with the mild abrasiveness of baking soda, work together to soften and lift the rust from stainless steel.
Lemon and baking soda can be an effective cleaning solution, which can remove odours from bins and dishwashers.
When the two are mixed together, they create a chemical reaction, allowing them to be used as a cleaning substance.
The pair works well due to the lemon juice’s acidity helping to dissolve grease and grime, while the baking soda helps to create an abrasive texture.
Baking soda is also an alkaline substance, which helps when scrubbing and ‘deodourising’ an item.
By combining the two, it creates a paste which loosens any unwanted rust, lifting it and making it easy to scrub away.
This can also work for other tough stains and grime.
Chantel’s video has been watched over 36,900 times. Natasha commented: “Ohh I will be trying these for sure.”