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Trying to figure out how to clean plastic containers naturally? There are a lot of different methods you can use to remove grease, stains, and odors from your plastic food containers. Standard dish soap works quite well, but you can also try vinegar, lemon juice, salt, or rubbing alcohol. Today I want to talk about cleaning plastic container stains using rubbing alcohol.

Many people do not think of rubbing alcohol when it comes to cleaning, for the simple reason that you rarely will find it in the cleaning product aisle of your grocery store. Most of the time it is over in the first aid section since it is a powerful disinfectant. Of course, anything that can disinfect a wound is also going to be great for cleaning surfaces, which is exactly why rubbing alcohol is such an excellent product to have on hand in your kitchen.

Can you use rubbing alcohol to clean plastic safely? You may be worried that the two will react. While rubbing alcohol does react with certain plastics, most plastics are stable in contact with it (notice that it comes in plastic bottles when you purchase it). Because “plastics” is such a broad term, the only way to be sure is to look up the particular type of plastic your containers are made of before you attempt to clean them. Again, most containers should be perfectly safe in exposure to isopropyl alcohol.

Rubbing alcohol does a great job removing stains left by a variety of foods and beverages. In particular, it does well removing tomato sauce stains from plastic. It also can remove coffee and tea stains as well as soda and juice stains. If you have stains from food coloring in your plastic food containers, rubbing alcohol can help to remove these unwanted tints as well.

If you notice a new stain, the best thing you can do is tackle it right away. Apply some rubbing alcohol and scrub the stain, then rinse out the alcohol with water and dish soap. Quite often the stain will lift immediately. If not, you can try soaking it in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes, which usually will remove even the most stubborn stains. If it has been a while since the stain set in, you may need to soak for a longer time, or you may need to go through this process several times.

You can do this with the lids of your plastic containers as well. Just soak them inside your larger containers for a few minutes while the rubbing alcohol works on the grease.

Rubbing alcohol works great for a lot of people when it comes to removing stubborn grease and stains from plastic containers, but it is not the only option you have. Remember, you can always try regular dish soap, or you can try one of the other natural methods I discussed earlier in this post. Be sure to check out my other articles on how to clean rubbing alcohol with baking soda, lemon juice, salt, and more!