What’s the Best Way to Clean Ecofriendly and Reusable Kitchen Products?

Because it’s been a while since I’ve washed either the stainless-steel bottle that lives on my desk or the one in my gym bag, it was a wake-up call hearing Angelica Mastronardo (office manager at Black + Blum, makers of some of our favorite Bento lunch boxes and steel thermoses) say that “bottles should be cleaned on a regular basis, at least once a week, to avoid bacterial growth, especially in hot weather.” She says the most natural way to clean bottles or thermoses is to fill them with a tablespoon of dry rice and a tablespoon of water, and then shaking vigorously. “The rice acts as an abrasive and should get them gleaming again,” she says. “When done, swill it out into a little sieve, and the rice can then be composted.” Follow up by rinsing with hot water and soap.

Beads like these, made from stainless steel or copper, will do the same job as rice, and they can be reused.

To sanitize your bottle, Mastronardo says to fill it with a mix of boiling water and a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate, wait an hour or two, and then rinse it out. She adds that dental cleaning tabs will also sanitize and deodorize.

For stubborn food bits stuck on the wraps, Bee’s Wrap founder Sarah Kaeck turns to a gentle, but effective, scrubber. “We use the Twist scrub sponges at the office,” she says. “They’re made from plants, dye-free, and biodegradable.”

Produce stored in cloth bags lasts longer and doesn’t get slimy like vegetables kept in plastic, and cloth bags are also among some of the easiest ecofriendly products to clean. “Put them in the washing machine, cold, and then take them out and line dry,” says Sharon Rowe, founder and CEO of Ecobags Products, Inc. “You can put them in the dryer if you want, but they do shrink.” Rowe, whose company sells produce bags, shopping totes, and lunch sacks, says she likes using detergent from Seventh Generation because “they’re concerned overall with the environmental impact of their products.” The same detergent can also be used to hand-wash bags if a washing machine isn’t an option.

Cloth napkins and “unpaper” towels can also be simply thrown in the washing machine. Zamudio is a fan of Common Good’s detergent. If a napkin has a tough stain, she’ll rub a few drops of detergent on first before putting it in the wash.

If you’re ready to give up plastic straws and don’t want to go the Twizzler route, glass and stainless-steel versions are classic-looking and ecofriendly alternatives. And if you buy a quality straw, they aren’t that difficult to clean either. Kim Erickson, director of marketing at Simply Straws, says that “the nice thing about glass [straws] is that they are so strong and durable that they are fine in a dishwasher.” As long as they’re on the top shelf or grouped with utensils, she says she’s never had any issues putting them in the dishwasher, and that the same process will work with stainless steel. Like Rowe, Erickson likes Seventh Generation because it’s natural and nontoxic, with no synthetics or fragrances.

For hard water stains and mineral buildup on glass straws, Erickson recommends washing them in a vinegar bath — a solution of one part water and one part vinegar. Organic and nontoxic, apple-cider vinegar naturally disinfects glass while its acids break down buildup.

Most reusable straws you buy will come with their own brushes, but how to clean them? An apple-cider vinegar bath, once they’ve done their job, is the expert-recommended solution.

Keeping your straw in a sleeve protects it from getting dirty or damaged in a crowded bag — and is also a sustainable way to carry a used straw if you don’t have time to clean it on the go. Erickson says the Simply Straws sleeves are also machine-washable.

To prevent future stains, Mastronardo advises eating with reusable wood cutlery instead of metal, as “metal cutlery will scratch the surface of the box and those tasty, colorful juices will sink into these scratches and will be almost impossible to remove.”