My wife read on the internet that if you have a pot or pan with burnt food stuck on it, to soak it with a dryer sheet overnight.
If you google it, there’s tons of “life hack” links with this little gem.
I don’t think a wax coated, April-fresh, piece of paper/cloth could possibly do anything at all.
Could this possibly work, and if so, what is the science behind it?
It just seems like an old wives tale to me.
Tried it once in college (around 1999 when I heard it). Didn’t work. The theory was that at least some of what holds the grime to the pan is static (I now realize that doesn’t make sense) and that using the sheet of bounce would help.
Again, it didn’t but for the cost of a sheet of bounce it was worth it to try.
Dryer sheets do everything!
Maybe even cure cancer.
Or, maybe its a great marketing ploy of the dryer sheet manufacturers?
Unless you sell essential oils, then they cause cancer.
Here, let make make you some Thieves Wool Dryer Balls.
(Sarcasm, in case it’s not clear, based on FB friends selling Young Living Oils)
I’ve never heard of this particular trick. I currently have a frying pan with the remnants of burnt hash browns. My son’s girlfriend apparently has an aversion to cooking spray, oil, butter, or any other substance that might have prevented the problem. I might as well try a dryer sheet since nothing else has worked.
Non-stick or stainless steel?
Ceramic coated
That I’m not sure…I have stainless steel pans and when they get really stained from frying stuff I use Barkeeper’s Friend and a Magic Eraser. 2 minutes and some elbow grease later and they look brand new.
I’ll bet a Magic Eraser would do a good job on them. I’m not sure about the Barkeeper’s Friend, it might scratch it.
Oy! I don’t know why I didn’t think of a magic eraser! I use them for just about everything else.
Pro-Tip: cut them in half (or even thirds or quarters). I just use what I need so I’m not throwing away an entire one away just to clean a sink or a pot or bathtub.
I use them until they are just about falling apart.
if it won’t damage the pan, oven cleaner will removed baked on crud from pans just as well as from an oven. The active ingredient is lye, so lye based drain cleaners also work.
The magic eraser did the trick!
The surfactants in dryer sheets are similar to those in detergents. So skip the dryer sheet and add a spritz of dish washing detergent to the water. Same deal for less money.