# Soak dirty pan with dryer sheet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462 "2016-01-18T00:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmbarrassingDad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/embarrassingdad/32/5441_2.png) [@EmbarrassingDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmbarrassingDad)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/1 "2016-01-18T00:20:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/2 "2016-01-18T00:31:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/3 "2016-01-18T00:31:56Z")
Dryer sheets do everything! Maybe even cure cancer. Or, maybe its a great marketing ploy of the dryer sheet manufacturers? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/4 "2016-01-18T00:35:48Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Maybe even cure cancer. 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) ---
**Author:** ![Calla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Calla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/5 "2016-01-18T00:42:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/6 "2016-01-18T00:45:54Z")
> [@Calla](#): > > 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? ---
**Author:** ![Calla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Calla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/7 "2016-01-18T00:49:41Z")
Ceramic coated ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/8 "2016-01-18T00:53:36Z")
> [@Calla](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Calla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Calla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/9 "2016-01-18T00:56:04Z")
Oy! I don’t know why I didn’t think of a magic eraser! I use them for just about everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/10 "2016-01-18T00:57:48Z")
> [@Calla](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Calla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Calla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/11 "2016-01-18T01:09:03Z")
I use them until they are just about falling apart. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/12 "2016-01-18T01:30:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Calla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Calla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calla)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/13 "2016-01-18T23:42:08Z")
The magic eraser did the trick! ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/soak-dirty-pan-with-dryer-sheet/743462/14 "2016-01-19T00:05:27Z")
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.