Great work, Karen! Sometimes when things have been around for awhile we become blind to them. There are a few (ahem) similar cupboards in our home I need to poke around in as well.
For any pot with carbonised food just cover the food with water, add a generous amount of salt and boil it up. You will see the salt start to lift the particles of carbon. Wash and scrub the pan, if needed then just repeat. I'm embarrassed to admit to needing to do this a few times.
You could try to make a paste made from baking soda and water and apply it to stuck on food, let soak, then use white vinegar on a scrubbing sponge to foam off and loosen up. Another cleaner that might work is a mixture of vinegar and cream of tartar mixed to a thin paste and applied, let soak for awhile, scrub with a scrubbing sponge works for broiler pans, oven windows, casserole dishes etc.
Ha, yes relaxing! Difficult in one's own home sometimes, when chores come a zooming out of the woodwork! Quite understood this vibe - I've never managed ( quite) the voluntary ignoring of visable things, let alone the hidden ones! 😂
Hi Karen, love your videos. Just a thought, I find bicarbonate of soda works brilliantly. Nearly fill your slow cooker dish with hot water and top up with boiling water and sprinkle the bicarb into the water. The bicarb with fizzle up, leave it until it stops fizzing, probably approx half and hour. It will be alot easier to clean. It may take 2 goes . Please let us know in a video if it works 😊 x
I have done that a few times with rice pudding in the slow cooker and I discovered my freezer scraper works a treat and doesn't leave scratches. Then I go over it with the pink stuff, rinse and its good to go :)
Have a go with biological washing powder or liquid and pour freshly boiled water from the kettle into the slow cooker pot leave overnight. It should soften the burnt bits enough to wash them out. Good luck.
Always fun to look in cupboards you haven't looked for years. I did some tidying of my grandma's pantry when I was about 14. Found some tins with BBEs that were before I was born.
Fill the slow cooker to above the stuck on pudding with hot water and add some baking soda.. a good amount. Mix well. Add a tad of dish washing liquid. Put the cooker on low and leave it for several hours, checking the residue periodically. It may need to be turned on high for a while depending on the amount of pudding in it. I've done this many times and it does work. Good luck!
Also if you have a Poundland near you, slow cooker liners, 5 for a pound, straight to the bin, little clean up, done. I forgot to say also when you said about Scentsy if you have a Home Bargains Wickford wax melts, about a pound for 8 , are very good x
Try sodium bicarbonate. Make it into a paste and leave it on overnight, then wash off in the morning. Or you could sprinkle the powder on then wet with high strength white vinegar. E.g. 60 percent. It should fizz up, which should help loosen your clumps 😊
Don't think I even have any microfiber cloths, but I have enough plastic grocery bags to make up for that. The good thing is that the bags really are handy to line trash cans with and to bag up extra trash in at the end of the week.
Try cheap nasty cola with white vinager. Fill the bowl with cola, add 1 capful of white vinager, put either foil or cling wrap over top, leave overnight. Hope that may help 😊
Karen is it possible you could be a hoarder? If you have cupboards you've not looked at in years and "found" more tubs of sugar... Why do you even empty the bags of sugar into the tubs and mylar bags anyway?! If you only use it in your tea, and let's be realistic, you don't do loads of baking, surely a couple of kilos in the bag they're sold in is plenty to have in store?
I have a guaranteed solution, but you need to make sure you do it with care and with heavy gloves: Sodium Hydroxide - Pure - Food Grade (Caustic Soda, Lye). First thoroughly wet the caked on crud, sprinkle the sodium hydroxide on there. Let sit where no one will accidentally touch it. After an hour or so, rinse until everything is clean. Works like a charm.
I think we just do what we can do, when we can do it! Oftentimes the motivation comes when we've given ourselves permission to take some time not doing jobs. That seems to lift the pressure from our minds to such an extent that we then feel like tackling some job that had previously overwhelmed us. It's how it works for me anyway. Is it reverse psychology?
Now you know why my decorating is taking so long... I get distracted by stuff just like this... My go to for stubborn stains... Baking Soda and dishsoap and vinegar... Make up a paste of dish soap and baking powder and use a scrubby sponge to apply liberally all over the stuff you need to shift, then cover with a layer of kitchen roll, just one later is sufficient, so it lays over the paste and gently dab it down, so it's stuck... then just pour a little vinegar all over the paper... less is more... If you have a little squirty bottle you can use, even better... You will see the paste foam up under the paper... Don't do anything, just shove an old plastic bag or cling film over the paper to stop it drying out and leave to steep overnight... Now it works brilliant on proper burnt on oven pans and casserole dishes so it's worth a go on this... Next day, remove plastic, use the paper to remove what you can, this is where you can use a bit more baking soda and dishsoap and a decent scrubby... If it's as bad as you say, it could take several attempts to break it down... You could try pure neat vinegar and leave to soak but it would work out expensive so I'd persevere and go with my first option... Very last option WD40... Same as above, you might need to spray it on and cover it so it stays put, but that baby cuts through anything... ask Patrick x lol x Good luck xxx
I finally decided to hire a closet company to put in decent shelving in our small kitchen. Our kitchen was styled in 1950. Im sure nobody worried about maintaining a full pantry because there aren’t many shelves, no closet and one small pantry. Not much counter-space either. How did they cook!?! My DIY shelving has got to go!
Try a fabric softener sheet and boiling water. Let it sit until it is just warm, not cold, and scrub with the baking soda like others have said. (If not a sheet, then half a capful of liquid.)
I hope some of the carbon cleaning suggestions work for you. But sometimes it can be better to just let it go. Maybe just replace the insert that has all that stuck material on it, if that is the case. Or maybe just toss out that whole thing and buy a new one. I'm hugely enthusiastic about reusing things, cleaning them as necessary, but sometimes it's just better to get a new one and get rid of the old one.
Someone told me that dish washing tablets are good for removing burnt on foods, just fill pot up with hot water and add 2/3 tablets, soak 24 hours. I've not tried it myself.
PS... Move the scale out of the corner so you can see it better and treat yourself to a nice poinsietta for your blank spot for now, you've got all Christmas then to decide what you want to live there xxx
So pleased the overflowing basket has gone.
Lol !
Glad to see your shelf cleared a bit!😊xx😻🕊️
Great work, Karen! Sometimes when things have been around for awhile we become blind to them. There are a few (ahem) similar cupboards in our home I need to poke around in as well.
The shelf behind looks better already Karen .
For any pot with carbonised food just cover the food with water, add a generous amount of salt and boil it up. You will see the salt start to lift the particles of carbon. Wash and scrub the pan, if needed then just repeat. I'm embarrassed to admit to needing to do this a few times.
You could try to make a paste made from baking soda and water and apply it to stuck on food, let soak, then use white vinegar on a scrubbing sponge to foam off and loosen up. Another cleaner that might work is a mixture of vinegar and cream of tartar mixed to a thin paste and applied, let soak for awhile, scrub with a scrubbing sponge works for broiler pans, oven windows, casserole dishes etc.
Looking forward to seeing the New Kitchen Karen.
Ha, yes relaxing! Difficult in one's own home sometimes, when chores come a zooming out of the woodwork! Quite understood this vibe - I've never managed ( quite) the voluntary ignoring of visable things, let alone the hidden ones! 😂
You inspire me! Off to find something to purge 😂
Hi Karen, love your videos. Just a thought, I find bicarbonate of soda works brilliantly. Nearly fill your slow cooker dish with hot water and top up with boiling water and sprinkle the bicarb into the water. The bicarb with fizzle up, leave it until it stops fizzing, probably approx half and hour. It will be alot easier to clean. It may take 2 goes . Please let us know in a video if it works 😊 x
I have done that a few times with rice pudding in the slow cooker and I discovered my freezer scraper works a treat and doesn't leave scratches. Then I go over it with the pink stuff, rinse and its good to go :)
I soak pots like that with a dishwasher pod dissolved in the water and soak well.😊 🕊️ xx😻
I miss the litter tardis you had on your shelf, love Doctor Who. x
Have a go with biological washing powder or liquid and pour freshly boiled water from the kettle into the slow cooker pot leave overnight. It should soften the burnt bits enough to wash them out. Good luck.
Worth a try - it has worked for me in the past - presume it is the enzymes.
Always fun to look in cupboards you haven't looked for years. I did some tidying of my grandma's pantry when I was about 14. Found some tins with BBEs that were before I was born.
Fill the slow cooker to above the stuck on pudding with hot water and add some baking soda.. a good amount. Mix well. Add a tad of dish washing liquid. Put the cooker on low and leave it for several hours, checking the residue periodically. It may need to be turned on high for a while depending on the amount of pudding in it. I've done this many times and it does work. Good luck!
Also if you have a Poundland near you, slow cooker liners, 5 for a pound, straight to the bin, little clean up, done.
I forgot to say also when you said about Scentsy if you have a Home Bargains Wickford wax melts, about a pound for 8 , are very good x
Try sodium bicarbonate. Make it into a paste and leave it on overnight, then wash off in the morning. Or you could sprinkle the powder on then wet with high strength white vinegar. E.g. 60 percent. It should fizz up, which should help loosen your clumps 😊
Don't think I even have any microfiber cloths, but I have enough plastic grocery bags to make up for that. The good thing is that the bags really are handy to line trash cans with and to bag up extra trash in at the end of the week.
Try cola , just soak overnight or a dishwasher tablet and bring to the boil and leave to cool then wash it off.
Try cheap nasty cola with white vinager. Fill the bowl with cola, add 1 capful of white vinager, put either foil or cling wrap over top, leave overnight. Hope that may help 😊
I think microfibre cloths breed in cupboards.😮xx
They are the hangers of the kitchen world!
I've used cleaning strength vinegar on cooked on foods, soak item in it and water. I've also used bleach and water. Soak overnight.
The scales and weights look fab. Cheap oxi stain remover is good for burnt pots and pans for soking off stains.
Vinegar and bicarb and cold water left to sit 2 days.
Forgot to mention , approx a tablespoon of bicarb 😊 xxx
Dishwasher tab/capsule and boiling water overnight 🤞
Karen is it possible you could be a hoarder? If you have cupboards you've not looked at in years and "found" more tubs of sugar...
Why do you even empty the bags of sugar into the tubs and mylar bags anyway?! If you only use it in your tea, and let's be realistic, you don't do loads of baking, surely a couple of kilos in the bag they're sold in is plenty to have in store?
Sugar in the attic ?
This is a little random but those little plastic tabs that come on bread are good for scraping things off and don’t scratch .
Great idea! Thanks!
I donated tons of kitchen stuff to a charity shop.
I have a guaranteed solution, but you need to make sure you do it with care and with heavy gloves: Sodium Hydroxide - Pure - Food Grade (Caustic Soda, Lye). First thoroughly wet the caked on crud, sprinkle the sodium hydroxide on there. Let sit where no one will accidentally touch it. After an hour or so, rinse until everything is clean. Works like a charm.
I sometimes just get into a fit of organizing out of the blue and at weird times. I can relate.
I think we just do what we can do, when we can do it! Oftentimes the motivation comes when we've given ourselves permission to take some time not doing jobs. That seems to lift the pressure from our minds to such an extent that we then feel like tackling some job that had previously overwhelmed us. It's how it works for me anyway. Is it reverse psychology?
Now you know why my decorating is taking so long... I get distracted by stuff just like this... My go to for stubborn stains... Baking Soda and dishsoap and vinegar... Make up a paste of dish soap and baking powder and use a scrubby sponge to apply liberally all over the stuff you need to shift, then cover with a layer of kitchen roll, just one later is sufficient, so it lays over the paste and gently dab it down, so it's stuck... then just pour a little vinegar all over the paper... less is more... If you have a little squirty bottle you can use, even better... You will see the paste foam up under the paper... Don't do anything, just shove an old plastic bag or cling film over the paper to stop it drying out and leave to steep overnight... Now it works brilliant on proper burnt on oven pans and casserole dishes so it's worth a go on this... Next day, remove plastic, use the paper to remove what you can, this is where you can use a bit more baking soda and dishsoap and a decent scrubby... If it's as bad as you say, it could take several attempts to break it down... You could try pure neat vinegar and leave to soak but it would work out expensive so I'd persevere and go with my first option... Very last option WD40... Same as above, you might need to spray it on and cover it so it stays put, but that baby cuts through anything... ask Patrick x lol x Good luck xxx
Save that sugar for jam making.
I finally decided to hire a closet company to put in decent shelving in our small kitchen. Our kitchen was styled in 1950. Im sure nobody worried about maintaining a full pantry because there aren’t many shelves, no closet and one small pantry. Not much counter-space either. How did they cook!?! My DIY shelving has got to go!
Try a fabric softener sheet and boiling water. Let it sit until it is just warm, not cold, and scrub with the baking soda like others have said. (If not a sheet, then half a capful of liquid.)
I have used oven cleaner to remove charred on food before and it works really well.
It has been 15°F at night with wind chill here for the past 10 days.
Have you tried soaking in washing soda and boiling water ? Leave it overnight and it shifts most things.
If you soak it in vinegar 6% a couple if days it will come off. No need for stronger chemicals. You could try vinegar and bikarbonate as well .
I hope some of the carbon cleaning suggestions work for you. But sometimes it can be better to just let it go. Maybe just replace the insert that has all that stuck material on it, if that is the case. Or maybe just toss out that whole thing and buy a new one. I'm hugely enthusiastic about reusing things, cleaning them as necessary, but sometimes it's just better to get a new one and get rid of the old one.
Beekeepers friend is great for burnt on food and brass.
Do you mean bar keepers?
If your under-the -sink cupboard is like mine, there the microfibre cloths go and breed...
You are such a funny storyteller. 3 Buckets of sugar 😂. I think you now deserve to go and have some relaxation.
Someone told me that dish washing tablets are good for removing burnt on foods, just fill pot up with hot water and add 2/3 tablets, soak 24 hours. I've not tried it myself.
PS... Move the scale out of the corner so you can see it better and treat yourself to a nice poinsietta for your blank spot for now, you've got all Christmas then to decide what you want to live there xxx
You need a nice pot plant on that shelf
I would put another brass item there.
Above the hob??
Mystery cupboards cannot be left once spotted......I use lots of sugar in making chutney and preserves, and never stress about having "too much".
Salt or bicarbonate of soda all over the stuck food for a while then add boil water and let boil it should lift.
Karen, try soaking in laundry detergent.....
(not non bio)
Does anyone know what’s in the cabinet above my refrigerator? Any volunteers to look?
Karen, soak it tonight,tomorrow roll up a ball of tin foil,give it a good scrub ,and this should do it xx fingers 🤞 crossed
Is shelf too high to put a cookbook stand on?
Good one.😊
As it's above the hob I think I'd not have a shelf there at all. Not practical and steamy.
Warm the crock and grease it up.