I was making one of my favorite meals the other night-Burrito Bowls-when I noticed that my plastic cutting board had some major stains, even after I washed it. A quick google search gave a lot of options for how to remove the stains but after trying multiple so called “solutions” without success I was getting irritated. To combat the widespread misinformation I was finding I decided to share my results in hopes of saving you time when you need to remove stains from plastic cutting boards in the future! You might be surprised by the results!
Solution #1: Lemon Juice
Real Simple magazine told me simply rubbing lemon juice on my cutting board and letting it soak would remove the stains. Nope. Nothing.
Solution #2: Lemon Oil
I found this tip from One Good Thing by Jillee but unfortunately it didn’t work for me either. Granted she set hers in the sun after the oil was applied to help bleach it out and I wasn’t able to do that on a rainy winter day so that may be the difference.
Solution #3: Thieves Cleaner
I’m a Young Living junkie so I had to try my favorite cleaner before I started looking at more traditional cleaners once I realized the more natural approaches weren’t working. Again, no change at all.
Solution #4 Baking Soda & Vinegar
I use this combo to clean a lot of things, including my kitchen sink, so I figured it was worth a shot since it’s such a great cleaning and deodorizing method. I thought there was a slight improvement but it was so subtle pictures didn’t even show it.
Solution #5 Clorox Clean Up Cleaner
Now it was time to break out the big guns-my Clorox Cleanup cleaner. I thought this was going to be the answer but alas, NO IMPROVEMENT! I couldn’t believe it! I had one more idea to try before I was going to head to the store to buy a new cutting board…
Solution #6 Undiluted Bleach
I was off to the laundry room for some straight bleach. I knew this was the last chance so I was very curious how it was going to work. I poured the bleach on and let it sit for 30 minutes, then rinsed it off. You can see the results:
Not perfect but a HUGE improvement. I decided to give it one more round and after that it came completely clean!! Yay!!
The undiluted bleach was obviously the clear winner here. While I had hoped to find a more natural method sometimes you have to go the traditional route. I know my cutting board stains were pretty severe (poor thing is over ten years old!) so I can’t say definitively that the other methods I tried won’t work with lighter stains but I know they were no match for mine.
What do you think-do you have any other solutions I didn’t try?
Angela Cunnane says
I prefer to use natural products whenever possible, but there are times when only bleach will do. I find no matter what methods or products I use for some jobs they aren’t a patch on good old bleach, for example, keeping grout and the dap around the shower spotless, and like you for thoroughly cleaning stains on chopping boards. There are a million blogs and videos about using vinegar and baking soda etc for all sorts of jobs around the home, but quite honestly any real deep cleaning has to go to bleach 🙂
Melissa says
I agree Angela, I always try the natural stuff first but sometimes it just doesn’t cut it (my three little boy’s bathroom is another place that bleach is always necessary!)
Doreen Webb says
It looks to me that your cutting board needs to be replaced. All of the stains on the board represent deep cuts into the board which harbours bacteria that are trapped within the cracks. Bleach may be a temporary solution, but it might have to be repeated often.
Melissa says
I agree Doreen, this was the first time it didn’t come clean in the dishwasher so it’s on the way out the door as soon I can buy a replacement!
Debbie Hunter says
I use Clorox clean up and apply a paper towel and it work s famously. I do this on a very regular basis.
Jimy says
Applying a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and leaving it for a few hours may work. Though bleach will be more powerful than anything else.
Melissa says
That’s my usual method too! ~Melissa
Marguerite Benson says
I usually have it go through a washing in the dishwasher when it’s stained, It works.
Melissa says
I’ll try that Marguerite, thank you! ~Melissa
Sandy says
It did not work for me.
HMac says
Sandpaper. Just sit outside on a nice day and sand that puppy down. Start with coarse grit and work your way toward fine grit. It’ll be like new and get rid of those germ-harboring cuts, too.
Me lady says
I used my steam cleaner. Just hot water. Works like a dream.