Who doesn’t want their cookie sheets go from grungy to….heavenly? {{Angels singing the Hallelujah chorus in the background}} And the Pinterest pin said with only ONE ingredient? What could that ONE ingredient possibly be? Well it’s nothing that I had ever heard of before. And it was NOT easy to find. In fact, I never did find it locally, I had to order it online at Amazon.com.
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap with Tea Tree Oil. Apparently this “Magic Soap” has 18 uses. It didn’t list all of the uses but one of them had to be that it can clear your sinuses. Because it sure cleared mine. Wow. This stuff is something else.
Apparently all you need to do is pour this on your cookie sheet, do some moderate scrubbing and your cookie sheets will be renewed with a glorious new shine like the one below.
Sounds easy enough. Holding my breath, I poured this Magic Soap on my pan and started to scrub. And scrub. And scrub. Then I thought that maybe if I let this soak for a little bit, that might help. Nope. It still stunk and still required WAY too much scrubbing.
I had to scrub so hard I was dripping sweat. Okay. Might be exaggerating.
Are you impressed? Yeah..me neither.
Now I have no use for this bottle of “Magic Soap” that I paid TEN DOLLARS for. This was way too much work for way too little results. After I remembered that I only paid $4.99 for the pan, I would say that:
This Pin Flopped!
Try Bar Keeper’s Friend. You can buy at walmart/target or the grocery store and it’s like comet but way more gentle and you can use it on pots/pans, stainless steel sinks, ceramic cook tops all kinds of stuff. You’ll have to scrub a little but not much.
Hi Jaime! Thanks for the heads up! I still have this pan and would love to spruce it up a little bit. I’ll keep my eyes open for Bar Keeper’s Friend! Deb – The Oldest
Dr. Bronner’s does make for a good foaming soap replacement. 90% water to 10% Dr. Bronner’s. If you get Bar Keeper’s Friend, the powdered works MUCH better than the liquid.
Jennifer, I think you’re right. Something powdered would have worked much better! Deb – The Oldest Sister
Ammonia. Yes. Plain ole Dollar Tree ammonia. Put your pan in a large trash bag, pour enough ammonia over it to cover it, tie the bag in a knot & leave it sitting outside overnight. Be careful to open the bag AWAY from your face the next day, and carefully handle the ammonia saturated pan. Baked-on crap will effortlessly scrape/peel/flake right off. One of the oldest tricks in the book I picked up that my 58 year old mom has been using all of her adult life.
Yvette…thanks for the heads up! I am going to make this my new year’s resolution to try this! Deb – The Oldest Sister
You don’t want to saturate the pan with the ammonia, though. It is the fumes that clean the pan, so only use about 1 cup of the ammonia in a garbage bag, then seal it tight overnight. I would not keep it in the house in case the bag ever came unsealed the fumes are very toxic. The next day, carefully open the bag AWAY from your face, outside, and you should be able to wipe the gunk right off. You can use this trick for your gas range burners as well. Pinterest has a lot of good ideas when it comes to cleaning your oven with ammonia, as well. There’s a certain procedure so don’t just go scrubbing your oven with ammonia because it doesn’t work that way. Anyway, hope this helps.
My momma used to say that when cookie sheets turned black they were perfectly seasoned. Yeah, okay. Admittedly, we never died eating off those cookie sheets. One day we got ambitious and decided to scrub her sheets clean while she was at work. They sparkled. We were so proud. But that was before we knew she made them that way on purpose. I don’t think we ever got in more trouble than that day lol. I hate to clean them. Absolutely hate it because I end up with more water on me than in the sink. I’ve just taken to lining them with a sheet of tin foil. I get a huge roll at Sam’s that lasts over a year for me and I use it a lot! Hubby says I have a foil addiction I use it so much. I even line casserole dishes with it and just chunk the mess. I have a hard time standing for more than just a few minutes these days. RA since I was a kid. Foil is a life saver for me.
Cara, you are my newest favorite person! I got such a chuckle out of your comment! Next time I buy foil I am going to think of you! haha I hate cleaning my cookie sheets too which is why I was hoping this method was going to work. So sorry to hear about your RA. Darn those challenges that we get in our lives! Thanks so much for stopping by…you are a sweetheart! Deb – The Oldest Sister
I’ve had the same pans for the last eighteen years, and they still look awesome because of SOS pads. Seriously, people don’t believe me, but every couple of months I spend a little bit of time scrubbing and they are good as new. Bar Keeper’s friend is great too, but I like the way the pads’ fine steel wool get into the crevices of things.
Darn. Does that mean I need to use a little elbow grease? I was kinda wanting to avoid that! haha Thanks for the tips Holly! Deb
I LOVED Bar Keeper’s Friend until it took my skin off ( I’ve only ever used it in powdered form, I’ve never seen it in liquid). I’d used it in small portions to clean the sink no problem, but when I used it on my stove liners, it made my hands swell and my skin cracked and peeled. I’d used it so many times before without gloves that I didn’t think about it. It does work wonderfully, but make sure your area is well ventilated and you wear gloves. It still contains harsh chemicals. I can’t handle it anymore, but it’s cheap and it works.
Elizabeth…good to know! I’ve heard of those before but haven’t used it. Thanks for the heads up! Deb
Thanks for testing this! I had the Tea tree oil in my Amazon cart! I won’t spend the money now.
Hi Amber! Yes, I wasn’t too impressed with how much I work I had to put in for the amount of money I had to spend! I still have the whole bottle under my sink. If you lived closer, I’d drop it off to ya!! Thanks so much for stopping by. Deb – The Oldest Sister
years ago, we got some nice big (half) commercial size cookie sheets and always use parchment paper to line them. once or twice a year they get soaked in degreaser and scrubbed a bit. Works great, even the cheap dollar store stuff, just remember to let it soak a while 🙂
I’m all over anything that eliminates more elbow grease! Thanks for the tip! Deb – The Oldest Sister
THIS is the NO WORK miracle. I have pans that are downright SCARY! Vintage pans. Spray nosel on a large container of Hydrogen Peroxide – over the counter cheap stuff. Then sprinkle baking soda all over the pan. I did this before I went to bed. When I got around to cleaning them the next day (felt extremely unmotivated due to knowing there was going to be serious elbow grease needed) I gently wet the surface and started just wiping the baked on years of grime off the pans. It took a couple of really dedicated tried to get them back to their nice aluminum look. Honestly I am excited to try amonia on the pans I have not cleaned yet. I think the trick is to let the Peroxide/Baking Soda dry completely.
I’m all about no serious elbow grease! Thanks so much for your great comment! Deb
I also use tin foil on top of my cookie sheets. This is a habit I started after my husband was diagnosed with Celiac. But I have a few cookie sheets I bought cheap during the holiday season that just do not come clean! Will try a few of the suggestions your commenters left.
I have a few of those kind of cookie sheets myself! Thanks for stopping by Steff! Deb
Steff,
I line the cookie sheets, too, because three of our kiddos were diagnosed with Celiac Disease last year.
I am starting to do that now also. My sister has members in her family that need to be GF. Thanks for stopping by Polly!
Cookie sheets and cast iron clean to perfection in the self cleaning oven during the clean cycle.
While my oven cleaner was on, I took the racks out and set them over my sink. Sprayed with Dow Oven Cleaner. Hours later I went back and noticed I had gotten some on my formica counter. OMG, it was an orange bubble. Thought I had burned the formica. Wiped it off and noticed it was not burned, but clean! The Dow had taken off all the grease build-up that I thought I had cleaned with bleach. I now clean the counters maybe once every six months with Dow (never tried Easy Off). OK, now I sprayed my cookie sheets with the Dow, outside, on the grass, in the sun. Hours later I washed them off with the garden hose. It worked! To make sure I got all the oven cleaner off, I then ran it through the dishwasher.
Oh my word. That is incredible! I am definitely going to have to try that. My cookie sheet still looks the same! haha Thanks so much for stopping by! Deb