Rub tomato stains with cooking oil

Tomato stains on plastic come out best if you rub them with a little cooking oil before you wash the container.

The pink-orange mark isn’t really dirt. It’s lycopene, the oil-soluble pigment from tomatoes, and it seeps into the micro-scratches in the plastic. Soap and water alone can’t pull it back out. A few drops of vegetable or olive oil on a paper towel will dissolve it. Rub the stain for a minute, then wash the box with warm soapy water like normal. Done.

If the stain is old or stubborn, the oil trick still works — just let the oil sit on the stain for 10–15 minutes before scrubbing. You can also try a baking soda paste or leaving the container in direct sunlight for a few hours, but oil is the fastest fix and you already have it in the kitchen.

Don’t bother with bleach or harsh scrubbers; they’ll damage the plastic or leave you tasting bleach in your next sandwich. This is the one time being a little greasy is the answer.