Sticky silicone is just a grease film — scrub it

A sticky silicone lunch box lid is almost always a thin film of grease, and a baking soda scrub will fix it in about two minutes.

The stickiness comes from oils in food and dishwasher rinse aids bonding to the silicone surface. Regular dish soap sometimes won’t touch it, which makes you think the lid is melting or degrading. It usually isn’t.

Make a paste of baking soda and a little water, rub it into the lid with your fingers or a soft sponge, rinse with hot water. If it’s really bad, soak the lid in hot water with a splash of vinegar first, then scrub. It’ll feel brand new.

One warning: if you run this lid through the dishwasher a lot, the heat can accelerate the stickiness, especially on cheaper silicone. If the scrub works but the stickiness comes back within a week, hand-wash the lid going forward.

If a scrub does nothing at all, the silicone itself has broken down and no cleaning trick will save it — just get a new lid.