Sunlight fixes stained plastic

Sunlight and baking soda will fix those tomato- and turmeric-stained containers faster than any bleach spray.

Those stains are pigments—curcumin in turmeric, lycopene in tomato—and both break down in UV light. That’s why the sun trick works. Bleach, on the other hand, can eat into plastic over time and leave it cloudy and sticky. Skip it.

Here’s the routine: rub a paste of baking soda and a little water over the stain, let it sit 15 minutes, rinse. If it’s turmeric, wipe the spot with a few drops of cooking oil first—turmeric is fat-soluble, so the oil lifts it before the scrubbing even starts. For tomato, rinse with cold water right away; hot water sets it.

Then set the container in direct sun for a few hours. Check it before washing—most of the stain will have vanished on its own. Repeat once for stubborn patches.

Don’t throw the container out; the weather’s got your back.