Sunlight is the real odor killer

The fastest way to get smells out of a plastic lunch box is a baking soda scrub, then leave it in the sun.

Plastic is porous. Dish soap gets the surface grease off but leaves the odor trapped in the pores. Make a thick paste of baking soda and a little water, scrub the whole inside, let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then rinse. That neutralizes most of the acid-based smells — tomato, curry, garlic.

Then the sun. UV light actually breaks down the odor molecules and kills the bacteria behind them. A couple hours in direct sunlight beats every spray and soak I’ve tried. If you don’t have sun, crumple newspaper inside and seal it shut overnight — it absorbs odor surprisingly well. A vinegar soak works too, but it leaves a vinegar smell for a day and it’s not as thorough.

And if a container still stinks after all that, just replace it. Cheap plastic eventually absorbs smells permanently. Not worth eating curry-flavored yogurt over a $4 box.

Your lunch shouldn’t taste like last Tuesday’s curry.