Sunlight kills tomato stains better than any cleaner

Tomato sauce stains in plastic lunch boxes come out fastest with baking soda and sunlight.

Here’s the thing: that orange stain is lycopene pigment carried by oil into the pores of the plastic. Regular dish soap can’t reach it. So make a paste of baking soda and a little water, rub it over the stained area, then set the container in direct sun for a few hours. The baking soda scrubs the surface while UV light breaks down the pigment. Rinse, repeat if needed.

If the stain is fresh, wash it with dish soap immediately and you might dodge the whole problem. If it’s old, rubbing a little cooking oil into the stain first helps — oil dissolves the tomato oil and lifts the pigment — then wash it out and hit it with sun.

Your lunch box will be orange-free by dinner.