At some point, everyone probably has made the change from plastic kitchenware to silicone kitchenware. It could be baking molds or even ice trays and we would have at some point discovered that our food or water started getting a weird taste or our kitchenware started actually a weird smell to them. For sure, just scrubbing them won’t do the job.
If you are suffering from this, we have done some research on the best ways to get the smell out of best silicone kitchen utensils and will share our best tips, which are not only very effective, don’t require much effort, and don’t really include cleaning supplies.
If you google for solutions, you’ll definitively find so many that might take you from a few hours to a few days to allegedly get the results you want, and will involve things like baking soda, vinegar, and even cat litter. But if you are one that doesn’t have that much patience, then the following tip can be your life’s savior.
One of these tricks is to actually bake the smell out of your products. It will basically just take you 30 minutes and you’ll pull your kitchenware odorless. Here are the steps to achieve it following this method:
Preheat your oven to 250ºF or 120ºC. If you know that your kitchenware is able to resist more temperature, then go ahead and use more, but if you are not sure, the lowest temperature is for sure the safest way to go. Please, make sure that your kitchenware is 100% silicone or that it is actually heatproof. While this material can and will resist very high temperatures, is generally not a good idea to always put them in the oven, unless they are made specifically for that.
It is important to take some precautions. While your oven is pre-heating, wash your item carefully with hot water and soap. This wake you will be removing any food or oil residue that can eventually get baked into it in the oven. Depending on the type of item, put it on a baking sheet or on the oven rack. Then set your timer for 20 minutes. Take it out and sniff it, please make sure you won’t be burning your nose. If there’s some kind of odor left, return it to the oven for another 10 minutes. Keep doing so and checking every 10 minutes if the smell isn’t going away.
If you are wondering why this works, it’s because the smells are made out of molecules that cling to the silicone items, and like water, these molecules will evaporate at high temperatures. Easier said you are basically burning the scents off.
Always remember to be careful to check that your items are extremely heatproof or 100% silicone. If you put plastic ones they will not only ruin the tool but also most likely ruin your oven too. If you are unsure of the material, its highly recommended to check on your silicone mold supplier or tool manufacturer’s website to figure it out.
You can always follow the tips like soaking them in a mixture of baking soda and water for some hours, running them regularly through the dishwasher, or even burying them in cat litter for a few days. In the end, it’s up to you to try them all and decide which one is the one that works best for you. Just make sure, you are always playing on the safe side and not putting your health at any risk while trying to remove odors from silicone kitchenware. Even if it’s not the best for the environment, maybe getting one can eventually be a solution, but honestly, it should be the last resource.
