Pans will be stain-free and looking 'brand new' with easy natural hack that takes minutes
You can revitalise blemished stainless steel pans with the help of a natural cleaning method using the juice of a popular fruit.
There’s nothing worse than cooking and realising that all your hard work is making your cookware worse for wear. If you’ve noticed your pans, particularly ones made from stainless steel, have been tainted with unsightly brown marks, you won’t need to worry about throwing them away.
TikTok creator Elle Kress, a mum of two from Australia, recently shared her go-to method for getting rid of those unsightly blemishes on her cookware. All you need is to grab one particular fruit that you probably already have in your fridge. Elle urged people in the video’s caption: “Don’t throw your stainless steel out if there is brown marks on it until you try this!”
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How to clean stainless steel pans
If you’ve noticed brown stains on your stainless steel pans no matter how hard you’ve scrubbed, they’ve most likely developed from burnt-on grease, mineral deposits from hard water, or overheating, which creates a heat tint, also known as discoloration. There’s no need to fret over these, as they’re usually harmless.
However, if you’re frustrated by the sight of them, Elle shared her easy remedy for getting them to melt away. She explained that her hack works for “really dirty” pans that have brown spots.
Elle confessed that it will “change your life”. Firstly, place the stainless steel pan on top of the stove or hob.
@ellekresshealth Don’t throw your stainless steel out if there is brown marks on it until you try this! #stainlesssteel #cleaninghack #fyp ♬ original sound - Elle Kress Health | Lifestyle
Then cut a lemon in half and squeeze in the juice. Turn on the hob and set the temperature to the second highest setting.
Follow by pouring in some boiling water from the kettle, allowing the lemony-water to boil in the pan. Once the water boils, Elle takes a wooden spoon and gently rubs at the brown spots, which should begin to “scratch off” the spots.
When the brown spots do this, this is your sign to take the pan off the heat. Pour away the lemon-water, and rinse and scrub away with a sponge.
The brown spots should just melt away. Elle said: “Honestly, it’s like it’s completely brand new.”
Lemon can help remove brown spots on stainless steel pans due to its citric acid content, which acts as a natural cleaner to dissolve mineral deposits and remove discoloration. The acid breaks down burnt-on food residue and brown heat stains while restoring the metal's natural shine.
It also acts as a natural bleaching agent to remove stubborn browned food residue, which creates the unsightly marks.
