Best Way to Remove Odors from Plastic and Silicone [2 ESSENTIAL KEYS] (2024)

Have you tried to remove lingering smells from plastics or silicone to no avail?

My favorite fermentation weight is made from silicone. It works like a charm for keeping fermenting sauerkraut, pastes, relishes and brine-fermented vegetables below the brine. However, it retains odors. Locks onto them with steel fists. Just like the silicone sealing ring in myInstant Potthat I gifted myself for Christmas last year.

I searched long and hard and tested various methods to figure out how best to remove odors created by strong smelling foods – onions, garlic, tomatoes, and… sauerkraut! – from silicone or plastic. In the process, I unearthed two essential keys to finding methods that work.

My Criteria for Removing Odors from Plastic and Silicone

A bit of research resulted in two different solutions. Since plastic and silicone are made from different materials, they require separate methods for removing their odors. But, whatever the method, I wanted to feel comfortable using it.

• No nasty chemicals.I keep a pretty “green” home, so I’m not about to buy some harsh chemical to clean my fermentation weights or lids.
• No harsh abrasives.Abrasives can damage both silicone and plastic, releasing their manufacturing chemicals or removing non-stick properties.
• No high heat.With silicone, using too of a high leaches out chemicals. With plastic, high heat sets odors.

Odors with Silicone

Silicone is used in a variety of fermentation tools. One of my favorite fermentation weights, the Pickle Pusher, reviewed here, is made from silicone. Many fermentation lids use a silicone gasket for a leak-proof seal. MasonTop's Pickle Pipe, reviewed here, and their manycopy-cats are made from silicone. And, to keep small bits from floating to the surface during fermentation, some use a silicone mat as a Floaties Trap.

The problem with using silicone for fermentation is that it retains odors due to the properties of the molecules used to make silicone.

Properties of Silicone

Silicone is a synthetic polymer made up of silicon, oxygen and other elements, most typically carbon and hydrogen. It has a rubber-like consistency that is nonstick and resists heat.

When heated, the molecules in the silicone expand, absorbing oils and odors. When the silicone then cools down, the odors get trapped. Even though no heat is used duringfermentation, somehow the odors still get trapped in the molecules. Maybe our team of bacteria generates heat as they work. 🙂

ESSENTIAL TIP #1:The application of heat is key for releasing odors from silicone.In this Food52 thread, one contributor shared the following:

“Silicone molecules expand when warm and secrete soaked-in oils and odors.”

Another reader in the thread shared his experience with using heat to remove odors from silicone:

Today I made toasted sriracha sunflower seeds and my Silpat mat was totally sriracha-fied. As mentioned in this thread, I heated my Silpat in the oven, then soaked it in hot water and white vinegar – BINGO!!!! The smell is totally gone. Thank you so much for posting this solution – it was a huge help.

Sounds too simple to be true.

Heating Silicone

Since the only way to remove odors from silicone is to heat it, I wanted to know if there were any dangers from heating silicone.

Silicone is supposedly inert, or chemically stable, meaning that the chemicals used to make the silicone do not leach out, especially when heated.However, that testing was done on medical-grade silicone without fillers or additives and “at body or room temperature.” These studies have shown that silicone is safe at room temperatures and long-term follow-up data support this.

However, I recalled from the research for my blog post,Can I Use Plastic? Silicone? Stainless Steel? for Fermentation, that heating silicone to “high” temperatures, as in bakeware, causes leaching of chemicals.

How high is “high?”

Silicone can be stable up to 150°C (300°F) even for a very long time.

I played around with temperatures and methods and came up with the following solution.

Best Way to Get the Odors Out of Silicone?

First, make sure your silicone item is 100% silicone. Check with the manufacturer, or use the “Twist” Test.

The “twist” test is an easy way to assess the quality of a silicone cookware item. All you have to do is take a silicone product in your hands and twist it. If lots of white streaks appear, it indicates the presence of a large amount of fillers. Pure silicone (safer) will hold its color when twisted. –Belgoods Bakeware

Note: Some of you have asked me about a white powdery sheen developing on your waterless airlock lids. I wonder if some of the inexpensive knockoffs for the MasonTops Pickle Pipes are not using 100% food-grade silicone in their product. When purchasing silicone items, be sure to look for “100% FDA approved food-grade silicone” in the product description.

BONUS TIP:To lift off oils or residue, use a soft sponge or cloth when washing your silicone items. Don’t use the rough side of the sponge or a plastic scrubby. Doing so, just moves the oils around.

Odors with Plastic

Plastic is used in many of the fermentation lids on the market and in the Canning Buddies fermentation weight.

The problem with using plastic for fermentation is that odors are very difficult to remove.

Properties of Plastic

Plastic is made from hydrocarbons derived from petroleum or natural gas. The hydrocarbons are formed into chains called polymers or plastic resins. By combining hydrocarbon molecules in different ways, different grades of plastics can be created.

Normally, with just a bit of soap and water, you can wipe down the plastic and odors are removed. But, if smelly residues have permeated too long, plastic can develop a long-lasting pervasive odor. In addition, heat can set odors.

Chemistry Lesson:Acids, Bases, and Solvents

Disclaimer. Chemistry is *not* my strong suit. Professor Google helped me on this one along with Tim from Melbourne, Australia who shared his wisdom in this thread.

What happens when you mix vinegar and baking soda? Yes, it bubbles. That bubbling is a chemical reaction. An acid and a base reacting and forming what chemist call ‘salts.’ Salts that grab odors impregnated in the plastic.

Essential Tip #2: Odors must be neutralized before they can be removed.

If your smell is from a food that is slightly acidic, a base will help remove the odor. Fermented foods are acidic, so you would use a base to neutralize it.

BONUS TIP:To lift off oils or residue, use a soft sponge or cloth when washing your plastic items. Don’t use the rough side of the sponge or a plastic scrubby. Doing so, just moves the oils around.

Other Solutions?

Is all this work to remove odors in plastic or silicone fermentation weights and lids more trouble than it’s worth? A good question that I will leave for you to answer.

In my blog post, Can I Use Plastic? Silicone? Stainless Steel? for Fermentation I cover all the pros and cons of each material.

Perhaps, an easier solution is to use only glass and stainless steel for fermentation.

Glass Fermentation Items

Here are some currently available glass fermentation weights. I just show the ones with handles since they are so much easier to remove from your jar. 🙂

Stainless Steel Fermentation Items

Here are some currently available stainless steel fermentation kits. You can’t get a seal on your jar without the use of some type of rubber or silicone. Silicone is used where noted.

What have you tried?

What works for you?

What does not work?

Together, we can banish these pervasive odors from our homes. Or… just use glass or stainless steel. 🙂

Last update on 2024-01-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API