How to Clean Silicone Kitchen Utensils and More

Silicone is nonporous, at least on a larger scale. It’s what makes it a great option for baby dishes and food storage bags: It’s not going to leak strawberry banana purée or peanut butter and jelly all over the place. But that nonporousness isn’t absolute. 

“Absorption occurs because some grades of silicone have a more porous surface at a microscopic level,” says Suze Dowling, co-founder and chief business officer of the home products portfolio Pattern Brands. “These pores can trap particles from oil residue and strongly scented soaps, leading to residual tastes and smells. Most often, if you experience a change in food taste, it is because your silicone product has built up oil residue.” 

Higher-quality silicone is less likely to take on flavors, according to Dowling. This type of silicone typically uses platinum to cure—or, in layman’s terms, to harden it in a desired shape—the silicone. It can be more expensive to manufacture (no surprise, considering it literally uses platinum in its production process) and, in the U.S., adheres to standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for all medical devices. This type of silicone is sometimes used in medical devices, like menstrual cups, prosthetics, and feeding tubes. 

Standard “food-grade” silicone is regulated by the FDA and considered safe for, you guessed it, contact with food, but not necessarily for medical products. This silicone uses peroxide, rather than platinum, to cure it, and may take on more flavors—such as the soap flavor I’m detecting on my egg spatula—than silicone that’s cured with platinum.

But even if platinum-cured silicone is less likely to take on a soapy stench, it’s not an impossibility, says Dowling. “Unfortunately, there is no way to fully prevent [silicone] from taking on flavors or smells,” says Veronica Santoso, a product manager at Oxo. 

If I ever want to eat scrambled eggs again, I’m going to need a fix to this issue (no, wooden spoons won’t work. Eggs stick!). But according to Santoso, there’s no perfect solution. “There isn’t one single method for removing every smell or flavor,” she says. She does, however, have things I can try.

Get a new dish soap. Michael Wieder, a co-founder and the president of the baby product company Lalo, recommends unscented dish soaps and detergents. “Switch your detergent or dish soap! Not only will you remove the taste, but you’ll also be introducing a product that has fewer chemicals and synthetic scents into your life,” he says. “The use of scented soaps creates the soapy taste because of the chemicals used in the soap.” 

Soak it in a vinegar solution. Submerging silicone “in a 1:1 water and white vinegar solution for four hours would remove most odors,” says Santoso. “If that doesn’t work you can increase the amount of vinegar in the solution.”

Or rub it with a lemon. “Rub the surface with a fresh lemon or lime, leave to sit for 15 minutes, and rinse with hot, non-oil-based soapy water,” says Dowling.

Bake it! Yes, baking your silicone might help remove gross flavors it’s accumulated. “If an item is 100 percent silicone and oven-safe, place the freshly washed item in the oven at a low temperature (around 250° F or 120° C) for about 20 to 30 minutes,” says Dowling. 

This method truly works; I tried it. My baby’s adorable lemon-yellow silicone training cup no longer tastes disgusting. (Could this be the secret to our quest to convince my 1-year-old to finally drink water?)