Old Onion Sacks Will Get Your Dishes Cleaner Than Ever

Have you ever looked at a mesh onion sack and thought, "That would make the cutest veil on a fascinator," and then proceeded to bookmark DIY pages on Pinterest? No? Just us?

There are many possibilities for using the little sack onions are packaged in — besides a fashion accessory, as embarrassingly mentioned above. You can also use it as a multi-purpose scrubber in the kitchen. Genius, right? The mesh bags for onion (or other types of produce) are made from plastic, making them durable and malleable. They make for a gentle but efficient way to clean dirty pots and pans. Heck, you can even throw onion sacks in your camping gear to wash those cups and spoons after a fireside meal.

The mesh can provide a bit of extra scrubbing power. If you have several onion sacks, you can tie them together to create a bigger scrubbing tool for cleaning larger pots and pans, or a loofah. We're creative, we're resourceful, we're recycling! We love this vibe for the new year.

First, make sure to remove any remaining onion skins or debris. Rinse the mesh sack thoroughly to get rid of any residual onion odor. Trust us, you don't want a stinky scrubber.

You can ball up the onion sack and use it as a scrubber to clean the dishes. The mesh provides a textured surface that can help remove food gunk and grime. The plastic on its own is abrasive enough for cleaning stainless steel cookware, Dutch ovens, and the like. A pre-soak will help loosen tough buildup before you go in with the bag. But use caution when using the sack on non-stick pans, glassware, or anything that can scratch easily.

For additional support, you can put your regular dish sponge inside the bag and make the sponge a heavy-duty scrubber. This method works well for dishes with stuck-on food particles or grease.

Aside from cleaning dishes, you can repurpose the onion mesh sack for other cleaning tasks around the kitchen like scrubbing surfaces or cleaning vegetables. And then, when you've done it all, maybe you'll use it in a fascinator, too.