Get The Gunk Out Of Your Can Opener With 2 Kitchen Staples

We're all guilty of a few kitchen crimes: wiping off a knife or wiping out a pan instead of washing it, and even letting burnt edges build up on our hard-to-scrub baking sheets. But there is no more common kitchen cleaning misdemeanor than simply stashing our can openers after using them — over and over and over again.

Can openers, which are constantly in use in most homes, are one of the more intricate handheld kitchen gadgets. This makes them a nuisance to hand wash after every use. Most of the time, they're not approved (or recommended) for your dishwasher. Plus, the blade of your can opener barely scrapes the surface of each can, so how much food stuff is really transferring to the teeth of your gadget anyway? Unfortunately, quite a bit. More fortunately, there's a fun, easy method to clean your can opener without busting out a toothbrush or buying a special cleaning implement.

Let's say you've just opened a can of tomato paste (a major culprit for can opener build up). Fold a paper towel in two a few times, then feed it through the wheels of your can opener. Refold the paper towel and run it through your can opener again, repeating the process until your paper towel comes away clean. You'll be shocked to see how much gunk the gears can hold. If your paper towel won't run through the opening mechanism smoothly, dampen it with water. Just be sure to dry your can opener afterward.

A byproduct of letting crud build up on your can opener is that it won't operate as smoothly, and there's nothing more frustrating than a can opener that doesn't do its only job. Following the same process as the paper towel, fold a small piece of wax paper a few times, leaving one side long, then feed it into the teeth of your can opener. Any residual grime left after cleaning will start coming away and you'll see the grease as it transfers to your wax paper. Once again, keep repeating the process until there's no visible gunk coming off of your opener onto the wax. Depending on how long you've left your gadget to stagnate, you may need to grab another sheet of wax paper. The next time you pick up your can opener, the mechanism will turn much more easily.

So, the next time you use a can opener, don't just give it a few shakes before hiding it in a drawer. Try the paper towel method for everyday use and the wax paper method for deeper grime removal.