This is the post where I show everyone my dirty dishes!
Isn’t he handsome? All that warm gold and vaguely colonial-era sign logo situation?!
Let me start off by saying that this isn’t a sponsored post! I just happened to buy a canister of Bar Keepers Friend recently and have been obsessed with using it to clean EVERYTHING.
I think I have some blurry memories of my mom having a canister of Bar Keepers Friend under the sink at her house when I was a boy, but I don’t ever remember actually using it? Maybe I thought it was for adults because it had the word BAR in the title? I have no idea!? Anyhoo, I purchased a canister of Bar Keepers Friend on Amazon a couple of months ago. I was going to buy scouring powder to try to tackle some neglected bake ware. I always remembered using Comet or Ajax for the rare times I needed scouring powder. When I saw Bar Keepers Friend and that they specifically had cookware on the packaging… and the NAME implys that professional bar keepers use the product… AND the packaging looks throw-backy… I decided to give it a shot! I’m so glad I did!
This scouring powder cleans like the dickens!! Okay… so I don’t always take care of my cookware the way I should. You know what I’m talking about I’m sure. You use a pot, pan, or casserole… it gets some baked-on staining… you don’t take the time and elbow grease to clean it properly and eventually your pots and pans look like they’ve been through a house fire! GROSS!
I cook a lot with high heat, both on the stove top and in the oven. Searing roasts and cuts of meat for the slow-cooker has done a number on many of my frying pans. My obsession with baking weekly loaves of bread in my once-gorgeous Le Creuset dutch oven has turned it into a lackluster shell of its former self.
So, Bar Keepers Friend isn’t a total miracle product. You DO need to actually scrub a bit to get things looking good. I honestly don’t mind it though… it’s sort of therapeutic. I like to put on some LOUD music and spend a little quality time with whatever I’m cleaning. It’s SO satisfying to me to see the difference from dirty to clean!
I mean… look at what a HUGE difference there is with the frying pan above! Normally I’d just scrub it with a sponge and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day dish soap… that doesn’t do the trick… the pan is clean enough to use, but all that high-heat-cooked-on-grime is still there! Yuck! And it also makes the pan not work well. So… after a bit of Bar Keepers Friend and elbow grease the pan looks and FUNCTIONS so so so much better!
I often use my dutch oven at 450F-500F and that tends to make it look not-so-fresh. You can see the before and after above. The after isn’t totally perfect! BUT… I’m not embarrassed to have people see it now! Also, dutch ovens are expensive! I want this one to last for years and years and then gift it to someone who will love and use it when I can no longer use it!
I also have used Bar Keepers Friend to clean my kitchen, floors, and bathroom. I’ve used it on thrift store purchases and all types of materials. I also love that it doesn’t have bleach in it so it doesn’t ruin my clothes when I inevitably make a mess of myself.
So to wrap everything up, go buy some Bar Keepers Friend and use it to clean! It has helped me take better care of tools that I love!
