My wife cooks a lot, and it's my job to handle the cleanup. I've tried all kinds of kitchen cleaning implements and found them unsatisfactory for heavy scrubbing--bristled items don't have enough oomph, and scouring pads work well but get gross quickly. So I finally found the perfect tool for scraping no-stick cookie sheets, crusty lasagna bakeware, stainless steel frying pans and more: An old credit card.
In the photo I'm actually using an old press badge, but it's the same thing. It works just like using a razor scraper to clean glass, it won't scratch no-stick surfaces and it's tough enough to scrape stainless steel totally clean.
Also, the radiused corners are great for getting the inside corners of those rectangular glass food storage containers. Scraping out the depressions of a muffin tin, which are trapezoidal in cross-section, is a little more laborious, but still works great. It's the perfect combination of stiff and flexible. Lastly, it's super easy to clean the thing.
Alternatively, if you've got a 3D printer, you could print up a kitchen scrubber, like this one:
I don't think it's better than using a credit card, but product designer Jacob Stanton did find his design to be superior to a sponge. He started off with four variants of his own design, tested them all, and found the leftmost in the photo below to work the best.
"Its impermeable plastic construction keeps the scrubber from retaining gunk after rinsing," he writes. "The form has protrusions on one side of the surface to scrape away gunk and the product can be set on the protrusions to drain away water after use. The scrubber is very flexible and can conform to most surfaces."
Stanton's got the files for his up on Thingiverse.
And if you try the old credit card, let me know how it goes. I swear you won't go back to using bristled scrubbers or scouring pads.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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The Best Kitchen Scrubber: Use an Old Credit Card
Once the handle breaks off, the OXO Stainless Steel Tuner blade is a great scraper. Round edges. Flexible. Stick some sugru on the heel if you're worried about getting cut.