Out Of Steel Wool? We Have A Cleaning Hack That'll Work Just As Well

Even the most enthusiastic cook probably doesn't like doing the dishes, and that's just a small part of keeping your kitchen both clean and safe. There are a ton of cleaning hacks out there — like how vinegar helps make cleaning kitchen backsplashes pretty painless – but there are plenty of ways to go wrong, too. Some stove cleaning mistakes can end up costing you a pretty penny, but we have some good news: There's a super easy cleaning hack that doesn't just work, but it makes some jobs much easier.

Steel wool is an invaluable tool in your kitchen cleaning arsenal. It's great for cleaning certain cookware, oven spills, and it can even be used as a disposable strainer for your drain. Peeling veg? Put some steel wool over the drain, and clean-up is easy. Kitchen scissors getting dull? Before you replace them, use steel wool to sharpen them and prolong their use. That's all brilliant, but what if you're out of steel wool? Just reach for the aluminum foil.

Crumple a sheet of aluminum foil into a ball, and you'll be surprised at how much it can really do. While it might not take over all the duties of steel wool, it's still a great, oft-overlooked cleaning tool that can help take some of the elbow grease out of kitchen cleanup and maintenance.

If you left some dishes in the sink only to come back to some seriously dried-on funk, a ball of aluminum foil is great at scraping off some hard-to-remove food. Sure, there's nothing quite like a delicious cheesy baked ziti, but scrubbing that casserole dish after it's been baking for a while is the worst. Grab some aluminum foil, and make things easy.

Aluminum foil can also be used to scrub food residue from grill grates or oven racks, and as for the rest of that oven? A ball of aluminum foil will do a lot of the heavy lifting there, too. If you have an electric stove and find yourself needing to pull those burners out for some deep cleaning, scrub away with foil. You can also use it to sharpen your scissors, and if you happen to notice rusty spots appearing on your cast iron pans, you can use foil — and water — to gently scrub those away, too. It's good at removing limescale buildup from stainless steel, and honestly, aluminum foil is so versatile that you might find yourself keeping a roll around just for cleaning.