Cream of Tartar — The Cleaner You’ll Swoon Over
October 27, 2008|Comments (54)
In my little world, items like cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate) are not simply a super way to stabilize egg whites but also scandalously inexpensive cleaning secrets. This long-forgotten gem of a cleaning agent may be used with a little water or vinegar to lift even the most stubborn stains. Unattractive grout driving you batty? Mold and mildew stains got you reaching for the Prozac? Burner pans and casserole dishes giving you fits? Cream of Tartar is your new best friend.
Cream of tartar is one of nature’s best bleaching agents. Cream of tartar, a.k.a “crusted wine,” is mixed with baking soda to create baking powder (bet you didn’t know that.. okay, some of you probably did, you smartypants). While it is an acid, it’s not harmful. It’s an acidic salt which comes from grapes. Why is commercial laundry detergent never grape scented? I want to know. Someone please contact Tide. We need answers! Actually, we don’t need answers. We can scent our own homemade detergent (I haven’t bothered but that’s not to say that you couldn’t… after all, you knew about that baking powder thing — you smartypants). Anyway, back to the important stuff:
Use a few tablespoons of cream of tartar with hot water or hydrogen peroxide and clean any aluminum pans which have discoloration or any rusty drains, pans, or stains.
Do you have copper kettles? Mix some cream of tarter with lemon juice and rub the copper with it. Rinse and be amazed!
How about a porcelain sink, tub, commode? Rub the porcelain surfaces with cream of tartar and watch the stains disappear.
Fabric stains? No prob. Mix a few teaspoons of cream of tartar with some glycerin and use like spray-and-wash. The results? Well, I’m here to tell you that this stuff cured the ring around Joshua’s shirt collars.
Just need a great nonabrasive cleaner? Mix 2 teaspoons of vinegar and 2 teaspoon of cream of tartar in a small dish (use 3 or 4 teaspoons of vinegar and 3 or 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar if you have more items to clean). Apply with your cleaning rag or scrub brush and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Scrub. Wash with hot soapy water.
Please pass these recipes to your friends. They really are wonderfully easy and inexpensive. And while we’re chatting…. what stain is currently plaguing your happy home? What stubborn stain taunts your cleaning efforts by refusing to surrender?
Want to know more about cream of tartar? Click here.
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I had no idea! Thanks for all the great tips!
I’m going to give this a try on my favorite Washington State University t-shirt. I just haven’t been able to part with it. Thanks for the tips.
seriously where do you learn this stuff?
Well Lacy, I knew about the copper kettle, as I’ve done that over the years, but the others? And tile grout?
Just may have to give it a try tomorrow!
Thanks my dear…Momma Barb
Good stuff to know! =D
You are always amazing me with these cleaning tips! Thank you!
I have got to tell my MIL she has been trying to get a rust stain out of a Tub! I wonder if she has tried this????
Good to know! I had no idea about any of it! You’re such a smarty!
Holy cow!!!!! I never knew.
Thanks so much, I’ll have to clean something today.
OK, maybe not today. Perhaps this weekend, if all goes well. And maybe not this weekend either. But maybe I could get Husband to clean something. Just to test it out.
Honestly cream of Tartar- where have you been all my life? I thought you only made snickerdoodles and play-dough….
AMAZING tip- thanks !
Come on lacy you are starting to sound like an infomercial!!!! now can you tell me how to make someone to do the cleaning for me!!!! my kids are catching on!!!
Okay…WOW. Have NEVER, ever heard of this!! Amazing!! JUST LOVE IT. Thanks for this. Who KNEW? Not me, obviously!
Great tips! Thanks, Lacy. I have some old aluminum cannisters that belonged to my husband’s great grandmother. They’ve gotten discolored and I can’t wait to try this on them!
I did know that about the baking powder;-). What a great number of things to use it on. I am not sure about there, but here in the stores Cream of Tartar is very expensive. For a tiny 2 ounce box, it is $5.00. I did find a place to get it for less, at a cookware store where they also carry candy making supplies and organic foods.
Happy Halloween!
I never knew you could use cream of tartar to clean stuff! That is good to know because despite the little jars I always buy it to make one little thing then it just sits unused for ages! There’s a very stubborn stain on our stove that has refused to come off with anything, perhaps I will try cream of tartar on it tomorrow! (Or tonight, if I can’t take the waiting to try it out, cause I’m insane like that. LOL)
Great information. My little container has lasted so long because I only thought egg whites were it’s best friend. I’ll get it out and give it a try. Thanks again … enjoy your site.
Thank you! This amazing mixture is working on the cuffs of my husband’s work shirts.
My toughest problem, though, is the fryer grease stains he gets on those shirts. I can’t seem to get rid of those with anything I’ve tried.
Cream of tartar is also great for keeping your peeled potatoes from turning brown. Just add about a teaspoon of cream of tartar to your peeled potatoes…and you can soak them for a long period of time without them turning brown..
THANK YOU for the great baking pan cleaning tip utililizing cream of tartar. I’m going to make sure I always have a lot on hand now. I love using less caustic products to clean, especially to protect my hands!
Thanks for all the great tips! It was the only thing that cleaned my old bathtub after all else failed. Now I need help finding glycerin. It used to be in the baking aisle of the grocery stores, but none of the stores have it anymore. I live in Massachusetts, near Boston. Does anyone know where else I could get it?
rita-you might find glycerine at your local pharmacy-sometimes kept in the back,you might have to ask for it.a friend found some at a local nail salon…..all of it is food grade,i think.i used some in a recipe for homemade cordial….yum!
I’ve seriously burnt apples/ while making apple sauce/ in a magnolite aluminum pan. How much cream of tartar would I have to use to get the blasted stuff off one of my favorite pans?
You could email me back if you have an answer to the question.
Thanks for the help.
Stephen
[...] it a great leavening agent, but that’s a story for another day. For now, try using it to clean your aluminum pans or remove hard water [...]
P e n z e y s d o t c o m has Cream of Tartar for around $7.50 a pound. Great source for spices. We love their cinnamon (cassia).
I was reading the book “The Help” . There was one sentence in this book about the maid using cream of tarter to use on hard water spots so I thought I would google it. IT’S WORKS! Thanks for confirming this!
Cream of tartar is also good at absorbing grease spots on clothing, even after the garment has been washed.
How about rust stains on stainless flatware?
Read that cream of tarter could remove tough water stains. Tried it on my I think marble top of a free standing sink in my pool bath. Most of the stains came off but so did the shiny finish Yikes what so I do now? Please help.
I founbd the container pictured above which is a rather small size of cream of tartar. Anyone know where a larger size container could be found. Thanks I’m going to try these suggesions.
Celeste
Im going to try this and hope it works. If it does it will be the greatest day ever. My cleaning probelm is my fiberglass tube. Do you think cream of tartar will help that? If not what will? Please help !!!
Cream of TT works miracles on the bathtub. That’s because it is a dry acid and the bathtub ring is a base. This is kindergarten chemistry! Just try it and you’ll see how fabulous it is. Here’s how I do it– vinegar on a sponge then use the cream of TT as a scouring powder. The bathtub ring disappears like magic.
Didn’t know about all those things! Thanks for the list! I can add to it too. I’ve always used it to get that white stuff off the bottom inside of my tea kettle. You know that calcium deposit stuff that builds up? Just put a teaspoon of Cream of Tarter in the teapot and fill about a third or so with water and boil. Then pour the water out and wipe the white stuff right off!
I had no idea about cleaning with cream of tartar!! I have some hard water stains that i am going to use it on and hope it dissolves them away!! We have brushed nickle faucets and its hard for me to come up with a non abrasive cleaner for them!!
Thanks!
Can you use it for cleaning floors? I have an old slightly pebbly-textured linoleum floor in my kitchen. Since we bought the house 2 years ago, I’ve tried everything to get who-knows-how-many years’ worth of grime out of it, to little avail!
Wow! I’d already forgotten this about cream of tartar, you’re right. I did know but know remember my Mom used it all the time on about everything. Thanks for bringing it to our attention! What a money saver!
if you want to clean aluminum you should try Cameo cleansing powder. it’s usually found next to the comet. It works great, and is a lot cheaper than using cream of tartar.
Ok here’s my worst, that yellow stain under the arms of whit shirts. it is left from the aluminum in my deodorant but I can NEVER get it out. Any advice?
My stubborn stain is tomato…spaghetti and pizza sauces. I can get them mostly out, but my daughter’s clothes always has these little spots that are still a little orange. Any advice? I’ve tried a lot of things with no sucess. Also, on grease stains, I have heard that using chalk on the stain helps the detergent lift the stain better. I plan to try that one real soon. Thanks for these tips.
Ceramic top stove. Stain that absolutley will not come off. Any suggestions?
I have found bulk sized bags of cream of tartar on amazon. If you live anywhere near a winery you can check with them and see if you can get it from them. (Cream of tartar is a by-product of wine making. I imagine they sell it to spice companies?)
Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/Frontier-Cream-Tartar-Powder-package/dp/B0001M0YK8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333028531&sr=8-2
Its an example of a one pound bag for about $15. I don’t know how much the shipping would be but I would hope that the price would be better than the little tiny bottles in the store.
It all sounds good, but cream of tartar costs about $2.10 an ounce here ~ I can get commercial cleaners on sale and use a coupon and pay about .65 cents for a 20 ounce can. Where are you getting it that you find it to be economical to use in this manner?
Regarding where to buy larger jars of cream of tartar.
I was at Aldi (discount grocery store owned by trader joes) around the holidays and found a large jar of cream of tartar for under 2$. You may also want to look at Save a Lot or other similar discount groceries.
Always welcome problem stain solutions. Looking forward to testing Cream of Tartar out on many things. Thanks for the information!
Would this work on lifting carpet stains?
Celeste usually the shinny finish on real stone of any kind is a sealer I just saw sealer specifically for stone countertops in the flooring section of Lowes next to the stone floor sealers. Usually you need to clean all the old sealer off before resealing, for a smooth finish.
I am trying to find a cleaner that will work on wooden white painted rockers that I have on my shaded front porch because no sun gets to that area i assume that the black on these rockers is maybe mold do you have any idea what will clean them fairly easy and what i can use as a coating to keep them from doing this again every year? thanks for any ideas you might have Glenda
Hi. Found this from PInterest. I am curious about getting rid of mildew. I made a paste of equal parts COT and vinegar and put it on the mildew, waited 5 minutes and washed with warm soapy water. It didn’t seem to help much.
Did I do something wrong? My master bath shower room is small and not well ventilated. The ceiling is textured, as are the walls and after time, there seems to be some black mold developing. I’ve tried all kinds of things to get rid of it…especially scrubbing with a bristled brush, but that is time consuming and sometimes just wears away at the paint. Please help!
Works wonders.I Love it.
Great tips – thanks for sharing
My grandmother swore by cream of tartar as a blood purifier. As kids my mom always gave us some mixed in a glass of water. Must have worked we were never sick. I still use it to this day.
Thank you for the tip. I buy the cream of tartar for some cookie I bake, could not tell you which one. But it’s sits forever. Thanks. I just watched Drew bake bread for the first time….I can’t even get boyfriend near kitchen. Thanks Drew!
Bakewell Cream is the same as cream of tartar and can be found in most grocery stores. It’s in a yellow can and is 8oz. for about the same price as the tiny 2oz. container.
I used cream of tartar with white vinigar and 1/2 cup warm water to clean the stains off of the seats of a pair of antique chairs that I found at a thrift store.( I planned to have them recovered, but I thought it won’t hurt to try) They were done in powder blue velvet. Every stain came out!!!!! They now sit in my living room where I get lots of compliments on how pretty they are. Now I use cream of tartar all the time.!
Back in the 50′s, my mom used Cream of Tarter a lot for laundry, etc.. Never knew until now that I found your site, exactly what she did with it and why.
Thanks!