This Cleaning Powder Was Invented in the 1880s. It Still Keeps My Kitchen Gear Looking New.
Bar Keepers Friend is particularly adept at giving new life to old things.
I was reminded of this two summers ago when I found an abandoned enameled Le Creuset omelet pan coated in baked-on oil and burn marks. Bar Keepers Friend made it look virtually new, allowing me to gloat that I’d scored a $175 pan off a neighborhood giveaway table.
A co-worker, supervising editor Joshua Lyon, achieved a similar result cleaning porcelain in a 1924 cabin that he and his husband bought in 2011.
“The kitchen’s porcelain farmhouse sink gave off dead-tooth vibes thanks to an overall grayish tone and dark streaks that wouldn’t come out no matter how hard I scrubbed with kitchen cleaners or baking soda,” he told me. “I considered replacing it until we tried Bar Keepers Friend, which easily returned the sink to a gleaming white after only one application.”
Joshua’s second “BKF miracle” happened in his new house. Previous owners had covered a circa-1930s porcelain-tile bathroom floor with carpet, which left dark adhesive stains.
“The tiles and grout aren’t glazed and are much more fragile than our old sink, so I’d always been concerned about using anything too abrasive,” he said.
He decided to put BKF up against baking-soda paste on a small section of the floor, and the results were immediate. “There’s now a square of white in a sea of grunge,” he said. “Finishing the project will be a big chore, because I’ll need to work in small sections due to how old the tile is and BKF’s one-minute rule. But it’ll be worth it.”
Bar Keepers Friend’s corporate administrator, Janet McKinley, who has worked at the company for 47 years, told Wirecutter associate staff writer Ellen Airhart that she uses the powder to whiten the soles of tennis shoes and remove the “green yuck” off vinyl siding.
