The 3 Scariest Things to Clean with BKF

October 20, 2021

The scariest things to clean with Bar Keepers Friend is subjective. For me, it’s three very specific things. Those items may be different for you – but what we can agree on is that there are scary things to clean. Things we don’t want to clean. Things that are just … nasty. Thankfully, Bar Keepers Friend makes cleaning these spooky things a lot less scary.

It’s almost Halloween –  when scary ghouls come to knock at your door for tricks or treats. Of course, these three scary things don’t just rear their ugly heads on all hallows eve. They work their dirty underhanded evil all year. They don’t need it to be October to sneak up behind you and yell “BOO!”

1. Garbage Disposals 

Garbage disposals are on the top of my list for nasty spooky things to clean. They can smell like a moldy graveyard and feel like the insides are covered with creepy crawling slime. Yuck. To clean a garbage disposal, you’ll need gloves, a long-handled brush, and some BKF. Several BKF products could do the job, but I like BKF Soft Cleanser.

Garbage disposals are usually manufactured using stainless steel, galvanized steel, or pot metal. You can use our Soft Cleanser on all. Just know that pot metal is painted to slow corrosion. If the paint has begun to peel, cleaning will remove some pieces of the peeling paint. However, this doesn’t affect the performance of the disposal, and it still should last for years.

First, remove the black rubber cover (not all units have this cover). Shake the soft cleanser well, then squirt a small amount on the cover and your brush. To reach all parts of the cover, put your fingers behind it, push it out, and then turn it inside out. Don’t let the cleanser sit on the cover longer than one minute. I rinse and scrub as I go.

With the cover removed, I run cool water for 30 seconds or so. Next, squirt the cleanser in the garbage disposal and on your brush and start scrubbing. When you bring your brush out, it will be covered with slimy, smelly, spooky pieces of meals from the ghost of dinners past, so be prepared to rinse and scrub, and then rinse and scrub again. I keep going until my brush no longer comes out covered in decayed food debris. Next, run cool water for at least one minute with the disposal running.

I like to finish with a peeled lemon wedge in the disposal.

Pro Tip: To promote a clean and well operating system, avoid disposing of vegetable or fruit peels, grease, rice, or pasta in your garbage disposal.

2. Toilets 

It was a tough toss-up for me on which was worse to clean, a garbage disposal or a toilet. They’re both filthy animals! To clean your toilet, you’ll need gloves, a toilet brush, a sponge, and paper towels. I recommend having Bar Keepers Friend Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Powder Cleanser, and MORE Spray + Foam on hand.

I start by raising the seat and squirting about six ounces of BKF Toilet Bowl Cleaner evenly all over the bowl. Let it work its spell for about five minutes. Use a toilet bowl brush to scrub the bowl. Flush to rinse and repeat as needed.

When I clean the base of the toilet, I use BKF Powder Cleanser. I take a small amount of BKF powder, mix enough water to make a paste, and then spread it on the base. After letting it sit for about a minute, I wipe it off with a paper towel. I use a brush on tougher stains.

For the outside of the bowl, I use MORE Spray + Foam on the foam setting because, unlike most cleaners, it doesn’t run off vertical surfaces but clings to them, defeating gravity.

3. Kitchen Range Metal Hood Filters

Like me, you’ve probably discovered that store-bought degreasers rarely work on oil-covered filters. These filters become almost ghostly, covered with goo. The sticky mess is primarily polymerized cooking oil, forming a layer over most of the surface (and much of your kitchen). However, BKF has the answer to cleaning these ghastly apparitions of grease, Bar Keepers Friend MORE Spray + Foam.

“The BFK Spray and Foam is one product which won’t scratch your range hood and range hood filters. What makes BFK Spray and Foam a great choice is the fact that it’s a (non-bleach) formula geared towards cleaning stainless steel, including range hoods.” — Range Hood Guide

BFK Can Make Even Scary Things Less Frightening! 

I’ve used BKF for more years than I want to admit, and I’ve cleaned some pretty scary things in my day. But I’m here to tell you BKF isn’t scary. As far as some of the other products out there, be afraid, be very afraid.

About the Author

Randy Clark is a speaker, coach, and author. He publishes a weekly blog at Randy Clark Leadership.com. Randy is passionate about social media, leadership development, and flower gardening. He’s a beer geek and on weekends (after COVID-19) he can be found fronting the Rock & Roll band Under the Radar. He’s the proud father of two educators; he has four amazing grandchildren and a wife who dedicates her time to helping others. Randy is the author of the Amazon bestseller The New Manager’s Workbook a crash course in effective management.