The last time I traveled to visit the Angels, I packed a bag full of gifts but also a little baggie of steel wool pads infused with soap.
From previous visits, I recalled that there were none and nothing works better on pots and pans and glass dishes than a good scrub with steel wool, one of many life hacks I learned from my mom.
A couple of days after I arrived, DIL asked me where I found them, and when I told her they were packed in my bag and I had brought them, she started laughing.
Apparently, HER mom brought a bag of them from England the last time she visited, and showed DIL how they worked and what a valuable little cleaning tool they were.
I learned it from MY mom and DIL’s mom learned it from her mom, too.
It was a funny moment of cleaning secrets passed down from one generation to another; apparently this new gen can still benefit from the teachings of the elders.
After a little elbow grease, this sixty-year-old pan which originally belonged to my mom and now lives with the kids and is still going strong, will sparkle and shine.
SOS and Brillo to the rescue!
Enchanted Seashells by Princess Rosebud 
SOS and Brillo pads! They’re the best. I grew up with Revere Ware pots and pans. Most had the copper bottoms. Have you ever used Cameo copper cleaner? I’ll never forget a neighbor of my parents’ generation using it on her pots and then drying them. Made them look like new as they all hung on the wall. So beautiful.
I still remember taking an SOS pad to my mother’s cooking and bakeware, leaving them shining. Once in her delusion, she tried to tell me that the black carbon on the bottom of the pot was an insulator and helped what was in the pot stay hot. I ignored her and scoured the pot clean.
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I’m sorry about your mom but glad you know the brillo/sos secret too! I’ve traveled with various pots and pans that belonged to my mom and DIL was astonished at how easy it was to clean them with a little steel wool. Pyrex too. I can’t remember what kind of copper cleaner my mom used but we used to do all those chores together. She made everything fun.
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