Small But Fearless. (Brillo Pads)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	Brillo Pads
Date:	08/04/09 (124 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good way of cleaning suacepans, ovens BBQ's etc

Disadvantages: The pads do tend to shed and you need to use rubber gloves

We have to thank our American friends for the Brillo pad, it seems that during the early 1900s the aluminium saucepan was making its debut, replacing the old cast iron pots.
Cooking was then done on coal fired stoves hence the outside of the aluminium saucepans were blackened with the smoke and flame.
No one likes messy looking pots and a chap who sold cookware and his brother in law who was a jeweller set to work to find a cleaning solution.
They found that a pad of fine steel wool that was soaked with soap and jewellers rouge ( a substance used to remove fine scratches from glass) seemed to clean the blackened pots well and they set about introducing the product to the market.
Brillo pads became very popular and although the shape and size of the Brillo pad remains much the same the manufacturing process is far more refined.

Usually we can manage to buy a pack of ten Brillo pads for around £1. I have a sneaky suspicion that they may not be quite as popular as they used to be.
The pads are now sold in a clear plastic tub which is well sealed and has a peel back lid.
The pads themselves are peculiar little things, each Brillo pad is a small square of fine steel wool, the pad has a pinky coloured powder sitting on the surface and although they are meant to have a new and improved smell I still find the whiff a bit weird. A combination of metal and detergent but the smell isn't unpleasant.

I still have one of those old aluminium saucepans, at one time the powers that be were up in arms about aluminium pans. `Get rid of them, if you use them to cook in there is a high chance that you will contract Alzheimers!` I decided to take a calculated risk and keep my pan, how could I part with an old friend? As for the Alzheimers, that is debatable!

I cook using gas and the bottom of the pan does get into a state, so a Brillo pad does work miracles.
Although the little wire wool ,pad is good at the job in hand I have to say that it does have a few drawbacks.
I really need a whole bowl of hot water to clean this one pan, as soon as the Brillo pad hits the hot water it turns an unfashionable shade of pinky-grey. I find that the pad quickly uses up its energy reserves too, within a minute or so the pad is relegated to being a heap of wire wool, the soapy detergent is all sitting in the hot water.
But that's not to say that by then the bottom of my pan isn't clean, the Brillo pad is very abrasive and is extremely capable of removing glued on grime. You do need a certain amount of elbow grease too though.

So the Brillo pad has done its work and now looks a little limp and lifeless. This brings me to my next point.
I have never successfully found a way of storing used Brillo pads, whatever you tend to do with them they seem to end up with a coating of rust on the surface.
Yes, you can wash it off and start afresh, add a touch of fresh detergent and carry on regardless but the idea of using that pad again doesn't float my boat really.
So if I use a Brillo pad it carries out the task in hand admirably but then it goes straight into the waste bin.

They tackle the toughest of tasks and have no fear! A murky oven, a messy pan, burnt on grease, they are quite capable of dealing with most problems in an efficient manner.
But before you take off to get a packet of Brillo pads just think about your poor hands, make sure that you have a decent pair of rubber gloves too.
If you fail to protect your hands the wire wool has a nasty habit of finding its way into soft skin, plus the detergent in the pads is hard on the hands too.

Brillo pads are courageous, they know no fear and are well worth investing in for those tough household tasks.
One more thing before I vanish, the pads are really useful for the oven racks, they are small enough to manoeuvre and strong enough to make the racks sparkle again.

Summary: Brillo pads have a lot of cleaning power.