If your cooking oil bottle always seems to leave greasy rings on shelves, you are not imagining it. Oil has a way of creeping down the outside of the bottle after every pour, and the cap can get sticky even when you are careful. Over time, that mess turns into smudges on cabinet doors and slippery spots on the counter. A small change in how you store and dispense oil can make your kitchen feel instantly cleaner.
The trick making the rounds on social media is surprisingly low effort and it starts with something many people already have. As one write up puts it, “A simple trick spreading on social media offers a solution for a problem many people face in the kitchen.” The idea is to stop pouring oil from its original container and move it into a clean plastic ketchup bottle instead. The Kitchn is one of the outlets that has highlighted this swap, and it is easy to see why it caught on.
Oil creates a mess because it clings and drips, and the bottle design does not help. When you tip a typical oil bottle, a thin stream can run back toward the neck and then down the outside. Even if you wipe it after each use, residue builds up around the threads and under the cap. That is why shelves end up with oily fingerprints and why bottles feel slick when you grab them. It is not about being careless, it is about how oil behaves.
A ketchup bottle is built for controlled dispensing, so it solves the problem at the source. The narrow nozzle and flip top are designed to keep the contents inside the bottle and deliver a small amount on demand. Instead of a free pour, you squeeze out exactly what you need and stop instantly. The same write up explains the core point clearly, saying, “The solution is to use an empty plastic ketchup bottle to store and dose cooking oil.” That simple nozzle does the hard work by keeping drips off the outside.
@viktoria.neb Perfekte Öl Dosierung mit einer alten Ketchupflasche! #küchenhack #küchenhacks #kochen #lifehacks #lifehack #küchentricks ♬ Originalton – 𝓥𝓲𝓴𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓪
The most important step is cleaning the bottle properly so your oil stays fresh and tastes the way it should. Wash the bottle and cap thoroughly to remove ketchup residue, paying attention to the nozzle and any grooves where sauce can hide. Rinse well, then let everything dry completely because even a little water left inside can affect the oil. Air drying is a good start, and you can follow up by wiping the interior with a paper towel to remove any remaining moisture. Once it is dry, you are ready to transfer the oil.
Transferring the oil is easiest with a funnel, and taking a minute here prevents new spills. Set the clean, dry bottle on a stable surface and pour slowly. If you do not have a funnel, you can improvise with a tightly rolled piece of parchment paper, but a basic funnel often costs just a few dollars and is worth having. Fill the bottle leaving a little headspace so squeezing is comfortable and controlled. Snap the cap on, wipe the outside once, and your new oil bottle is ready for daily use.
Once you start using it, the main benefit is precision, especially for pan cooking. A quick squeeze lets you add a teaspoon or two without flooding the skillet, which helps when you are sautéing onions, searing chicken, or starting a stir fry. You can also draw thin lines of oil across a sheet pan before roasting vegetables, and you will not get surprise puddles. If you are greasing a muffin tin or brushing oil on bread, the controlled stream makes it easier to cover the surface evenly. It turns a messy step into a clean, repeatable habit.
There are a few practical tips that make this hack even better in real kitchens. Label the bottle if you use more than one oil, especially if you keep olive oil, vegetable oil, and avocado oil on hand. Keep it away from the stove flame and high heat, since plastic should not sit where it can soften or warp. Store oil in a cool, dark place when possible because light and heat can speed up rancidity. If the bottle ever starts to smell like old oil, wash it again and refresh the contents.
It also helps to know what this trick is and is not meant to do. It is mainly about cleaner dispensing and less residue on cabinets, not long term bulk storage. Many oils come in containers that block light better than clear plastic, so it can be smart to refill a smaller bottle from the original and keep the main container stored properly. In food safety terms, the key factors for oils are exposure to oxygen, heat, and light, all of which can reduce quality over time. Using a smaller squeeze bottle can actually reduce how long oil sits out on the counter because you can keep the big bottle tucked away.
For a bit of helpful background, cooking oils are fats extracted from plants, seeds, or fruits, and they vary widely in flavor and performance. Olive oil is known for its taste and is often used for dressings and finishing, while neutral oils like canola or vegetable oil are common for frying and baking. Smoke point matters because oils break down at high heat, so choosing the right oil for the job can improve both flavor and texture. Storage matters too, since rancid oil can smell like crayons or stale nuts and can make food taste flat. Even the photo credit from Shutterstock fits the theme, since these small everyday kitchen annoyances are universal enough to be instantly recognizable.
Have you tried the ketchup bottle oil trick, and what other kitchen hacks actually make your cooking space cleaner and easier to use, share your thoughts in the comments.
