Cleaning the Stovetop

[jimnyc]

Is there some sort of damn liquid or magic crap I can use to clean this thing? For years now I have hated cleaning the stove top. First is the burner plates, or whatever you call them, the things you place the pots/pans on. By the time I get to them, they have black spots all over and black patches. I guess from equal parts food, grease & heat. I can soak and scrub these things forever and you can only get so much off. I read elsewhere that you could place them in a garbage bag with bleach and leave it outside overnight. I was hoping there was a product that would help, but I can't find anything.

Then similarly, the stove top itself. This would mostly be splatter of food and oils I suppose. 99% of this stuff scrubs off, after doing some serious scrubbing for quite some time. But that 1% adds up after awhile, and now it's getting worse and worse around the actual burners, in the hard to get to spots.

Is there a magic trick for cleaning these damn things?

[aboutime]

Is there some sort of damn liquid or magic crap I can use to clean this thing? For years now I have hated cleaning the stove top. First is the burner plates, or whatever you call them, the things you place the pots/pans on. By the time I get to them, they have black spots all over and black patches. I guess from equal parts food, grease & heat. I can soak and scrub these things forever and you can only get so much off. I read elsewhere that you could place them in a garbage bag with bleach and leave it outside overnight. I was hoping there was a product that would help, but I can't find anything.

Then similarly, the stove top itself. This would mostly be splatter of food and oils I suppose. 99% of this stuff scrubs off, after doing some serious scrubbing for quite some time. But that 1% adds up after awhile, and now it's getting worse and worse around the actual burners, in the hard to get to spots.

Is there a magic trick for cleaning these damn things?


Stop using the stove, go out to eat when you're hungry.

No easy way to tell ya. They have aluminum trays (cheap) as replacements. If they can't be cleaned. Just get more and slide them into place.

As for the BLEACH....No. SOAK THEM IN VINEGAR. STRAIGHT FROM THE BOTTLE.
Vinegar cleans everything. I MEAN IT. Good in the bathroom too. Cleans shower, tub, sink, toilet, even the floor. If you can stand the smell.

[glockmail]

You dummy. You never said or described what kind of stove top it is. Mine's a flat glass top.

[aboutime]

You dummy. You never said or described what kind of stove top it is. Mine's a flat glass top.


glock. Read what he said. About those things he puts pots on. We have one like you. Flat, and easy to clean glass. Electric is fine until the power goes out. Then GAS like he has is great.

[glockmail]

glock. Read what he said. About those things he puts pots on. We have one like you. Flat, and easy to clean glass. Electric is fine until the power goes out. Then GAS like he has is great.

Where does he say gas? My flat glass top has "burners", or areas where there are elements below. I clean those differently that the rest of the top. Gas is great, but a modern electric heats faster and gives more precise control.

If it's really dirty I use Soft Scrub cleanser with a blue Scotch Brite scrubbing pad (for non-stick pans). At the edges of the burners I use a single edge razor blade along with the Soft Scrub. For normal clean-up I use detergent and hot water with the same pad, and to make it gleam I use Windex.

[WiccanLiberal]

Highly recommend the orange cleaner and degreaser made by Zep. I use it with a nylon scrubber. You can find it in many hardware stores. My local Ace has it.

[aboutime]

Where does he say gas? My flat glass top has "burners", or areas where there are elements below. I clean those differently that the rest of the top. Gas is great, but a modern electric heats faster and gives more precise control.

If it's really dirty I use Soft Scrub cleanser with a blue Scotch Brite scrubbing pad (for non-stick pans). At the edges of the burners I use a single edge razor blade along with the Soft Scrub. For normal clean-up I use detergent and hot water with the same pad, and to make it gleam I use Windex.

glock. Read the warnings about using anything to scrape. You'll see. I'll shut up. He didn't say gas, but if he has to remove anything...he isn't talking about what YOU and I have on our stovetops.
My apologies for offering anything here.

[glockmail]

glock. Read the warnings about using anything to scrape. You'll see. I'll shut up. He didn't say gas, but if he has to remove anything...he isn't talking about what YOU and I have on our stovetops.
My apologies for offering anything here.

I agree never use a blade to clean enameled steel. I had an electric with iron disks that had many "hard to reach areas".

[jimnyc]

You dummy. You never said or described what kind of stove top it is. Mine's a flat glass top.

It's a white one! LOL

I dunno? Sure isn't glass! Just your everyday variety stove top. Gas. Both the stove AND the metal you place the pots on are a PITA to clean.

[jimnyc]

Highly recommend the orange cleaner and degreaser made by Zep. I use it with a nylon scrubber. You can find it in many hardware stores. My local Ace has it.

Exactly what I was looking for. Just brought up their website and will read and likely give this stuff a try! http://zep.com/

[jimnyc]

Highly recommend the orange cleaner and degreaser made by Zep. I use it with a nylon scrubber. You can find it in many hardware stores. My local Ace has it.

Is this the one you use?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-128-oz-Citrus-Heavy-Duty-Degreaser-ZUCIT128/100676344#.UnF5ixCmY0M

[glockmail]

A white gas stove. What are you, my grandmother? You're totally fucked trying to clean it. :laugh:

Along with the white enamel I suppose you have cast iron thingies that hold the pots above the flame, aluminum burners and chromed, stamped steel drip rings. Four different types of material that each require a different cleaning treatment. The good news is that you should be able to take all that shit apart.

For the enamel I'd use Soft Scrub like I described earlier. Or maybe Barkeeper's Friend. Dissolve the grease on the chome by soaking in boiling water, then polish with the BarKeepers. Barkeepers with a toothbrush for the aluminum.

The iron? You're screwed there.

[jimnyc]

A white gas stove. What are you, my grandmother? You're totally fucked trying to clean it. :laugh:

Along with the white enamel I suppose you have cast iron thingies that hold the pots above the flame, aluminum burners and chromed, stamped steel drip rings. Four different types of material that each require a different cleaning treatment. The good news is that you should be able to take all that shit apart.

For the enamel I'd use Soft Scrub like I described earlier. Or maybe Barkeeper's Friend. Dissolve the grease on the chome by soaking in boiling water, then polish with the BarKeepers. Barkeepers with a toothbrush for the aluminum.

The iron? You're screwed there.

The woman picked out all of the crap 15 years ago. I wanted all chrome! It's time for an upgrade soon. Here's a picture without the iron, and then with. You can see the browner spots on the right side of the stove the most, as we use that burner the most. Of course it's the same as the iron, as that's where the pots and pans go. The black on the iron is nearly impossible to remove even a speck of. I'm hoping some suggestions here work.

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/8443/e6cn.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img5/5919/7gw2.jpg

[gabosaurus]

You really can't clean them. My mom has been using the same stove for about 15 years. Some parts of it look like the aftermath of a volcanic explosion. The solution: Don't eat anything that has come into contact with the stove. Touch it with your bare hands at your own risks.
I would be afraid to add any cleaning products to my mom's stove. Spontaneous combustion might result. You don't want to end up like a drummer from Spinal Tap. :cool:

[glockmail]

Fifteen years. Holy crap looks like 1970! :laugh:

That blue-colored iron is all ceramic coated. The black shit has been welded onto it at high temperature. You have to soak them in hot water and degreaser. Try the Zep with water. Because of the size you'll have to do this in the bathtub. Get the water as hot as you can. (This is kind of a Ctch 22 because you want to heat the water on the stove!) Use four hockey pucks to keep from scratching the tub.

If you have a fiberglass tub that might he harmed by the degreaser and hot water you may want to find something else to soak them in. Read the Zep bottle carefully.

After soaking for an hour, scrub them with baking soda or Bartenders on a blue scotch brite pad. You might want to set an old bath towel on the bathroom floor and scrub the grates on that to get good leverage. Use the hockey pucks to keep the work off the towel.

The white enamel (or maybe its ceramic) should clean up with hot water and Bartenders. Use playtex gloves (you girlie man) so you can get the water really hot without burning your hands.

[WiccanLiberal]

Is this the one you use?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-128-oz-Citrus-Heavy-Duty-Degreaser-ZUCIT128/100676344#.UnF5ixCmY0M



Yup great stuff

[Kathianne]

One, put all moveable parts in dishwasher and run on sani-cycle.

While they are in dishwasher, use easy-off to clean stove top. After the 'big clean' get Magic Erasure from Mr. Clean, but initially use Easy-Off.

Now that the top is clean, those items in dishwasher, when done. Use Easy off to clean up what's left behind.

After this, clean up after each cook spill over. Once a week utilize magic erasure.

[jimnyc]

Fifteen years. Holy crap looks like 1970! :laugh:

That blue-colored iron is all ceramic coated. The black shit has been welded onto it at high temperature. You have to soak them in hot water and degreaser. Try the Zep with water. Because of the size you'll have to do this in the bathtub. Get the water as hot as you can. (This is kind of a Ctch 22 because you want to heat the water on the stove!) Use four hockey pucks to keep from scratching the tub.

If you have a fiberglass tub that might he harmed by the degreaser and hot water you may want to find something else to soak them in. Read the Zep bottle carefully.

After soaking for an hour, scrub them with baking soda or Bartenders on a blue scotch brite pad. You might want to set an old bath towel on the bathroom floor and scrub the grates on that to get good leverage. Use the hockey pucks to keep the work off the towel.

The white enamel (or maybe its ceramic) should clean up with hot water and Bartenders. Use playtex gloves (you girlie man) so you can get the water really hot without burning your hands.

Yeah, my bad, apparently the stove was here when we moved in and she bought the overhead microwave to kinda match it and then the refrigerator to match. Not sure why we didn't make a clean sweep of it. :dunno:

So I have to scrub with all of this stuff? I was hoping to glop a bunch of it on, let it sit somewhere for a long time, then run the hose on it and presto! That's what I did with this cool stuff on the wheels for my truck. :)

[jimnyc]

One, put all moveable parts in dishwasher and run on sani-cycle.

While they are in dishwasher, use easy-off to clean stove top. After the 'big clean' get Magic Erasure from Mr. Clean, but initially use Easy-Off.

Now that the top is clean, those items in dishwasher, when done. Use Easy off to clean up what's left behind.

After this, clean up after each cook spill over. Once a week utilize magic erasure.

Oh man, even more stuff to buy!

I do appreciate the advice from all of you. I'll be making a shopping list of all of these things today. I'll take a few runs at this if necessary and eventually find out what works best. Sounds like the Zep might be best for the real difficult stuff (soaking) and then can maybe use the magic erasure for normal weekly cleaning.

[Jeff]

One, put all moveable parts in dishwasher and run on sani-cycle.

While they are in dishwasher, use easy-off to clean stove top. After the 'big clean' get Magic Erasure from Mr. Clean, but initially use Easy-Off.

Now that the top is clean, those items in dishwasher, when done. Use Easy off to clean up what's left behind.

After this, clean up after each cook spill over. Once a week utilize magic erasure.

Jim there are many good idea's here , my wife has taken the go out to dinner idea and ran with it :laugh:

Seriously Mom use to do it just like Kat is saying ( not to sure about the magic eraser) , I can remember getting yelled at to get out of the kitchen when she was cleaning it ( something about breathing that stuff in ) not sure how Laura does it but I will ask and holler at ya but I really think my stove stays clean because of lack of use ( and to be honest Laura has a point , every night we have baseball or Church and now wrestling so there is no time to cook)

[Abbey Marie]

I soak the removable metal burner-things in cleanser in the sink for a couple of hours. I clean our black stove top with a degreaser that was made for stove tops, and a two-sided tool also made for the job. When I go downstairs, I will get the names. Btw, black is a pain to keep looking clean, but I love the look.

[aboutime]

Oh man, even more stuff to buy!

I do appreciate the advice from all of you. I'll be making a shopping list of all of these things today. I'll take a few runs at this if necessary and eventually find out what works best. Sounds like the Zep might be best for the real difficult stuff (soaking) and then can maybe use the magic erasure for normal weekly cleaning.


jim. The CHEAPEST, and I promise you...the most effective item on that list...you might try. Is VINEGAR. Even the military uses it to CLEAN, and it DISINFECTS at the same time.

But then. What do I know?

[SassyLady]

It's a white one! LOL

I dunno? Sure isn't glass! Just your everyday variety stove top. Gas. Both the stove AND the metal you place the pots on are a PITA to clean.bartenders' helper or bon ami

[Kathianne]

bartenders' helper or bon ami

Barkeeper's friend is da bomb on pots and pans, along with Corningware and Tupperware. I'm sure it's great on any non-enameled parts of the stove like drip catchers, if the stove has them. I don't think I'd use it though on enamel.

Once a stove and cooktop are clean, they are easy to maintain. I was assuming there was a 'job' to do here-meaning lots of baked on stuff. That's when I go first to dishwasher, then to Easy Off. Someone mentioned 'fumes' earlier, Easy Off has been reformulated for years, no fumes. Also doesn't take high temps or even heat at all, if you're not in a hurry.

It's the best at cleaning Weber grill too!

[jafar00]

I just use normal stove cleaning spray from the supermarket. Anything hard to move, I just use my steam cleaner on it to blast away the baked on grease.

[PostmodernProphet]

first, you find a good woman......then, you chain her to the stove......feed her regularly.....