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I will never clean my stove the hard way again! This is hands down the EASIEST way to clean stove grates. No more soaking and scrubbing for hours!
My stove grates are always filthy! Every month or so, I’ll pull the whole stove top apart and soak everything in incredibly hot water all night long. Then the next morning I spend a couple hours scrubbing the food and grease buildup off all the creases of my enormous stove grates. Ugh. I hate that chore. Then I discovered this. When I saw this suggestion on Pinching your Pennies, I pinned it immediately and went to work.
How to clean stove grates
Here’s what you need:
- Dirty stove grates. Check.
- 1-2 gallon zip lock baggies. Check.
- 2-3 tbsp ammonia. Check.
- 12 hours. Nighty-night!
My ginormous stove grates won’t fit in a one gallon zip-lock bag! I went looking for two gallon bags at several stores, with no luck. I finally found some yesterday at the dollar store! If you don’t want to run all over town looking, you can get them on Amazon here. (affiliate) I put my grate in a bag, and poured about 1/4 cup of ammonia in the bag. (I used more than suggested because it also came from the dollar store, and I wasn’t sure how potent it was.) Then I sealed up the bag and left the grate on the counter.
You can leave the bag in a dish in case of leakage, but I’ve never had any major problems. I left it out all night, and the next morning I went to work. I tried wiping it down with the scrubby side of my sponge, but that wasn’t quite enough, so I switched to a stainless steel scrubby. That did the trick. You still have to do some scrubbing to get all the gunk off, but nothing like the elbow grease that is normally required for this chore! It definitely is easier than the soak and scrub method. I have done this many times now and it works so well, I’ll never try to clean them another way!
I know it’s not perfectly shiny, but my old stove grates just don’t have it in them anymore. The marks that are still showing are actually where the finish has been scratched completely off over the years. I’m pretty sure the stove is original to the 1987 house! But, you can clearly see how all the nasty cooking gunk is gone. Be sure to pin this awesome tip for later!
Hi, I'm Nicole!I love chocolate chip cookies, good grammar, and trying new things. Pinterest is my happy place. Come follow me down the rabbit hole!
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Glendora Galde says
can you use ammonia in bags for cast iron skillet
Nicole Burkholder says
No! Please don’t use a cleaner of any kind on cast iron. It gets absorbed into the skillet. You clean with water only, and sometimes a salt scrub. Here’s a good link for how to clean one: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-clean-a-cast-iron-skillet-cleaning-lessons-from-the-kitchn-107747
Nancy says
I spray easy off on the grates and stove top before going to bed and in the morning just rinse/wipe. I’ve never had to scrub since I staring doing this.
Suzie says
Perfect! I am going to try that at my mom’s. I have been soaking them in Cascade Platinum, and it helps, but it’s not great. Your idea makes perfect sense. I don’t like to use harsh chemicals to clean, but this is an exception to that rule! Thanks for the suggestion!
Nicole Burkholder says
It’s truly life-changing. I cannot believe how easily the grime wipes off after sitting in the bags overnight. It’s crazy! You can leave them outside, too, if you’re concerned about chemicals in the house. I don’t really notice a smell once the bags are sealed up, though. Good luck!
Pat Thompson says
I put my stove grates in the kitchen sink, cover with hot water and then pour in powdered dish washer soap (maybe 1/4 cup). I let it sit for a few hours while I do other stuff. Scrubbing is minimal.
Nicole Burkholder says
I’ve never tried dish washer soap. I’ll do anything that eliminates scrubbing! 😀
Shirley says
You can also use powdered dishwasher soap in the laundry for whiting pillows and such.
Lori says
I use powdered dishwasher det for all my baked on dirty pots & pans. Sprinkle a little in and add hot water. Let sit overnight. Very minimal scrubbing if any. I add my stove grates to crusted on roasting pans after a big meal.
Dishwasher det works great on soap scum & tile in the tub/shower too.
Lori says
Remember, it has ammonia so DON’T combine dishwasher det or liquid dish det (such as Dawn) with bleach or products containing bleach
DJ Roberts says
I just was mine with the dishes in the dishwasher. Done regularly they don’t get very dirty and it’s so simple.
Nicole Burkholder says
That is a very smart idea! If I remember to do it regularly enough. 🙂 I’ll have to try that on mine. I doubt it will get the cooked on food and spills off, but maybe so!
Rose Antonellis says
Hi,
My grates are the full length of the stove top, the zip bags are too small, can you use the bags you get at the grocery store that your groceries are packed in?
Nicole Burkholder says
The efficacy is from the fumes being trapped in with the grime, so I’m not sure anything else would work. They do, however, sell very large zip lock bags that might work. I had to buy two gallon bags for mine, and I’ve seen 3-5 gallon storage bags as well. You could rinse them out and use them again to keep them cost effective. Here’s my affiliate link for 5 gallon bags on Amazon. Hope that helps! http://amzn.to/2o8U3FI
Bev Frank says
My stove grates are also full length of my stove top. I use large garbage bags with drawstrings I wrap the grates in several layers of newspaper, put into the garbage bag and take out to the patio. I pour about 1/2 cup ammonia into the bag, making sure all the newspaper is saturated. Leave soak overnight. In morning, remove the grates, being careful to no inhale the fumes, then I spray them off with the garden hose. I bring them in and finish cleaning off at the sink. Most everything rinses off easily.
Jen says
You could always buy some of those large Ziploc storage bags in the “storage” section of your local discount store? I hope the idea helps.
Sheila K Naron says
WOuld a 13 gallon trash bag work to put the full ones in?
Nicole Burkholder says
You need to be able to seal it up somehow. Perhaps if you could use a rubber band to close it that would work?
Shirley says
I have also used WD-40 with some success but you would need a HAZMAT facemask.
Nancy says
I use a trash can bag, put my grates and oven racks in it in the laundry tub. I pour ammonia in the bag and tie it closed. In the morning all,you need is water and a rag to finish the job. This works for grill grates as well. Been doing it for years.
June says
I use a garbage bag that way I can put all the racks in one garbage bag at one time (oven racks, grates and rings) put the ammonia in and tie it off with a wire tie (bread, fruit vegetable bags or rubber-band) leave standing upright so no leakage but fumes will attack all contents ( if rings are not nested). Leave over night, rinse off. If really bad might take slight scrubbing. Fast easy done
Nicole Burkholder says
That’s a smart tip for getting them all down at once!
Mary says
Are your grates cast iron?
Nicole Burkholder says
You know, I honestly don’t know what they are made of. They are heavy. But if they are cast iron there’s a finish over that. I’ve used this cleaning method on a few different stoves and it’s worked on all of them. I’m not sure if that makes any kind of difference.
Arden says
Thank you so very much for this solution!! My grates look so much better! I think my husband bought generic ammonia also.. so at first it really didn’t work well.. so I did it again (good thing the cheap kind gives you more to use!). I poured more in and soaked it outside for 2 days and then I rinsed and soaked again for a few hours in the vinegar/blue dawn/hot water mix and just finished scrubbing with a Brillo pad and voilà! They are shinny smooth and beautiful black not gunky brown! Thanks a bunch and I will be sharing this with as many as I can
Nicole Burkholder says
You’re so welcome. It’s like a happy miracle isn’t it? 🙂 I use it every time I clean my grates unless I’m out of the big plastic bags. It certainly beats scrubbing until your fingers are raw!
Amy says
So I’ve done this before and yes, it works! but I’ve yet to find how to clean the top of the stove. I even tried doing ammonia then covering the top with saran wrap. Didn’t work. P-U. Ideas?
Nicole Burkholder says
I’ve always just used Comet and a lot of elbow grease for the stove top. It wipes clean easier than the grates for me. Sorry! Maybe someone else will have an idea?
Megan says
I clean the stove with stove top cleaner but not the milky cream kind I use the spray kind I soak it down let it sit for about 20-30 min and come back and scrub and use a razor blade to scrape excess food or burnt stuff off but scrape on an angle so you don’t scratch.
Shirley says
Nicole, Me too! A friend who does housecleaning uses liquid comet on just about everything.And her elbows are never greasy.
Mrlissa says
Try putting the scrubby in the micro for 30 sec
gabriel says
spray easy off blue and let it overnight,then use stainless steel curl pad and that will be all.
Gary says
Baking soda works well – mix it with some water to make a paste. Let it sit and ‘soak’ for awhile on the really bad areas… then scrub a bit. Usually doesn’t take much scrubbing.
Sandy says
Rubbing alcohol works wonders on my white stove top. I pour a bit on the cold stove top and let sit about 5 minutes and wipe with a paper towel.
Nicole Burkholder says
I use rubbing alcohol on my bathroom counters because it cuts right through the hair spray “gunk” that gets left on the surface. I’ve never tried it in the kitchen. Great idea!
Shirley says
I will try this tomorrow for my ongoing hairspray problem. Great idea.
Sheila K Naron says
I have used regular kitchen cleaner spray and sprayed all over my stove top. I then placed fabric softener sheet over it and in a couple of hours I just wiped it all off. This was done on an incredibly dirty stovetop and it did wonders. I too hate scrubbing anything.
Melanie Koester says
We accidentally discovered an even easier way to clean them- Goo off! I’m sure any citrus based gel cleaner would work as well. Much less smelly than ammonia.
Nicole Burkholder says
That sounds like a great idea! I’ll have to try that, too. The smell isn’t bad with the ammonia because it’s locked up in the baggie, but it does stink going in and pouring out the next day! 🙂
Sylvia says
I put grates and spillpans inside my self cleaning oven when I need to clean the oven or just the grates. I set the dial for self-cleaning and a couple hours later they’re done. I wipe them off with a dish towel because they get an ash residue. Works like magic.
Nicole Burkholder says
That’s a great idea! I won’t be running the clean cycle on my oven any time soon as it’s still WAY too hot, but come winter, I’ll have to try that!
Alice says
haha, i did that and it worked really well but burned the little rubber thingys right off. lol, oh well at least my oven is cleaned more often then not now!!
Nicole Burkholder says
You have rubber on your stove grates?
Stephanie Daigneault says
Great info, thanks for sharing!