How to clean a gas stove

When cooking, any oven inevitably gets dirty. Gas stoves are more difficult to clean than electric ones, as the task is complicated by burners that need to be disassembled and a grate that gets dirty in any case, regardless of your neatness.

What products can you use to clean a gas stove?

To clean the stove, you can purchase both professional advertised products and prepare folk ones yourself. The former are expensive, but work quickly and not always with the expected effect; the latter will be very cheap and will remove dirt efficiently, but in some cases you will have to wait 8–12 hours. For convenience, many people apply the product at night, and then cleaning the stove costs them pennies and no waiting costs.

Review of folk remedies for cleaning a gas stove

Different cleaning methods and means are used for different elements of the stove, however, in general, we can make a list of particularly popular means that are suitable for use in most cases:

• 1) Soap solution. One of the most popular and cheapest means. Sometimes it is combined with others to get a better result. To prepare it, you need to rub a third or half of a bar of laundry soap, and then dissolve it in 7 liters of hot water. If you remove a little, but proportionally reduce the amount of ingredients.
• 2) Ammonia. The most inexpensive method. A bottle can be purchased at any pharmacy. But when using it, you must wear gloves. Suitable for use on any surface.
• 3) Soda slurry. Mild abrasive. However, it’s rare that a housewife doesn’t have this box in her kitchen. To obtain a paste, you need to mix baking soda and water in equal quantities. For greater efficiency, soda is often mixed not with water, but directly with a soap solution.
• 4) Vinegar and soda. Sometimes they are mixed in advance, but they can also be used separately, mixing directly on the surface to be cleaned. To do this, spray vinegar with a spray bottle and sprinkle soda on top.
• 5) Lemon juice. You can squeeze both juice from fruits and dissolve citric acid. In some cases, it is enough to simply walk a slice of lemon over the contaminated surface.
• 6) Mustard. In rare cases, it is also used to remove fat. You can buy it in the store or make it yourself from mustard powder.

Even though most products do not contain such irritating properties as alcohol or vinegar, it is still advisable to work with gloves.Prolonged skin contact with a cleanser, although gentle, can lead to chemical burns.

Important!

When cleaning the oven, be sure to wear rubber gloves.

How not to clean a gas stove

To avoid scratches on the stove, you must avoid using strong abrasives.

Important!

If the surface of the stove is enameled, then it cannot be cleaned with any powders, even soda, as there is a high probability of micro-scratches.

Metal sponges should not be used either, as they can cause significant damage to the coating.

What kind of cloth to clean the stove with?

An ordinary foam dish sponge is best suited for cleaning the stove.. It absorbs liquid well and does not damage the coating. A soft mesh sponge is also suitable for this application, but it can rarely be found in stores.

Hard-to-reach areas require special tools. So, in such cases, you can use a cut sponge, an old toothbrush, toothpicks or eyelash brushes. The main thing is that the tool used does not damage the coating.

How to clean a gas stove at home: sequence of steps

Tidying up a gas stove is not difficult, but it will require a certain amount of time and effort. In order not to hesitate and simply not waste time in the process, thinking about what to move on to next, you need to follow the algorithm of actions.

Important!

Before any cleaning of the stove, you must disconnect it from the gas to protect yourself from an accident.

How to clean cast iron grates on a gas stove

The grate on the stove gets dirty during any cooking, no matter if something was spilled or not. This is all due to constantly growing carbon deposits.To ensure that the process is not labor-intensive and time-consuming, the grate should be washed daily with dishwashing detergent under hot water. But if you have already accumulated grease and soot, then this method of dealing with dirt will not work.

To make cleaning easier, any grill can be pre-soaked in soapy water for 10 hours. – this will make it much easier to remove dirt, especially if it has already accumulated in large quantities.

Important!

For safety, before starting the procedure, you should remove the grate from the stove.

The choice of cleaning method for the grill depends on the material from which it is made:

• 1) Cast iron. Such a product is best cleaned even from large accumulations of carbon deposits by calcination. You can hold the grate over a fire or burning gas. A soap solution, or more precisely, steam, also works well: to do this, you need to put a baking sheet with a soap solution in the oven, place a wire rack on top, and then turn on the oven at 180 degrees for 20–30 minutes. In some cases, they resort to using a car engine cleaner. It does a good job, but the grate needs to be rinsed under running water for a long time afterwards.

• 2) Stainless steel. This material is not afraid of contact with abrasive substances, so this stainless steel grill can simply be rubbed with sand and a metal sponge. However, this method requires prolonged effort. Mustard is also suitable for use - it must be applied in a thick layer to the grill and left for a couple of hours, then wash off the remaining dirt with water. Vinegar and soda also work well in a similar way.

• 3) Enameled surface requires very careful handling, since even excess force can cause damage to it.It is best to use a melamine sponge for it, however, if this option seems expensive to you, mustard and vinegar with soda will do the job, but you will have to wait several hours for the reaction to pass.

Important!

When they see a large amount of carbon deposits, many housewives intuitively resort to scraping it off with a knife - this is strictly prohibited, since there is a high risk of damaging the grate itself.

After washing, the grate must be thoroughly dried before being placed back on the stove, since a damp surface is the best at attracting new grease and carbon deposits.

How to clean the burners

In most stove models, the burners are collapsible, and they must be removed to rinse more thoroughly. If the design does not require this, then it is necessary to thoroughly clean all difficult places using a toothbrush, toothpicks or an eyelash brush. They will help you penetrate into the narrowest crevices and remove accumulated dirt from there.

The disassembled burners are initially soaked in a soapy solution or one percent vinegar for 20–30 minutes. Afterwards, they are thoroughly washed under warm running water with a sponge or toothbrush (depending on the type of dirt).

How to disassemble burners for cleaning

 The base of the burner is not removed from the stove. The burner is disassembled into its components:

• cover;
• divider

When washing, do not forget to clean the nozzle, through which gas is supplied. When it is clogged, the burner works much worse, so you need to thoroughly clean it with a toothpick.

Important!

Using a needle or other metal tools in this case is strictly prohibited.

How to properly clean the front panel of a gas stove

Cleaning the front panel of the stove is as important as all other elements, but many people, due to laziness, do not pay enough attention to it, in the best case, simply wiping it with a cloth.

The surface of the front panel should also be washed using detergents. The selection approach here is the same as for gratings: it is selected depending on the material. In most cases, we use lemon juice, vinegar with soda, soda with soapy water and mustard. These products cope well with contamination and at the same time do not harm the coating.

How to clean gas stove handles

Handles most often come into contact with dirty hands; dirt constantly accumulates in them, which can prevent them from working properly.

The cleaning principle is identical to the burners. If possible, the handles are removed and soaked in a soap solution or weak vinegar, and then washed under water. If this is not possible, then they are thoroughly cleaned with a toothbrush with soda paste or toothpicks.

How to clean the body of a gas stove

The body of the stove is usually less dirty than the entire stove, but do not forget to wash it. It is necessary to choose a cleaning product taking into account the material from which it is made. You should also approach the oven glass with care: you should not use highly abrasive products on it, as scratches will greatly impair visibility. Universal cleaning agents include baking soda, mustard and soap solution.. They are applied to the surface, left to act for several hours, and then washed off with a sponge and warm water.

Important!

Before washing the body, it is advisable to turn off the power to the stove and turn off the gas.

Some tips on how to keep your gas stove clean for a long time

The simplest advice is to wash off the dirt as soon as it appears.. It is much easier to wipe off milk that has just escaped than after it has already thoroughly adhered to the surface. It will be useful to get into the habit of washing the stove every day with dishwashing detergent - it won’t take much time, but after a week or a month you won’t have to spend several hours cleaning the stove.

To make cleaning the grill easier, you can create a protective film on it in advance.. Prepare in advance a solution of PVA and soda in a ratio of 1:3. After the next wash, apply the resulting solution to the grill and let it dry. Subsequently, contaminants are washed away along with this film quickly and with minimal force.