Monday, January 23, 2012

Cleaning A Glass Stove Top

Remember how I used to complain about my oven beeping all the time whenever I turned it on?

I used to want to punch it.

It once took me 2 1/2 hours to cook five pork chops, and then they ended up almost getting burned because the temperature shot up from 350 to 425 without anyone touching it.

We had to stop using it several months ago when it started heating up all on its own. The burners worked fine, but we used the toaster oven, microwave, and crock pot for everything else.

So, all that to say, we recently got a new oven. And I love it. I'm not one to get attached to appliances, but I'll admit.. I've hugged this one a few times.

I've long wanted one with a glass stove top. Ian always said no, not as long as we had small children because he was afraid one of them would touch it and burn their little hands. I always said that children could be taught not to touch.

But I got one :-)

Have I mentioned I love it? I did? Oh, well I'm probably going to be saying it again at some point in this post. Be prepared.

But as much as I love it, it makes me so nervous. I'm afraid of the stove top getting scratched or cracked. I won't let anyone else clean it but me. I'm kind of a beast when it comes to it. My mother-in-law gave me some tips on how to clean it and gave me some Vim and scrub brushes to use. While it does most of the trick, there is still some residual stuff left behind at times.

Yesterday I made spaghetti for dinner and had a boil over. Normally I lay a wooden spoon over the top of the pot to prevent this from happening, but Jordan had taken it from the drawer and I couldn't find it.

So, even after cleaning my stove top with Vim, the scrub brush and a whole lot of elbow grease, this is what I was left with.


I was getting stressed out and started to get really nervous. Why wasn't it coming off? Was it going to look like this forever?

Then I remembered back to when my sweet friend Jen sent me over to my beloved Pinterest to check out a this link she'd found that explained how to clean your stove top.

I figured that today was a great day to give it a go. I took pictures so you can feel like you were right there with me.

:-)

First I liberally sprinkled baking soda all over the top of my stove.


Then I soaked two dish towels in a bowl full of hot, soapy water. I squeezed out the excess water and placed the towels over the top of the stove. Apparently this was only to take fifteen minutes, so I set my timer and went to do something else.


When the timer went off I practically ran to rip off the towels and rejoice in my brand new looking stove top.

It didn't work.

Not ready to give up just yet, I repeated all the steps again.

When the timer went off again, I returned to the stove and gently moved the towel around, using the baking soda as a scrub. When I peeled off the towels, it looked better but not perfect.

Out came the Vim and scrub brush again. I was expecting to have to use a lot more elbow grease, but the rest of it came up pretty quickly. A quick wipe with a clean, dry cloth and this is what I was left with.


Doesn't it look great?! I love it!!

I have walked by and admired it about a dozen times now. It looks like new.

Ian googled ways to clean a glass stove top and one suggestion said to wait until the "hot surface" light goes off, then wipe up any spills with a damp cloth before they have a chance to set. I think I'll be trying that next time to avoid this stress! A couple of people suggested a product called Bar Keepers Friend but I'm not sure we'll sell it here in Canada. Worth a try to look!

Do you have any special tips or tricks you use?

Photobucket

2 comments:

  1. This reminds me, I need to clean my stove top. :( Guess I should probably do that during lunch...hmm. Glad you got it clean, it took magnificent. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:21 p.m.

    Oven Cleaner works great for me.

    ReplyDelete