The most common cooktop or stove material is made of stainless steel. A stainless steel cooktop looks magnificent in the kitchen, especially when they are brand new and immaculately clean. However, the kitchen is the place where dirt, grime, and bacteria accumulate fast. If you do heavy cooking in the kitchen, maintaining your stainless steel cooktop spotlessly clean and sparkling can be a challenging task.
To be able to properly maintain the brand-new look of your stainless steel cooktop, you need to know the basics and the different ways of cleaning it. Cleaning the cooktop is actually very easy, and it is something that you can DIY using cleaning equipment and ingredients that you can find in your home. It might look like a difficult task at first, especially if your cooktop has acquired dirt and scratches over time, but there’s no need to be concerned. Simply follow the steps that we have outlined below, and you’ll surely restore the brand-new look of your cooktop.
Before you begin, make sure you have these items ready:
- Microfiber cloth
- Gloves
- Spray Bottle
- Sponge
- Soap or dishwashing liquid
- Water
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Olive oil
Steps on how to clean a stainless steel cooktop:
Step 1: First, remove the stove grates if your stove is a gas cooker. Set the stove grates aside and allocate a certain time to clean them. Stove grates also accumulate dirt and grime, so make sure you clean them before placing them back on your stove.
Step 2: Select your chosen cleaning mixture and place it in a spray bottle so you can easily spray down your cooktop. Spray over the cooktop’s surface and include the crevices or hard-to-reach areas of the stove.
Step 3: Leave the solution on the cooktop’s surface for about 10 minutes.
Step 4: Get a sponge and gently scrub the cooktop’s surface. Do not use the rough side of the sponge because it might leave unnecessary scratches on the surface. Wipe or scrub gently until the surface, and all of the nooks and crannies of your cooktop are clean.
Step 5: After scrubbing, take a microfiber cloth, dampen it with hot water and gently wipe the surface to get rid of any cleaning residue. Do this until the surface is sparkling clean. To complete the cleaning process, use a dry microfiber cloth and wipe the surface until there is no cleaning residue left and the surface is dry.
5 Ways to clean using different cleaning ingredients
The secret to an effective stainless steel cooktop cleaning technique lies in the cleaning solution mixture. In this section, we will take a look at the three most popular cleaning solutions for stainless steel surfaces.
Clean a Stainless Steel Cooktop with Soap and Water
Perhaps the most straightforward and easiest way to clean a stainless steel cooktop is to use water and soap. The soap can be a detergent or dishwashing soap. You can pour the mixture into a spray bottle and mix it with water, then spray the solution on the surface. This mixture is best used to clean the cooktop regularly.
Clean Stainless Steel Cooktop using baking soda
Check your cupboard for baking soda and use it as a cleaning mixture to get rid of the stubborn stains on your stainless steel cooktop. Mix baking soda and water and stir them together to make a paste-like texture. Next, apply the paste over the stained area of the cooktop. You can also use a brush to softly brush off the stains. Baking soda has great cleaning properties that instantly remove food remains, grime, and other accumulated dirt.
Use vinegar and oil to clean a stainless steel cooktop
Vinegar and olive oil can restore the original shine of your stainless steel cooktop. Vinegar has a restorative element that can not only clean but also make stainless steel surfaces shine. When using vinegar and olive oil, you don’t mix the solutions together. Instead, you apply them one after the other. First, spray a little bit of vinegar on a microfiber cloth and use that cloth to wipe over the cooktop surface. Once done, apply a drop of olive oil to give your cooktop surface that restorative shine.
How to get rid of dents and scratches on a stainless steel cooktop
If your cooktop has visible scratches that you want to get rid of, there are several things you can use. You can use sandpaper to smooth out marks on the surface. You can also apply toothpaste on the scratch marks. Take note that the methods mentioned may work or may not work depending on how severe the scratches and marks are on your stainless steel cooktop surface. If you have really huge scratch marks, you might want to consult a cleaning expert to completely remove them.