How to Clean Gas Stove Burner Heads
Stove burner caps are the worst combination of being fiddly to clean and living in a high traffic, high-mess area.
It’s very easy to ignore the dirt and leave them without a good clean for a while.
Or maybe you’ve moved into a property with a hob that hasn’t seen a squirt of Dawn dish soap in a decade.
Unfortunately, this makes them even harder to clean because the grime is now burnt on.
Luckily, cleaning gas hob caps is messy – but doable.
And it can actually be quite therapeutic seeing all that nasty stuff washing away.
This post will cover how to clean gas hob burner caps with various different methods.
At the bottom of this article, we’ve also recommended some helpful tools and devices that make pesky jobs, like stove cleaning, a breeze.
Safety Tips
- Make sure everything is cold to the touch before attempting to clean the stove
- Turn off the gas and electricity so the stove is completely off
- If the stove is really bad, remove loose food and dirt with a paper towel or dry brush before removing the components. This is to make sure nothing will fall into the burner itself or block any gas pipes.
If this is the first time you’ve cleaned a gas hob, make a note of the order you took the components off so you remember how to put them back on once you’ve finished.
How to Clean Gas Stove Burners With Baking Soda and Vinegar
We always think that if a job can be done just as well with natural homemade cleaning products as it can with commercial cleaning products then we should go for the natural ones.
Using natural products, like baking soda and vinegar, will skip the risk of chemical contamination in our food and also prevent fire hazards on our stoves.
Here are our simple step-by-step instructions for how to clean hob burners with bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar.
- After taking apart all of the stove components, spray each piece with white vinegar. If it’s a particularly dirty stovetop, soak the parts in neat white vinegar overnight.
- Rinse each component with water.
- Make a thick paste of baking soda and water and apply to the metal hob rings and other pieces, then leave for 30 minutes.
- Scrub the pieces with a brush (an old toothbrush or nail brush works well).
- Use a tougher non-metal scourer (like a Scrub Daddy) to get off any tough grime.
- Do a final rinse using dish soap or more vinegar if necessary and put all the pieces back together.
- If this hasn’t worked, it might be time to try a stronger ammonia cleaner or stove cleaner. We recommend the EASY-OFF Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner.
Big fan of cleaning with bicarb? Us too!
Take a look at our similar posts How To Clean A Front Loading Washing Machine With Vinegar And Baking Soda and How To Use Bicarbonate Of Soda For Cleaning.
Or for more help and ideas on how to clean your gas stove with baking soda, take a look at this video.
How to Clean Gas Stove Grates with Washing Up Liquid
Although washing up liquid is a great degreaser, it’s not our favourite choice for stove cleaning if there’s burnt on grime.
If you’re cleaning a stove that’s greasy but not completely caked in dirt, then washing up liquid does work well.
Here’s our step by step for how to clean stove top burners with washing up liquid or dish soap.
- Fill a bowl or sink with hot water and dish soap, and put the stove components in the water to soak for 10 minutes.
- Take each component and a scrubbing brush or a Scrub Daddy and go to town with some hard elbow grease. Apply more dish soap if necessary.
- Rinse each piece thoroughly and make sure it’s completely dry before putting it back together on the hob.
How to Clean Gas Burner Covers with Commercial Cleaning Products
Sometimes when it comes to stovetop or oven cleaning, harsh chemicals are the only thing that seems to budge the dirt.
We prefer to avoid these very harsh chemicals in our homes, but when used on occasion in a safe environment, they do the job extremely well.
How to Clean Stove Burners With Ammonia
Ammonia works by creating fumes when it reacts with whatever it comes into contact with.
These fumes then loosen the grime and dirt on oven racks or burner caps and cause them to dissolve.
Although good for cleaning, these fumes are very harmful for us.
If inhaled, ammonia can cause lung problems or even frostbite if it’s in contact with our skin.
Make sure you take every precaution when using ammonia in household cleaning.
Ammonia can be bought in supermarkets or on Amazon here – Parsons Household Ammonia.
- Using rubber gloves and some thick zip lock bags, pour in a splash of ammonia and add your components making sure they’re coated but not swimming.
- Leave each bag for between 3 and 10 hours depending on how caked on the grime is.
- Rinse each piece immediately in water as you take them out the bags, and then wash with a soapy sponge.
- Rinse away the suds and make sure each piece is completely dry before returning them to the stove.
Ammonia can be disposed of safely by pouring it into the sink with the tap running. Be careful not to breathe in the fumes.
If you have a septic tank it’s not advisable to pour ammonia into the drains. Instead, try some of these other methods from Wikihow.
How to Clean Stove Burner Covers with Commercial Oven Cleaner
Although oven cleaners aren’t technically designed for burner caps, they are meant for cleaning grease and burnt on dirt.
If they work well on ovens there’s no reason why they can’t do just as good of a job on our hob caps.
We recommend the Carbona 2in1 Oven Rack and Grill Cleaner or the The Pink Stuff – The Miracle Cleaning Paste and Multi-Purpose Spray 2-pack Bundle.
Here are our simple instructions for cleaning stove caps with an oven cleaner.
- Spray each component with oven cleaner and leave them to soak for about 20 or 30 minutes.
- Wipe away or scrub the components with a brush or sponge.
- Rinse and thoroughly dry each part before returning them to the stove.
Helpful Tools for Stove Cleaning
Sonic Scrubber
If you’re a fan of Mrs Hinch, you’ll know she cleans almost everything with her handy Sonic Scrubber.
They take the effort out of elbow grease and do all the hard work for us.
This complete set comes with 4 separate head sizes so its great for all those detailing jobs around the home.
ANERONG Multipurpose Cleaning Brush Set
We love this brush set that puts our old toothbrush tactics to shame.
This set of 4 brushes comes with different sizes and handles to reach tiny crevices and larger areas.
The firm brushes clean grime much quicker than a toothbrush or sponge, without causing any scratches on metal or delicate surfaces.
Reusable Zip-Lock Bags or Plastic Tubs for Soaking Components
6 x Plastic Storage Bin with Durable Lid
Plastic bags or tubs are great for having on standby for cleaning jobs. If your stove caps can fit in old takeaway boxes (with lids on) then these can work quite well for soaking things in.
How to Clean Gas Hob Burner Caps – Final Thoughts
We hope this post explaining how to clean gas hob burner tops has been helpful.
Considering a range of different methods and cleaning products should help you find one that works for you and your household.
At Clean and Tidy Living we like to use natural products wherever possible, but with ovens and stoves, mild cleaning agents might not cut through the burnt-on grease.
As long as ammonia or oven cleaners are used safely and following manufacturer instructions, they can be a fantastic addition to a regular cleaning routine.
Maintaining a clean stove can help your hob work at its best and even prevent fires when cooking.
If you’ve enjoyed this post and are looking for some more cleaning advice, tips and how-to’s check out some of our other posts on the Clean and Tidy Living website.
Related Deep-Cleaning and Kitchen Cleaning Articles:
- What Is The Best Oven Cleaner UK
- How To Clean Stainless Steel Appliances With Baking Soda
- How To Clean A Self Cleaning Oven Without Using The Self Cleaning Feature
- How To Use Bicarbonate Of Soda For Cleaning
- Best Eco Friendly Cleaning Products In The UK
- How To Descale A Kettle With Coke
