If Sisyphus existed in modern times, his eternal punishment would be achieving a clean stovetop. Because it’s almost impossible.
If your stove top is white, you can never quite remove every last discoloration. If you’re cleaning a glass top stove, you’ll rue the day you ever overboiled a pot or cooked atop existing food residue. Black glass top ranges seem to attract dust every night.
Miracle in a sponge.
I’ve blogged previously about how to a clean stove top using Barkeepers Friend and a razor blade, but if you could only buy one tool, make it the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser or (if you’re cheap like me) its generic copycats.
Made of melamine foam, whose tiny particles act like extra-fine sandpaper when moistened, magic erasers do as named and erase otherwise persistent stains from hard surfaces. You might want to test a small area if you’re nervous about scratches, but I’ve never run into any problems.
I use mine to remove hardened food the discoloration around the burners on my white gas range, but it multitasks in my porcelain sink and especially on shower tile soap scum and grout mildew.
Am I missing anything? I bet there are tons of creative uses for these.
Gloria Steinem said that the truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.
Well, here’s some truth if you find your dishwasher is not cleaning the dishes properly. A lot of your problems don’t have anything to do with your appliance – they have to do with you.
No other appliance operates with so many variables, many of which you can affect:
the amount of dishes
how dirty they are
the amount of detergent and rinse aid
dish placement
Dishwasher Problem: Water Isn’t Hot Enough
Before you get all huffy because you spent X-hundred amount of dollars on the darn thing, understand that little, tiny changes to the way you do things will improve the cleaning results of your dishwasher immensely.
If you do nothing else differently,try this hack: just before you turn on your dishwasher, run your faucet until the water is steaming hot.
Otherwise, the water pumped into your dishwasher will be cold from sitting in your copper pipes. This way, you start with steamy water that has the best chance of reaching the high temperatures necessary for cleaning and drying completely. Water needs to be heated to 140-degrees Fahrenheit to dissolve food messes and disinfect dishes.
Dishwasher Problem: Too Much Soap
Despite what you might think, too much soap can actually prevent your dishes from getting clean — especially on the top rack.
Use only half the amount of detergent recommended on the package. And if you have a water softener, you need only 1-2 teaspoons of powder — even less if you use liquid.
I think these people may have used too much detergent.
Too much soap causes over-sudsing. The dishwasher tries to drain as much of the soap suds and food residue as it can, but is unable to drain it all in the time allowed.
Then the soap bubbles pop inside, redepositing tiny food particles back onto the dishes, which show up most on glassware and silverware.
How do you know if you’re over-sudsing? Run a cycle without any soap. If suds are left at the bottom of the tub, you’re over-sudsing.
To remedy, we suggest a vinegar cycle:
First, empty any dishes and shut soap door, without adding any detergent
Run dishwasher until it gets to the wash cycle
Then, open the door and check if the dispenser flap has opened
If it hasn’t, run for another minute or so until the flap opens
If the flap has opened, add 1 cup vinegar and run through the full cycle
You might have to repeat the process two or three times to ensure you’ve eliminated the buildup of soap.
If you’re suffering from clothes washer odor, the solution could be as simple as leaving the front door open.
Front load washers clean better, use less water and energy and treat clothes more gently, but they’ve earned a smelly reputation. A frontload washer necessitates an airtight seal on the washer door to prevent water from leaking all over your floor. But the lack of airflow breeds that mildew-y odor in a washing machine.
Simple solution? Leave the door open after wash cycles, and teach your family to do the same. Then, water remaining in a front loading washer following a cycle can dry out and you’ll go back to having the best washer ever.
To eliminate existing washing machine smells, try cleaning the washing machine with Affresh or run a vinegar cycle on the hottest setting.
Vinegar is quite the cheap, green cleaning wunderkind. Ditch the store-bought cleaning products laden with chemicals, and try using vinegar for the following.
1. Vinegar as Rinse Aid
We have recently blogged about the benefits of a regular vinegar cycle in your dishwasher, but we’ve also heard of using vinegar as a dishwasher rinse aid substitute.
There’s really no harm in using vinegar in your dishwasher, but we suggest only using it in lieu of rinse aid between trips to the store. Rinse aid should be called drying aid, and modern dishwashers need it to properly dry dishes.
2. Clean Microwave with Vinegar
Heat a microwave-safe cup of vinegar in your microwave and let it boil, so the steam can loosen up all the stuck-on splatters for a minute or so. Wipe down the interior immediately, while it’s still moist inside – no scrubbing necessary!
3. Clean Washer with Vinegar
Just like your dishwasher, your washing machine benefits from a regular vinegar cleaning. Run a cup through an empty cycle using the hottest setting.
4. Vinegar as All-purpose Cleaner
Equal parts vinegar and water work well for cleaning windows or glass. Also try the solution for an all-natural way to clean the inside of a refrigerator.
5. Clean Coffee Maker with Vinegar
Run a full coffee pot of vinegar through your coffee maker every few months. It’s satisfying to watch all the grime flake off into the pot, and you’ll be amazed how much faster your coffee brews without all the sediment slowing it down!
6. Vinegar as Stovetop and Oven Cleaner
Apply a paste of vinegar and baking soda to your stovetop to scrub out those stubborn brownish discolorations and food splatters.
Do you have any other creative white vinegar use ideas? Let us know in the comments!
We read each and every Customer Satisfaction Survey returned to us by our customers. One customer’s cleaning inquiry struck me.
She couldn’t find any information on how to clean cast iron – the “rough” iron grates and burner caps on her new range. The manual only referenced porcelain-coated grates, not cast iron grates.
“I’m sure I’m not the only person who is wondering,” she wrote – and I agree with her. Plus, I love a good challenge.
So I e-mailed the smart folks at Wolf appliances for help on cleaning cast iron grates. They sent me a knock-down, drag out PDF containing their best cleaning tips, including recommendations for products they’ve tested!
From the guide:
Burner Grates
Recommended products
Mild detergent
Paste of baking soda & water (NOTE: the customer previously tried this unsuccessfully)
Mild abrasive cleaners
Soft Scrub Orange
Bon-Ami
Barkeeper’s Friend
Fume Free Easy-Off (spot cleaning)
Carbona 2-in-1 Oven Cleaner (cleaning solution can be reused once)
SOS pads
Dawn Power Dissolver
Krud Kutter
Recommended method
Remove grates from unit and place on a flat surface near the sink to clean. DO NOT immerse in water. Towel dry.
Use a no-scratch cleaning pad to scrub with hot water and mild detergent or a paste made of baking soda and water.
Use a degreaser, such as Formula 409, if needed. Then, rinse and towel dry.
In a worst case scenarios, spot clean with Fume-free Easy Off or use Carbona Oven Rack Cleaner.
Do you have any tips for cleaning cast iron stove grates? Share them in the comments.
