How to Clean a Stovetop: Gas Grates, Glass Tops and Coils

To clean a stovetop, start with everything off and cool, then work by type. Gas grates and burner caps come off to soak in hot, soapy water while you wipe the surface underneath. A glass or ceramic top gets a cooktop scraper held at a low angle, a ceramic cooktop cleaner and a dry polish. Electric coils are never put in water: you lift them out and clean the drip bowls instead. The details below cover each type, plus the mistakes that scratch glass, chip grates or leave a burner that won’t light.

Before you start

Turn every burner off and let the cooktop cool completely. If your range has a cooktop lock, turn it on so a knob bumped mid-clean doesn’t heat a surface under your hand. Then take a minute with the owner’s manual (most are online if you search the model number). Manufacturers disagree on details like dishwasher-safe grates, and the manual settles it for your stove.

What you’ll need:

• Dish soap, a sink or tub of hot water, and a few microfiber cloths
• A non-scratch scrub pad and a soft nylon brush
• Baking soda
• For glass tops: a scraper made for ceramic glass cooktops and a ceramic cooktop cleaner
• For gas burners: a straight pin, needle or thin wire

Use one cleaner at a time and rinse between products. Never mix cleaners, and never combine bleach with ammonia or an acid such as vinegar.

How to clean gas stove grates and burner caps

1. Lift off the grates and caps. Set them in a sink or tub lined with a towel. Don’t knock them against each other or against cast iron pans; Whirlpool notes that striking grates and caps on hard surfaces can chip the finish.
2. Soak. Cover them with hot water and a good squeeze of dish soap and leave them for at least 20 minutes. Whirlpool’s guidance is to soak only coated or seasoned cast iron grates; if yours are bare, uncoated cast iron, follow the manual instead.
3. Treat heavy buildup with baking soda paste. Mix about three parts baking soda to one part water, coat the crusted areas and let it sit 20 minutes, then scrub with a nylon brush or non-scratch pad.
4. Rinse and dry completely. Rinse off all paste and soap and dry with a soft cloth. Caps need to be fully dry before they go back on.

Can grates go in the dishwasher? Some can. Whirlpool says certain grates may be washed on the most aggressive cycle after soaking off burned-on food, but burner caps are not dishwasher safe. Check your manual before you load them.

While the grates are soaking, clean the cooktop surface underneath. Wipe away loose crumbs, then wash with a cloth wrung out in warm, soapy water and dry it. Spray any cleaner onto the cloth rather than onto the stove, so liquid doesn’t run into burner openings and around the igniters. Skip oven cleaner, bleach and rust remover on the burners; Whirlpool lists all three as products to avoid.

Clearing clogged burner ports

If a burner lights unevenly or has gaps in the flame ring, some of the small ports are probably blocked. With the cap off, run a straight pin, needle or thin wire gently through each clogged port. Don’t use a wooden toothpick: it can break off inside and block gas flow. Don’t widen or bend the openings either, since that changes how the flame burns.

When you put the burner back together, match each cap to its base and line up the alignment pins. A seated cap sits flat with almost no side-to-side movement.

If a burner keeps clicking or won’t light after cleaning, the two usual causes are leftover moisture and a cap that’s slightly off center. Take the cap off and let the burner air-dry (a fan pointed at it speeds this up), then reseat the cap squarely and try again. If you smell gas at any point, turn the burner off, open windows, and call your gas utility or a qualified appliance technician instead of troubleshooting further.

How to clean a glass or ceramic cooktop

Smooth electric and induction cooktops are both ceramic glass, and they’re cleaned the same way. The goal is to lift residue without scratching.

1. Scrape off cooked-on spots. Use a single-edge scraper made for glass cooktops, held at about a 45-degree angle, with steady pressure. A dull or nicked blade can scratch, so replace it when the edge is worn.
2. Apply a ceramic cooktop cleaner. Put a few small drops on the stained areas and work them in with a non-scratch cooktop pad, pressing firmly on stubborn rings.
3. Let it haze, then polish. Let the cleaner dry to a light white haze and buff it off with a clean, dry cloth or paper towel. Repeat on burned-on stains that didn’t come up the first time.

Whirlpool’s care instructions say not to use steel wool, abrasive powder cleansers, chlorine bleach, rust remover or ammonia on ceramic glass. The everyday habits matter as much: lift pans rather than sliding them, and check pan bottoms for rough spots that can scratch the surface.

Sugary spills are the exception to “wait until it cools.” GE’s manuals warn that boil-overs from high-sugar foods like jam or candy can permanently pit the glass if left to cool on it. Turn the burner off, put on an oven mitt, move the pan away, and use the scraper to push the spill onto a cool part of the cooktop, then blot it up with paper towels. Leave whatever remains until the surface is cool, and don’t use that burner again until the residue is gone.

How to clean an electric coil stovetop

Whirlpool describes coil elements as self-cleaning: food on them burns off as they heat. Whirlpool and GE both say never to submerge them in water, and GE adds that they don’t go in the dishwasher. Wipe any crusted spot on a cool coil with a barely damp cloth and let it dry, or let the residue burn off the next time you cook.

Most of the cleaning on a coil stove happens in the drip bowls under the elements:

1. Remove the coil. On most plug-in models, lift the coil slightly and pull it straight out of its receptacle. On models with lift-up elements, GE cautions against raising the element more than about an inch, because repeated over-lifting can damage the receptacle.
2. Wash the drip bowls. Soak them in hot, soapy water, then scrub with a non-scratch pad. Whirlpool lists porcelain drip bowls as dishwasher safe, but check your manual for chrome bowls.
3. Clean the surface underneath. With the bowls out, wipe the cooktop and the area beneath the elements. Some coil ranges have a top that lifts for this; your manual will say.
4. Dry and reinstall. Set each bowl back with its opening lined up to the receptacle, then push the coil’s terminal in level until it seats.

Skip the aluminum foil liners. GE’s manual says not to cover drip bowls with foil because foil that close to the receptacle can cause a shock, fire or damage to the stove. If you want liners, use pre-formed inserts made for your bowls. Drip bowls are also replaceable parts if yours are past saving.

Don’t forget the knobs

Knobs collect grease from hands. Some pull straight off for washing in warm, soapy water; others don’t, and the manual will say which. If yours stay on, wipe them with a damp, soapy cloth, never a dripping one, and dry them. On stainless steel, wipe in the direction of the grain and dry it to avoid streaks.

Keep it from building up again

Most stovetop scrubbing comes from spills that were cooked on a second and third time. A short routine prevents it:

• After cooking, once the surface is cool, wipe it with a damp, soapy cloth and dry it.
• Wipe up acidic spills like tomato sauce or vinegar as soon as the stove is cool, since Whirlpool notes they can affect the finish.
• On a glass top, deal with sugary boil-overs right away using the method above.
• As a rule of thumb, give gas grates and caps a full soak every week or two if you cook most days, and clear burner ports whenever a flame looks uneven.

Getting the kitchen ready for holiday cooking

If you’re hosting this season, the stovetop is one of a few kitchen jobs worth doing a week or so before the big cooking days. Our guides cover the others: cleaning the oven and racks, degreasing the range hood filter, getting grease off the cabinets beside the stove, and making room in a clean fridge.

If you’d rather hand the kitchen off, our Deep Cleaning covers the stovetop and the outside of the range hood along with the rest of the house, and recurring visits keep appliance exteriors wiped down between deep cleans. You can see your exact price and book on our booking page.