Cleaning your appliances is probably the last thing on your mind at any given moment. But your kitchen will look and function better with well-maintained machines. In our past blog posts, we dived into how to thoroughly and naturally clean your refrigerator, freezer, and oven. In this post, we continue the series with your stove – whether it’s a gas or glass stovetop.

Why is this appliance so important to keep clean? Crusted and burnt food can affect your cooking and the distribution of heat, harden onto and scratch a glass cooktop, and may even be a fire hazard. There’s also the psychological reasoning that a clean home is a happy home.

While you should spot clean after every use, it’s also a great idea to give the surface a deeper clean every month or so. For this cleaning project, you’ll need the same essential ingredients we talked about in the oven post: vinegar and baking soda. You’ll also need dish detergent, a scrub brush, a cloth, and a scraper. Before you dive into your first cleaning session, it’s always a good idea to consult your manufacturer’s instructions – just in case.

Being just one smooth surface, the glass stovetop may be the easiest to keep clean. Merry Maids has a great method for cleaning a dirty surface. On a cool stovetop, spray a vinegar and water solution, followed by a sprinkling of baking soda over the liquid. Saturate a cloth in hot water and lay this on top of the vinegar and baking soda concoction. Once 10 to 15 minutes have passed, wipe away the baking soda and vinegar with the cloth, and follow up with a spritz and wipe of the vinegar solution. If there are more stubborn areas with caked-on food, you may need to use a scraper or a razor blade to very carefully lift the food away. Read Merry Maids’ blog for further instructions on this delicate procedure. Whatever you do, do not use steel wool, a scrub sponge, heavy pressure, or a glass cleaner on a glass stovetop.

Cleaning a gas stovetop is a little more demanding, but still easy to do. And worth the effort, given how well they cook food. Soak the grates in hot soapy water while you tackle the burners, then scrub them with a brush. Head over to The Spruce for detailed steps on how to clean the burner heads and caps to keep them free from food and emitting a consistent flame.

Happy cooking and cleaning!