How to clean a glass-ceramic stove

If you have ever had to remove “age-old deposits” of burnt fat from the surface of the hob at least once in your life, you are well aware of how hard and unpleasant work it is. Moreover, if you can not stand on ceremony with cast iron, then more “delicate” materials need special compositions for cleaning.

It is advisable to find out when buying equipment, what is the best way to clean the hob, microwave oven or refrigerator. A competent consultant can help you here – but if you can still get a qualified answer in large household appliances stores, you are unlikely to receive complete information when buying a product on the market.

Some companies such as Electrolux (Sweden), Miele (Germany) or Whirlpool (USA) make their own cleaning products and accessories. Among the manufacturers of household chemicals, the corresponding compositions for the treatment of kitchen surfaces and equipment are offered by the companies Domal, Dr. Beckmann, Oricont, Top House, Werner & Mertz (Germany), Astonish (UK) and others.

• Photo Shoot: Glass ceramic scraper from Electrolux (1), 170 rubles. and a set of blades for it (2), 170 rubles. Purifier Top House (3), bottle of 500 ml, 145 rubles. Purifier top-rens (4) from Electrolux, bottle 250 ml, 180 rubles.

Glass ceramics. Glass-ceramic hobs can only be cleaned with special products. They can be creamy or liquid, but must necessarily contain a protective agent to facilitate subsequent surface care. Cleaning agents for glass ceramics (for example, mineral cleaning milk Frosch from Werner & Mertz, formulation from Miele, Toprens from Electrolux, Domal Glaskeramikreiniger from Domal, Ceranreiniger from Oricont) contain special silicone oils that, when applied to ceramics, form an invisible silicone film. This film greatly facilitates the daily maintenance of the hob: it does not allow food to stick to the surface, and prevents the formation of stains. Cooktops treated with a product containing silicone oils become more resistant to the main enemy of glass ceramics – sugar.

• Photo 1, 2. Cleaners for glass ceramics from Wpro.
• Photo 3. Mineral Cleansing Milk frog, 250 ml, 66 rubles.
• Photo 4. Means Honey for cleaning glass ceramics and stainless steel.

Problem Jam has spilled onto the glass ceramic surface. What is the correct way to act in this case?

The solution Cooking jam on a glass ceramic hob is like walking on a razor blade. Spilled sugar syrup, jam or other sugar-containing liquid must be removed from the glass-ceramic surface immediately! When doing this, be careful not to wait for the panel to cool down. Clean it immediately with a special scraper. When you try to scrape off the cooled sugar, the surface of the panel will begin to crumble, after which it will only have to be replaced.

Fridge. Many people mistakenly believe that by purchasing a refrigerator with an automatic defrosting system (the so-called No Frost), they save themselves the need to regularly clean the refrigerator and freezer. This is wrong. The working chambers of refrigerators should be washed at least two to three times a year. For refrigerators, aerosol cleaners are available (eg Frigorens from Electrolux, refrigerator cleaner from Top House). They are applied to a contaminated surface, which is then wiped with a soft cloth or paper towel. Odor absorbers specially designed for installation inside refrigerators can be used to prevent the spread of all kinds of “odors”.

Stainless steel. Stainless steel is a durable material that is resistant to wear and tear and aggressive environments. It is no coincidence that it is so widely used in professional kitchens. However, polished steel surfaces have an unpleasant feature: they are very visible fingerprints and other dirt. Therefore, the main task of cleaning products for stainless steel panels is to protect against the appearance of such unwanted marks. As with glass ceramic cleaners, stainless steel cleaners contain additives that give the surface a shine. After processing, no fingerprints remain on the steel. To remove dirt, you can also use special stainless steel care napkins. These are available, for example, in the assortment of Miele, Dr. Beckmann.

• Photo 1-4. Compositions for the care of stainless steel.

Ovens. For working chambers of ovens and microwave ovens, there are also special cleaning compounds. Their peculiarity is that after some time after use, they decompose into substances harmless to humans. It is convenient and safe. After all, even if a certain amount of the product remains on the walls of the working chamber through an oversight, it will not spoil the prepared dish in the future, and even more so it will not cause food poisoning. However, such cleaning agents must not be used in pyrolytic and catalytic ovens.

Dishwashers After a short period of use, the washing chamber of the machine starts to smell unpleasant, especially if you use it in the “depository” mode, accumulating dirty dishes for several days. The reason is fat deposits on the inner surfaces of the chamber, pumps and tubes. The only sure way to get rid of the smell is to idle the car with a grease remover. This will not only return it to its original purity, but also increase the pump life, reducing the resistance to water movement.

Brass, bronze, silver, chrome. Many non-ferrous metals require careful handling. For most of them, appropriate cleaning agents are available. In the kitchen, brass and bronze are most commonly found in washbasin mixer bodies, but are sometimes also used in retro-style knobs and switches for kitchen appliances. Mixer manufacturers such as Grohe or Hansgrohe (Germany) produce good care products for chrome parts.

To get dirty less

When choosing a new kitchen appliance, remember – you have to wash it. There are many technical innovations and design solutions that make this hard work easier. Namely:

Minimum protruding parts! The simple shapes of modern stoves may not look as sophisticated as a Victorian cast iron mantel, but a flat spot is much easier to keep clean. Modern hobs may not have any protruding parts at all. For example, traditional rotary switches for heating power are sometimes replaced by touch buttons, which form a single whole with the hob surface. Likewise, the interior of the doors in some ovens is a monolithic surface without the slightest protrusions and depressions. No “textured roughness”!

Constructive minimalism. Enjoy the convenience of the design of the working chamber of an oven or microwave oven. Check for any nooks and crannies where dirt will accumulate. It is good if before cleaning you can remove all the “unnecessary parts”, for example, telescopic guides for trays. It is also advisable that all removable parts are dishwasher safe. This is especially true for bulky cast iron grates, which are equipped with gas hobs.

• Photo 1. To protect the working chamber of microwave ovens from splashes, the company Electrolux suggests using such plastic lids, 150 rubles.
• Photo 2. Means Honey for cleaning ovens, 500 ml.
• Photo 3. Cleaner for stoves, ovens, microwave ovens Top House , 500 ml, 112 rubles.
• Photo 4. Microwave oven cleaner Electrolux , 300 ml, 199 rubles.

Cleaning technologies. If you plan to use the oven frequently, be sure to choose a model with a pyrolytic cleaning system. Such a system provides intensive (up to 500 ° C) heating of the working chamber for about an hour. After that, all organic pollution turns into ash. It is only necessary to remove the dishes and other items from the oven if they are not designed for such heating (some ovens are equipped with baking sheets and grates that have the necessary heat resistance). Another cleaning method is catalytic. In this case, the oven is equipped with a panel covered with special enamel capable of releasing oxygen when heated. Ovens with catalytic enamel do not offer a “radical solution to the problem with dirt”, as ovens with pyrolysis, but still the process of pollution of the chambers is greatly slowed down.

Camouflage forever! Very often, not even the dirt itself becomes a problem, but marks (for example, from the touch of fingers) on the polishing. Even a small imprint is noticeable on a perfectly smooth plain surface. To reduce this visibility, manufacturers of household appliances offer paint options with a “pockmarked” surface. This, for example, a glass-ceramic hob with a patterned pattern, a cooker hood made of “semi-polished” aluminum, a refrigerator with a tuned door. This technique not only looks unusual and attractive, but also allows you to hide traces of minor dirt.

Problem What to do in cases when it is necessary to wash the stove, but, as luck would have it, there is not a single specialized product at hand?

The solution When dealing with “delicate” glass ceramics or a panel covered with catalytic enamel, it is better to be like a doctor who acts on the principle of “do no harm”. Do not use detergents that are not recommended for each specific case. Plain water and a soft microfiber cloth can become a universal “medicine”. The washed surface should be carefully wiped with a napkin. Many manufacturers also recommend wiping down dashboards and wood surfaces with ordinary wet wipes. Never use abrasive, multi-purpose compounds and glass cleaners (for cleaning control panels).

• Photo Shoot: Fridge odor absorber Fresh from Electrolux (1), 160 rubles. Refrigerator cleaner from Electrolux (2), 500 ml, 230 rubles. Dishwasher fragrance from Electrolux (3), 120 rubles. Dishwasher cleaner from Wpro (4), 110 rubles. Odor absorber Wpro (5), 144 rubles. Refrigerator and freezer cleaner Top House (6), 500 ml, 125 rubles.

The editors would like to thank Alteros, BSH Household Appliances, TK Clean House, Electrolux, Miele, Whirlpool for their help in preparing the material.

Where to buy cleaning products

Alteros (Top House cleaning products) t .: (495) 755 8862, (495) 967 3425 assortment and prices

“TK Clean House”