Cleaning Stove Burners With Ammonia

Oh y'all...I debated whether or not to do this post because my "before" pics were just so gross, but I decided to show y'all anyway. :) My stove burners had gotten really bad. They're hard to clean and stuff just seemed to stick on them and I couldn't ever get them clean enough. I'd tried everything under the sun and nothing worked. I'd scrub for what seemed like hours with no real results. I even contemplated getting new burners, but the last time I checked, they were around $45 each. I did not want to spend that kind of money.

So, a few weeks ago I was having lunch with a friend and I was complaining about how dirty my burners were. She said very casually "Have you tried the ammonia trick?" I was like "What ammonia trick? There's a trick I don't know about?" She was surprised I hadn't heard about it. 

Basically, you place your burners in a gallon ziplock bag and pour about a 1/4 cup of ammonia in the bag and seal it shut. Then place the bag outside (in case there's a leak) for up to 24 hours. My burners were really bad, so we left them outside for the whole 24 hours. Then you just wipe them clean and the gunk comes right off! Oh, and please remember to NEVER use ammonia around bleach! 

Below is a pic of my burners before we cleaned them. From a distance they don't look too bad, but up close is a different story.

Eewwww! I know! Pretty bad, huh?

Last one, I promise.

So, like I said, we just placed each burner in a gallon ziplock bag and poured a 1/4 cup of ammonia in there and sealed the bag. We put them inside this rubbermaid container in the backyard for 24 hours. 

Don't put in more than a 1/4 cup of ammonia. The goal isn't to submerge them in it. It's actually just the fumes from the ammonia that do the work for you. 

Here are some after pics. After we took them out of the bags, we rinsed them off and most of the gunk just wiped off with our fingers. My hubby did use an SOS pad on one of the burners, but he said he didn't really need to do that and he hardly used any elbow grease at all. Oh, and just so you know, he tried cleaning them with an SOS pad years ago, and it didn't work at all. It's those fumes from the ammonia that work the magic. 

Edited to add: Remember to open the bags while still outside and also do the initial rinse outside. We didn't bring the burners inside until we had rinsed them off outdoors first. The ammonia can have very strong fumes. 

Just look at how much better they are! Almost like brand new!

After we got all the gunk off, we cleaned them with Dawn dish soap, rinsed them, and put them back on the stove after they dried. 

Isn't that amazing??? I can't believe it actually worked! I also can't believe I hadn't heard of this trick before. :) Like I said, I hated to "air my dirty laundry" so to speak, but I just couldn't keep this to myself. Ha!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa

I'm joining these parties: By Stephanie Lynn, Dwellings The Heart of Your Home, Maria Elena's Decor, Savvy Southern Style, We Are That Family, Imparting Grace, I Heart Naptime, A Stroll Thru Life, Common Ground, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, It's Overflowing, Cupcakes and Crinoline