I think I’ve tried everything. And most things work okay but it takes a LOT of elbow grease for mediocre results. So much in fact, that I tend to sort of ignore this chore.
I happened on a new idea on the good old internet though and I thought it was worth a shot.
Take your nasty old grate…


Slip it into a gallon size ziploc bag. Be careful not to put any holes in the bag.

Pour 2 or 3 Tablespoons ammonia into the bag.

Seal the bag. And let it sit for 12 hours.

I put mine in a glass baking dish, just in case there were any leaks.

I only let mine sit for about 5 hours because I needed the stove to cook dinner. It’s probably best to plan to do this overnight.
Take the grate out of the ziploc bag. I did this in the kitchen sink.
Look at the yucky ammonia left in the bag…

Rinse the grate thoroughly.
At this point I used a green scrubby (technical term, you know what I mean?) and just very lightly wiped all the surfaces off. No actual scrubbing at all really.
And TA-DA!!


IT WORKED!!!
There are still a couple of tiny smudgy spots that probably would have been completely gone if I had let them soak for the full 12 hours.
This is definitely how I will clean them from now on. It was about $1.25 for a half gallon of ammonia. That’s a cheap and EASY clean if you ask me!
Side by side with one of the uncleaned grates.

Now I’m off to put the other 3 grates into soak overnight.
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