How to clean a ceramic cooktop properly

How do you clean a ceramic cooktop properly and how often should you do it? Our guide explains when to do it and how to use home remedies.

Ceramic cooktops (or hobs) should be cleaned as soon as possible after you eat — preferably immediately afterwards. These tips and home remedies make cleaning much easier.

The stove is the focus of every kitchen. Sure, because here delicious dishes are cooked and the most delicious cakes and tarts are prepared. In most households, the hobs are used almost every day. The electric stove with ceramic hob is extremely popular because it does not cook with an open flame and the risk of burns is therefore low. The heat transmitted by infrared radiation ultimately only heats the desired hob.

In addition, glass ceramic appears as a robust and easy-to-clean material. A big plus, because who wants to be in the kitchen and cleaning the stove ? Probably nobody. 

Contamination caused by burnt-on food remains cannot be removed as quickly and often only with difficulty. You should therefore clean the hob after every use if possible to clean a ceramic cooktop properly. We would like to tell you below how ceramic hobs can be cleaned easily and what to do if there are stubborn stains.

Find more great cleaning tips

The best cleaning tips at a glance

◼ Tip 1:
You should remove coarse dirt daily with a damp cloth.

◼ Tip 2:
It is best to always clean the hotplate immediately after preparing the food, because ceramic hobs are easier to clean if they have not cooled down completely.

◼ Tip 3:
The purchase of a ceramic hob scraper protects against incrustations that are difficult to remove later. This means that dirt can be removed quickly and there are no scratches on the hob.

◼ Tip 4:
Cleaning ceramic hobs exclusively with detergent is not a good choice, because over time, limescale will form on the hot plates.

5 Tip 5:
Cleaning the ceramic hob with scouring milk, cleaning sponges made of metal wool, knives or other sharp objects is an absolute no-go.

Use these home remedies to clean a ceramic cooktop properly

For cleaning the ceramic hob, you can use a few tools that can be found in almost every household:

❖ Clean the ceramic hob with baking powder:

Baking soda is often mentioned when it comes to cleanliness in the household. Burnt spots on the hob can be easily removed with the help of baking soda, for example.

1. Mix one or two bags of baking soda with water to create a viscous paste.
2. Now apply the mass to the soiled areas and distribute.
3. Let the cleaning paste work for about two hours.
4. Remove the mass after the exposure time with a cloth.
5. Wipe the ceramic hob damp and then polish dry.

❖ Clean the ceramic hob with lemon juice:

The lemon is also a versatile home remedy. When cleaning the ceramic hob, citric acid can not only work against burnt-on areas, it also helps against lime stains.

1. Halve the lemon.
2. Squeeze the juice or drizzle directly onto a cloth.
3. Moisten the ceramic hob over a large area with lemon juice.
4. Leave the lemon juice on for about 15 minutes.
5. Wipe the ceramic hob damp.
6. Wipe the ceramic hob carefully dry.

Tip:
Before halving and squeezing the lemon, you should grate the peel. You can then use the gratings to make a room spray yourself . Simply mix the gratings with 100 milliliters of alcohol, pour it into a glass, close it and let it steep for two days. Then pour the mixture through a coffee filter, pour into a spray bottle and mix with water. A cheap room spray with a pleasant citrus scent is ready.

❖ Clean the ceramic hob with the oven spray:

The oven spray is not only easy to clean the oven . You can take advantage of the cleaning properties of the spray even with contaminated glass ceramic hot plates. The application is suitable for heavily soiled cooking surfaces, but should not be carried out too often, because many oven sprays contain aggressive substances that can damage the material.

1. Spray the oven spray on the cooking surfaces. Keep the distance and wet thick stains thicker.
2. Wait for the foam to collapse.
3. Remove foam with kitchen towels.
4. Clean the ceramic hob with warm water.
5. Polish the stove dry with a soft cloth.

❖ Clean the ceramic hob with dishwasher tabs:

This application is also not intended for regular use, but it is a way to remove burnt objects quickly and reliably. The best thing to do is to react immediately when the milk has boiled over or sauce stains are dripping onto the ceramic hob.

1. Dissolve the tab in a little warm water.
2. Apply the resulting paste to the encrusted areas.
3. Paste can work for several hours.
4. Add some water every now and then.
5. Remove the remains with a kitchen towel.
6. Wipe the ceramic hob wet.
7. Polish the hob dry.

❖ Clean the ceramic hob with wooden ash:

If you have a fireplace, you can use this home remedy. It may sound a bit strange, but with wood ash you get the ceramic hob really super clean.

1. Put wood ash on the ceramic hob.
2. Moisten newsprint.
3. Rub the cooking surface with it.
4. Polish with dry newsprint.

How to remove heavy soiling

If the hob is completely burned, you will struggle with the above-mentioned home remedies and presumably repeated treatment will be necessary. With a mixture of baking soda and vinegar you get an effective cleaning agent that reliably removes burned-in substances.

1. Mix two tablespoons of baking soda with a little water.
2. Spread the paste generously over the incrustations.
3. Pour about ten centiliters of vinegar over it.
4. Wipe off the paste after five minutes.
5. Wipe the ceramic hob wet and polish dry.

Important: Do not use this application every day .

This is how scratches can be repaired

If the ceramic hob is cleaned and shines again in a new shine, scratches are often visible. To counteract this annoyance, you can use toothpaste.

1. Put some toothpaste on a dry cloth.
2. Rub the toothpaste gently into the existing scratches.
3. Then polish over with a clean cloth.

Repeat the application several times. After about four repetitions, the toothpaste should have almost made the scratch disappear. By the way, you can also remove scratches on glasses in the same way .

Important: Do not use toothpaste with aggressive cleaning bodies, as this could lead to further damage to the ceramic hob.

Vaseline seals the ceramic hob

After cleaning, the ceramic hob is given a new shine by treatment with Vaseline. In addition, a protective layer forms, which makes the material less susceptible to contamination and scratches.

1. Put petroleum jelly on a cloth and rub the hob with it.
2. Leave on for about ten minutes.
3. Polish with a soft, dry cloth.