How to Clean Your Electric Stovetop in 4 Steps

If you’ve never cleaned an electric stovetop before, it might seem like a tricky task. Most of these types of stovetops have coil burners. Muck accumulates easily underneath the coils that can burn and smell each time you use your stove.

We’re sharing how to clean an electric stovetop with an easy, step-by-step guide so you can get your stove back to new, without using harsh chemicals or scratching the surface.

If you’d like help, or you don’t have the time, you can always book an affordable, expert cleaner through Homeaglow.

Before you start

While you can opt to clean an electric stovetop with commercial chemicals, it’s just as easy to clean it with gentle, natural cleaners that you’ll already have in your home.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Liquid dish soap (preferably one with a grease-cutting formula)
• White vinegar
• Baking soda
• Non-scratch scrubbing pad (check this is safe for stovetops)
• Sponges
• Microfiber cloths
• Kitchen gloves (optional)

Always make sure your oven is turned off at the wall, and that the cooktop is cool to the touch before you start working. Cleaning a hot stovetop can burn your hands as well as your sponges, cloths, and cleaning solutions.

How to clean an electric stove top

1. Remove and clean the burner coils 

Most electric stovetops have coils that simply plug in. All you need to do is lift up the coils and pop them out. If you can’t figure out how to remove them, check your stove’s user manual (or search online for your stove’s make and model if you can’t find the manual).

Once you’ve removed the coils, fill your sink (or a large bowl) with hot soapy water. Dip a sponge into the water and wipe down each of the coils, making sure you clean underneath each coil as well.

If your coils look particularly grimy, you can sprinkle some baking soda onto the sponge as you work for some extra scrubbing power.

Rinse the coils under the tap, and then wipe them down with a damp cloth. Set them to one side to air dry while you clean the rest of your stovetop.

Note: If you have a flat-top electric stove you can skip this step and go to our article about cleaning a glass stovetop instead.

2. Clean the stove top

These two cleaning methods are suitable for both electric ceramic and metal stovetops, and will help you get your stove sparkling again without leaving scratches on the surface.

If your stove has knobs, you can either lift these out gently before cleaning (if possible) or gently wipe them down. Be careful not to scrub at the knobs or dials to clean them, as this can remove the paint and numbers on them.

Baking soda method

In a bowl, mix 1 part warm water to 3 parts of baking soda. This will form a thick paste that works to cut through stovetop grease.

Dip a sponge or cloth into this paste and spread it evenly across your stovetop. Leave this to sit for 5 minutes.

With a damp cloth or non-scratch scrub pad, give your stovetop a thorough but gentle clean, rubbing in a circular motion.

Remove the paste with a damp sponge, and then dry the stovetop with a microfiber cloth.

Baking soda is also great for cleaning your oven glass and your microwave.

Liquid dish soap method

Fill a large bowl with hot water and a few squirts of your favorite grease-cutting liquid dish soap. Dip a cloth or a non-scratch scrubbing pad into the soapy water and clean down the stove top in circular motions.

Wipe away the soapy residue with a warm, damp cloth or sponge, and then buff dry with a lint-free cloth.

3. Clean under your electric stove top

Once you’ve cleaned the top of your electric cooktop, it’s time to take a look underneath. Here you’ll find your stove’s drip pans, and a whole bunch of burnt gunk and grease from meals long past.

Most electric stove tops lift up much like the hood of your car. If you’re stuck, check the instructions on your stove’s user manual, or search for the manual online using your stove’s make and model number.

Once you’ve lifted the stovetop, remove the drip pans and set them aside. We’ll cover these in the next step.

Next, grab a damp sponge and wipe away all the loose dirt under the electric stovetop. If you find a lot of burnt food there, you can remove this with a cooktop scraper or metal spatula.

Mix up a paste of ½ a cup of baking soda and around 4 tablespoons of water to make a thick paste that will cover the surface under your cooktop. Spread this paste onto the surface and leave it for 15 minutes.

Using a damp non-scratch scrub pad or sponge, clean the whole area under your stovetop. Wipe it down with a wet cloth to remove any remaining paste, then finish up by giving it a final wipe down with a microfiber cloth.

4. Clean the drip pans

This tends to be the part of cleaning an electric stovetop that nobody looks forward to. Drips pans are designed to catch every spill on your stovetop, and then contain these spills basically forever until you clean them. This results in some pretty tough, burnt-on grime.

Begin by tipping out any loose burnt food from the pans into the trash, then wipe them out with a damp cloth or paper towel.

Fill a large bowl (or your sink) with hot water, and squirt in a few drops of grease-cutting liquid dish soap.

Place your drip pans into the soapy water and leave them for 30 minutes to loosen up the dried-on food.

Tip the soapy water out of your sink and the pans, then sprinkle each pan liberally with baking soda.

Pour some white vinegar into each pan. This will fizz up and begin to break down the tough food residue. Leave the pans to self-clean for around 30 minutes.

Then, take a non-scratch scrub pad and clean the inside and outside of each drip pan. The dirt will have softened nicely by now, so you won’t need much elbow grease to get this job done.

Rinse the pans clean with hot water and dry them off with a microfiber cloth.

That’s it, you’re all done! Replace the drip pans, close the stove top, pop the electric coils back into their sockets, and admire the sparkling results of your hard work.

How to clean a burnt electric stove top

The above steps will clean most types of dirt and stains off your electric stove. But to remove burn marks and burnt food, you’ll need something a little stronger.

Cleaning burnt coils

If you spill food onto the hot coils of your electric stove, it will burn on contact, turning into a crispy mess that can be tricky to remove.

But there’s a handy trick that can make cleaning them easy. Simply turn the element with the burnt coil up to high and let it burn for two or three minutes. This will burn away the food so you can clean the coils as usual.

It’s best to open a window or turn your kitchen hood fan on while you’re doing this, as things could get a little smoky. And never leave the stove unattended while the element is on.

Once the food has burnt off the coil, let it cool down completely and then clean it with the method we set out above.

Cleaning burn marks on the stovetop

To remove burn marks on your electric stovetop, it’s as simple as mixing up a quick DIY solution.

In a small bowl, add 1 part baking soda to 2 parts of white vinegar. Mix until you have a thick paste. This will cause a chemical reaction that can eliminate stove top burn marks gently and without scratching.

Dip a clean cloth into the paste and wipe it onto the burn mark. Leave this to sit for 10 minutes. Once that’s done, you can remove it with a clean cloth, or scrub it gently with a non-abrasive sponge to remove the stain.

If the burn mark is still visible, repeat the above steps until it has gone completely.

How to keep your electric stovetop cleaner for longer

Now you’ve given your electric stovetop a good deep clean, it’s important that you give it a regular clean to keep it in top shape.

We recommend that you:

• Clean your stovetop after each cooking session. Add 1 part water and 1 part white vinegar to a spray bottle, and keep this handy so you can spritz it onto your stovetop and give it a quick wipe down after cooking.
• Wipe up splatters and splashes as soon as possible once your stovetop has cooled down.
• Rinse and wipe down the drip pans as soon as possible if there has been a big stove top spill, as they will be much easier to clean this way.

If you’d like any help, you can always call in the experts. Homeaglow is always available to assist, with a big choice of cleaners in your area. Find and book your perfect cleaner online today.