There are two types of people:
Those who like their space CLEAN
and
Those who like their space ORGANIZED
I happen to fall in the second group. This doesn’t mean I don’t adore a clean house, but if given a few minutes around the house I’ll choose organizing, picking up, putting things in their place every time. Visual clutter makes me uneasy. I stress out when my space is messy. I do a lot of picking up all day long.
A little over a year ago, we finally decided it was time to hire someone to help us keep our house clean. Ryan and I did mildly okay with the bathrooms and floors and general disinfecting, but with our work schedules and family activities and desire to chill or be social in our off time, cleaning our house fell low on the priority list. We hired my best friend’s house cleaner, Maria, and I am more than giddy every other Tuesday when she comes to whip our house into shape.
(P.S. Giving myself the permission to hire a house cleaner could be a whole blog post on it’s own. As a work-at-home mom, I felt like I should be able to keep up with the house work. It’s what my grandma did and my mom did and so my expectation was that I should be able to do it, too. But at some point I just realized it’s not what I enjoy, not what I’m good at, I get naggy and grouchy on cleaning days and that wasn’t worth it. So we hired Maria and haven’t looked back.)
Anyway, the last time Maria was here, I posted a photo on instagram of our gas range top declaring my love for how it looks so sparkly clean and how I avoid cooking because I don’t want to mess it up. The conversation on the post was fun about the choice between electric and gas, stainless and not, and especially, how I clean the gas range top.
Well, first of all, I don’t. I try, but it never looks quite as good as when Maria does it. So I asked her if I could snap some photos and if she would reveal her tricks and she was more than happy to share.
So this is how you clean a gas range top, as according to our housecleaner-turned-friend who is very good at her job.
You’ll need a few basic, non-toxic household supplies:
Before you begin, fill one spray bottle with white vinegar (you can dilute it slightly, but straight vinegar is fine).
Fill another bottle with this all-purpose cleaner:
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp dawn dishsoap
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
STEP ONE / Spray the range top with white vinegar in a spray bottle. Let it soak for 10-15 minutes.
STEP TWO / Remove grates and burner caps
STEP THREE / Spray top with the homemade all-purpose cleaner (recipe above)
STEP FOUR / Scrub with the magic eraser. Use a toothbrush for the hard to reach spaces. (PS. don’t use a magic eraser on stainless steel).
STEP FIVE / In a bucket (or small container), mix 1 part vinegar to four parts water. Wet the microfiber cloth, ring it out and wipe down the stove top. Repeat.
STEP SIX / Use a dry microfiber cloth to dry and buff.
Maria brings a whole stack of these microfiber cloths with her. She sings their praises and convinced me to order a set for in-between cleaning. If you are looking for a good cleaning towel, these are thick and don’t get linty when you wash them.
STEP SEVEN / Clean grills and burner caps in the sink with a spray of the baking soda/vinegar/soap/water mix and the magic eraser. Rinse and dry.
Put it all back together and your range will sparkle!
Thanks to Maria for sharing and letting me take terribly-lit, shaky photos.
Hi. Love your house and kitchen. I’m wondering if you have a downdraft range, or if you didn’t have to vent it? I’m about to start a kitchen reno and am trying to decide between a Wolf and Kitchenaid range. I already have to change the electric to gas, but I am worried about the additional expense of return air venting. Thanks!! Linda
I love the conversation of gas vs electric. We are about to start a kitchen reno. I’m wondering if your range has a downdraft or if you didn’t have to vent it. I’m deciding between a kitchen aid and a wolf range right now. Thanks!!
I was so excited to read this post because we have a new Wolf stovetop and I am trying to figure out how to clean it! When I take off the grates, the base (like the whole stovetop with the gas burners) is stainless steel. Can I use the magic eraser on this? It’s where the burned on stains are that won’t come off with the baking soda/vinegar. Above it says not to use the magic eraser on the stainless steel…is the pan thing after you take off the grates what you meant? Help! I need to clean this thing!! :)
As a stay at home dad I fall in the first and second group. Only problem is I spend so much time cleaning there’s never enough time to organize.
I’m felt immediately relief to hear that you have a cleaning lady! You do such amazing things with work and family and thinking that you kept your house spotless on top of it made me feel like a slug! I worked as a house cleaner through high school and college but for some reason, feel like I shouldn’t hire one! I guess because I know how, I feel like I should do it myself. Silly, silly. I don’t know if it is ever where I’ll spend my money but I do feel better after ready this post!
I used to clean houses, too, in high school. It was such a great job! I loved just cranking through and helping other families keep their houses clean – but I’m not so good at doing my own :) I’m glad you feel relieved to know that I DO NOT DO IT ALL!
Ah, after hearing you on The Happy Hour this summer I finally gathered up the courage to hire a cleaning lady. I’m a work-at-home mom, too, but I fretted over fitting it into our budget. Anyways—it was divine! BUT, I chickened out last month and canceled. (Well, we had a snowstorm so we had to cancel and I just haven’t rescheduled. Now my bathrooms are gross. I am a neat freak but not a clean freak for sure. :)
My question is: if it takes her 6 hours, what do you do? Are you gone all day? Do you stay in your office? I work in the kitchen, so I had to be gone the 4 hours they were in my house and I kind of felt unproductive and ran out of errands and definitely didn’t get any work done, ha!
Both Ryan and I work from home and we usually just stay in the office and she cleans around us. Or we run out on errands or shower or whatever is needed. She just works around us.
Hello Emily,
Your article really resonated with me. I, too, prefer homemaking to house cleaning. A tidy, organized house is WAY more important to me and I thoroughly enjoy the homemaking aspect. However, the rub is that my husband prefers a clean home. (BTW, this took me years of married life to discover.) So..what’s a girl to do? There have been seasons where we hired a housekeeper, yet, this season has me learning to enjoy cleaning. Gosh, I can’t believe I said that! But, the Lord is changing my heart.He’s good about taking me out of my comfort zone. What I love is the God we serve can give you grace to hire a housekeeper and give me grace to enjoy cleaning. Well, maybe not “enjoy”, but tolerate. I’m still a work in process… Please keep up the great posts.
BTW, have you heard this quote by Goethe, “Cease endlessly striving for what you want to do and learn to love what must be done.” That’s where I am – learning to love what must be done.
I choose organizing over cleaning so often. Piles of clutter bother me WAY more than cat hair along the baseboards.
Hmmm, this got me thinking… would you mind asking Maria what she would suggest using on the greasy stainless? In particular, the undernearth the range hood? I love anyones else’s suggestions as well!
This is great information! Thanks for sharing. When we moved into our {new to us} house, the previous owners had left the gas range extremely dirty. It was so dirty that I considered buying new grates for each burner…that is until I discovered that would cost me $240! So I used the liquid Bar Keepers Friend on the top of the range, and it made it look brand new! Then I went to Pinterest to try to find some ideas on how to clean the grates. Even though my grates were awfully greasy and dirty, the ammonia trick worked. My gas range looks absolutely brand new! I’m going to try your tricks above to keep it looking that way. Thanks!!!
I put my grates in the dishwasher and works great, just have to clean stainless part.
Wendy
OurCapeonCabotRoad.com
I’m curious how long u have the cleaning help in your house each time she comes??
She comes for about 6 hours. She does the whole house and even folds laundry if I haven’t caught up!
Somehow I think your idea of not clean is much cleaner than most people’s! ;-)
What a dream to have a cleaning lady come twice a month – I’m sure that helps tons. I’ve never been able to get my gas cooktop as clean as I would like so I’m going to try this method.
A great resource for learning how to keep on top of everyday cleaning is FlyLady. http://www.flylady.net
She has a great system for keeping up with laundry and cleaning. I’ve learned tons from her.
I love Fly Lady. Thanks to her my bathroom has been company-clean for months now. (It’s a miracle.)
I think your observation about the two kinds of people is hilarious but true. Unfortunately, I like my space clean and my husband likes his space organized. :(
I swear by Dawn Power Disolver. But it smells so bad and I’m sure it’s toxic. Also I never get the grates very clean. They are always a little greasy even after I scrub them. Thanks for the post! Does she have to use a new magic eraser each time?
One thing I love most is how non-greasy it is after she’s done! That is always my problem, too. So I’m going to give this method a try for the in-between cleanings.
She told me sometimes she cuts the magic eraser in half to conserve. I think it’s fine to reuse them, too.
So I always hear about the “night before the house cleaner comes” horror. Is that real?
Ha! It’s sort of real. Not completely a nightmare, but it does take some effort to get everything picked up so that she can clean. I actually like it, though, because it forces me/us to have everything put away at least once every other week :)
Totally with ya on that!! It causes a bit of panic, but I kind of like that it gets me to get that stuff that’s been sitting on the stairs waiting to be brought up for a week etc. put away too! :)
Dawn dish soap and warm vinegar is great for cleaning the shower/bathtub too!
We live in Seattle and our house cleaner recently had a baby so is no longer cleaning for us. If Maria is looking for new clients, would you be willing to share her contact information?
Oh, you would love her! We are an hour south of seattle, so I don’t think it would work for her. Good luck!
preach on hiring the house cleaner. I have our house cleaned once a month (really needs it every other week but we are starting with once a month) and it’s been an enormous weight off my shoulders!