“No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” Well said, Julia Child. Another thing all cooks learn by doing is that cooking is messy!  But, did you know the glass cooktop range in your Camden apartment requires regular maintenance to keep it clean and attractive?

As you use your glass-ceramic cooktop, stains will inevitably occur. For best results, remove these stains daily to prevent them from accumulating and becoming stubborn. For difficult stains, you many need to use special cleaners formulated for glass-ceramic cooktops, as others might be unsafe.

We’ve got everything you need to know about cleaning your glass-ceramic cooktop!

Cleaning Instructions:

1. Allow the entire cooktop to cool sufficiently if you used it recently. Saturate the ceramic surface generously with soapy water and wipe it with a soft cloth. Rinse the cooktop with water and dry it with a soft cloth or paper towel.

2. For stubborn stains, make a paste with equal parts baking soda and water and apply this paste to the stains. Use an abrasive plastic sponge to work the baking soda paste into the cooktop. You may also need to use a scraping tool to scrape at stubborn stains. Angle the scraping tool at a 30-degree angle to the cooktop and scrape the burnt food away. Rinse the cooktop with water and dry it with a soft cloth or paper towel.

3. If grease and other burnt-on food persist, apply a special cooktop cleaner to the cooktop. Shake the bottle of cleaning solution well and apply it generously to the stains. Spread the cleaner around with a damp cloth and allow the cleaner to sit on the cooktop for 15 to 30 minutes. Scrub with an abrasive plastic sponge to remove stubborn stains. Rinse the cooktop with water and dry it with a soft cloth or paper towel.

Good as new! Squeaky clean glass cooktop at Camden Rainey Street in Austin, TX - Photo courtesy of Camden

Tips and Warnings:

• Try to keep the cooktop as clean as possible. If you repeatedly cook with stains already existing on the cooktop, you may make the stains even more stubborn and difficult to remove.

• Never use general scouring powder or metal scouring pads to clean a glass-ceramic cooktop. These cleaning tools can damage the surface of the cooktop.

As with all appliances in your apartment, if you ever experience problems with your glass cooktop range, reach out to your Camden maintenance team who will take care of the issue for you!

For more apartment cleaning tips, check out 5 products you never thought could clean your apartment or shocking ways to use a magic eraser.