Want to know how to clean stove drip pans the best way possible? Me too. So I tested out four popular methods and came to a clear conclusion.
When it comes to getting rid of food particles and finding a good cleaning solution, there are ways to get your stovetop drip pans clean fast. I’ll show you the effective way to get rid of the loose gunk, fast! Your electric stove drip pans will be clean in no time at all. This includes food spills and anything else that may be on your stovetop burner as well. (and did I mention that it will take you minimal effort?!)
Everything You Wanted to Know About How to Clean Stove Drip Pans
Oven stovetops: notoriously known for getting disgusting, especially those stove drip pans that catch all the overflowing boiling water, accidentally spilled sauces and miscellaneous food debris. They get nasty and black far too quickly.
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So, what is the best way to clean stove drip pans? Can you ever really get them sparkling like new, or should you just buy new ones and remember to cover them with aluminum foil this time?
Well, I was determined to find out! Today, I’m sharing a Pinterest Experiment. I searched Pinterest to find various methods on how to clean burner pans. I think you’ll be surprised with the results.
Experiment #1 – How to Clean Stove Drip Pans with Ammonia
This is definitely the cleaning experiment I was most interested in trying out. It seemed simple and cheap and the results online were always amazing (even for things like getting grills sparkling again). I had to buy ammonia at the store (it only cost a few dollars) since we didn’t have any on hand, but it is a relatively cheap way to clean stove drip pans, if it works!
What you’ll need to clean drip pans with ammonia:
1. Dirty stove drip pan
2. Gallon-Sized Ziploc Bag
3. Ammonia
4. Measuring Cup
5. Scour Pad
6. Baking soda (optional)
7. Peroxide (optional)
Instructions for cleaning stove drip pans with ammonia
1. Place dirty drip pan into a Ziploc bag.
2. Pour 1/4 cup ammonia into the bag.
3. Seal it shut.
4. Place it outside in the sun (one post said the sun helped vaporize the ammonia, which is what does the cleaning – the vapors).
5. Leave it outside overnight. I left mine outside for almost 24 hours. You don’t necessarily have to leave it outside, but ammonia stinks, and my bag did end up leaking, so I am thankful it was outside.
6. Bring it inside, hold your nose, and dump the ammonia out.
7. Wipe off the dirt and grime with a scouring pad.
8. And voila! Clean!
9. Oops. If it didn’t get cleaned right away, one pin said she used a little baking soda and hydrogen peroxide on the tough parts. So, I tried that too for good measure. (It didn’t do anything.)
Did it work?
Cleaning stove drip pans with ammonia did NOT work for me. I don’t know if it’s because my burner pans are the cheapest of cheap apartment chrome drip pans and not ceramic ones like I found on the pin in question.
I also don’t know if maybe I used too much ammonia or did something wrong there. All I know is that my burner pan still looked gross, extra step and all. They were better, but not sparkling.
It’s not a horrible idea, as ammonia is inexpensive, but it’s also a harsh chemical and very stinky and takes overnight to get it (ideally) sparkly. Also, don’t mix ammonia with
Also, don’t mix ammonia with an other chemicals, especially bleach!
Experiment #2 – How to Clean Stove Drip Pans with Bar Keepers Friend
One of my friends told me about Bar Keepers Friend and that she loves using it to clean her pots and pans.
In fact, I tested it out on one of my nasty pizza pans that my husband brought into our marriage five years ago that I have never seen shiny silver and Bar Keepers Friend had it shining again in about five minutes. Amazing, right? So, maybe it would clean my burner pans as awesomely too!
What you’ll need for cleaning a drip pan with Bar Keepers Friend:
1. Dirty burner pan
2. Bar Keepers Friend (or Comet? Are they the same thing?)
3. Scour Pad
4. Water
5. Spray bottle (optional)
Instructions for cleaning stove drip pans with Bar Keepers Friend:
1. Get your dirty stove drip pan a little wet. A spray bottle might be helpful.
2. Sprinkle some Bar Keepers Friend onto your pan, getting it all over it.
3. Let it sit for 5+ minutes, especially if your burner pan is nasty, like mine.
4. Take your scour pad and scrub the burner pan aggressively!
5. Rinse with water.
6. Voila! You’re done!
Did it work?
Bar Keepers Friend did clean up some of the black nasty gunk that had built up on my stove drip pan. Unfortunately, it didn’t do the job all the way. It’s a simple way, and also not too expensive, but it just didn’t complete the job. But, it’s a great product!
Experiment #3 – How to Clean Drip Pans with WD-40
I happened to have some WD-40 already, so I was willing to give this pinterest find a try.
What you’ll need to clean dirty drip pan with WD-40:
1. Dirty burner pan
2. WD-40
3. Scour pad
4. Water
5. Dish soap
Instructions for cleaning gross drip pans with WD-40:
1. Spray the burner pan liberally with WD-40.
2. Leave the room so you don’t get light headed. Wait about 20+ minutes.
3. Scrub vigorously with the scour pad.
4. Make sure to get all the WD-40 off (because apparently, you could explode if you don’t?!). Use some dish soap and water to help you do this.
5. Viola! Clean pans!
Did it work?
Nope. Pretty much not at all. Using WD-40 was by far the worst way to clean my stove drip pans, and apparently dangerous if you don’t get it all off!
The blogger that shared this tip had one of the cleanest burner pans I had ever seen before cleaning it. Mine was much nastier to start. So, I suppose if you just have a light crud problem on your stove drip pans you might be good to go. But, I would use one of these other methods first. They work much better.
Experiment #4 – How to Clean Drip Pans with Baking Soda and Vinegar (and Essential Oils)
Having just first-hand about the power of essential oils (and receiving some free samples), and knowing that baking soda works well for cleaning ovens, and vinegar for cleaning pots (and many other things, I knew this Pinterest find had some merit.
What you’ll need to clean dirty drip pans with baking soda and vinegar:
1. Dirty stove drip pan.
2. Baking Soda
3. White Vinegar
4. Orange essential oils (or other citrus oil)
5. Scour pad
6. Water
7. Spray Bottle
Instructions for cleaning stove drip pans with baking soda and vinegar
1. Sprinkle your dirty drip pan with baking soda. Coat it well.
2. Spray a 1:1 vinegar/water (although straight vinegar will work, but in either case, a spray bottle is helpful since the burner pans are curved) on the baking soda. Make it fizzle. You know it is working now!
3. Drop some orange essential oils on top (or add some to your spray bottle used in the previous step. I ending up doing both). It smells delicious!
4. Let it sit for 2+ hours.
5. It should have formed a good paste by now. If now, spritz again/pour vinegar on it, add more baking soda, etc.
6. Scrub with your scour pad and watch the crud come off.
7. Rinse with water.
8. Viola! A clean burner pan!
Did it work?
Yes. Actually, it worked the BEST of all the methods I tried, although never managed to get my pans perfectly sparkling. But, it was the method I used on the other stove burner drip pans after their failed attempts to do a good job.
Plus, baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils are all natural green ways to clean stove burner’s drip pans! Baking soda and vinegar are inexpensive and you probably already have some in your home.
However, essential oils can be pricey to buy. I just happened to have a sample bottle I received a week ago to use. It made the whole process smell great, and I do think gave it a little extra cleaning power.
So, what was the best way to clean burner pans?
Despite finding baking soda and vinegar to do the best job cleaning my burner pans, none of the four methods I found on Pinterest and tried for myself proved to get any of the drip pans completely silver and brand-new looking.
So, we’ll likely just buy new pans (coughing up about $10+) before we leave our apartment so we won’t be dinged on our deposit.
My husband always did this in college. In fact, he even kept an extra clean, new set around specifically for cleaning checks! He would then remove them before anyone used them. I was just hoping to find the best way to clean burner pans inexpensively, so I wouldn’t have to replace them when I move, and so I could have clean pans whenever I actually felt like cleaning them.
Perhaps the real problem is I just let them go for too long!
When it comes to stove burner pans, there are different cleaning methods that can work. You have to decide what you want to use the next time that you clean those stove-top drip pans. I think that finding a way to do a little effort or to put in a bit of elbow grease is great! With a little patience, you’ll get rid of the stubborn gunk and cut down on the cleaning time as well. Take the next step and clean those drip pans instead of buying new drip pans!
How do you get clean burner pans?
Follow my Cleaning Board on Pinterest for more great cleaning tips!
For more tips on how to clean just about everything, check out these other popular kitchen cleaning tutorials!
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- How to clean oven with baking soda
- How to clean microwave
- How to clean and deodorize garbage disposal
- How to remove fridge odor and smells
- How to clean stove drip pans
- How to clean globe faucet handles
- How to clean copper bottom pot with vinegar and salt
- How to clean copper pot with ketchup
- How to remove scratches from dinnerware
- How to clean a Le Creuset dutch oven
- How to clean stainless steel pans
Melissa @Serendipity and Spice says
Fantastic experiment…it’s good to know I’ve been using the best way all along! 🙂
Hezzi-D says
We have drip pans too. I need to at least try some of these methods. Mine don’t have to be perfect, but I’d like them cleaner!
Carola says
You can make orange (or any citrus fruit for that matter) infused vinegar by soaking the peels in plain old vinegar for a couple of weeks. Same delicious smell, but super cheap!
Reet says
VOiLÀ! instead of Violà!…. just saying
Krista says
Thank’s for doing the “dirty” work 🙂 I need to give mine a good scrubbing & it’s great to know what is actually going to work. I’m going to give the last one a try!
Lya says
baking soda plus sunflower oil will do the job nicely
Tamara says
Do you have any tips on cleaning the glass flat top stove top?
Pinning. Thanks for linking up w/ the Bloggers Brags Weekly Pinterest Party
Katelyn Fagan says
I don’t because I have NEVER had one! I had a gas range growing up and then electric burners in college/married life. Sorry! But, thanks for sharing and commenting.
JElli says
Loved this! I’ve tried a few of these but usually use baking soda. Like yours, mine rarely come all the way clean. I suppose if I had time to wipe them down every night it wouldn’t be a problem, but let’s face it, who has time for that? Glad to see and share your results, Katelyn.
PADMA says
hey! can we skip the essential oils in the baking soda+ white vinegar. I saw in a site that someone used the ammonia trick.and then to remove the toughest stains remaining used hydrogen peroxide+baking soda..do u think it will work
Liz says
I’ve got cheap drip pans too! And my husband also just kept new ones for cleaning checks. I tried the ammonia and it didn’t get the shiny look back like it promised, but it actually made it worse. Thank you for showing true results and other suggestions for cleaning them! I’m going to try it now.
Bellaisa says
I don’t see the previous comment I had made here, or maybe I forget to leave one! Anywase, I found that this method got some of my drip pans really clean and some of them not so clean. But, the baking soda worked way better than any other method I’ve tried. The truth is they were a mess, especially the front left one…which I now know that I use way more than the other ones.
Katelyn Fagan says
How fun that you tried it out! The baking soda did do a good job!
N. McBee says
The results are truly great! I recently started to clean with baking soda and I am very happy! Thanks for sharing!
Cathy Hill says
Thank you for the instructions on cleaning the stove drip pans. I’m having a headache on how to clean my stove pans which i don’t used for a long time.
I followed your steps to used Ammonia, but need to be very careful on this not reached out by children since it is hazardous. And i would totally say that it really works!!
Thank you again.
Sandra Gibbs says
I have been using oven cleaner for years, does a better job than all your experiments. Natural stuff is good, but in my opinion, it doesn’t do the job. I spray and leave on overnight or I heat pans a little and spray on and leave for an hour.
trena says
If you get the yellow can of easy off and spray them and sit them out in the sun for about 2 to 3 hour while there are hangout in the sun clean the rest of your house then bring them in and just wipe clean
Martha Ward says
Thoroughly enjoyed reading these cleaning tips and will pass them on to others.
Kelly says
Is it bad that I would just buy replacements as they aren’t that expensive?
Katelyn Fagan says
Nope! That’s what I say at the end of the post basically. 😉 But, these cleaning tips can at least prolong how long you go between buying some.
sue says
I love all of your hints but the ammonia tip used to clean the drip pans does work. I have a Jenn-Air stove top and for 22 years have never been able to clean the grill and grates. I have tried Brillo and the baked on grease just sat there. My friend told me about using ammonia. I put the stove pieces in a plastic bag with a 1/4 cup of ammonia in another cup in the bag. After 24 hours I was not satisfied, so I sat it out for another 24 hours and voila!!! 22 years of baked on junk GONE. I am in the process of doing the rest of the pieces as I write this. I have never seen anything like this before. Please try it again and just do it a little while longer.
Katelyn Fagan says
Thanks Sue! I REALLY wanted it to work better for me. I have used it for things like the racks in my oven with great results, but I think the drip pans may be just that cheap where it may not work perfectly if they are really bad (which the one I cleaned in this post was). I’m glad it has worked so well for you!
Linda W. says
Just came across your pin. I think your conclusion about cheap material is set on. The reason ammonia doesn’t really work is it isn’t just baked on gunk, but they are also corroded, which can’t be fixed. Years ago I inherited a grody stove from the previous homeowner (who is closely related so shall remain nameless). Mary Ellen of cleaning tips fame had a great grease cleaning tip which was to have a spray bottle of the following in equal parts – water ammonia and baking soda. This stove was beyond just bad drip pans, the entire underside looked like the worst burned on oven looks (did you know you can lift the top of your stove and clean under the entire top?). I lifted that sucker, sprayed away and spent the next oh, probably 4 hours scrubbing, wiping, spraying & repeating. But guess what? It looked brand new when I was finished. What is on the surface under the top? ENAMEL. You can scrub and scrub that and there is little or no damage from being aggressive. So, the material you use with ammonia makes a difference too. BTW I’m going to start following your board!
Katelyn Fagan says
Thanks for the info! I’m glad you were able to clean up your stove so well too.
Patty M says
I use ammonia and bar keepers, and on the really stubborn, hard to reach spots, a mini wire brush works wonders!
Karina says
I wrap the drip pans in aluminium foil; preventative and CHEAP.
Angelina Oliver says
Cleaning stove drip pans with ammonia is very easy. I always clean my drip pans this way. It is true that baking soda doesn`t stink as ammonia. But in my opinion ammonia is the best cleaner. If you put some drops essential oil on the clean drip pan it will sparkle like new one. Greetings!
Nikki says
Um, I think you should do your next experiments on my dirty apartment! Haha. But seriously, you’re awesome for doing this. Saved me a lot of time and frustration, I’m sure.
I’ve also read that cream of tartar works (instead of baking soda, I think) with vinegar. More expensive, but may be worth a try?
Also love the idea of extra burner pans. I may have to remember that for all future renting.
Thanks again!
Katelyn Fagan says
You are welcome!! I thought it was fun to do this little experiment! I did the same thing with how to remove crayon from walls. I want to save people time. 🙂
Alicia Cohen says
Very interesting post! Actually I tried to clean a few times with baking soda, but I guess I didn’t know how exactly to use it. It didn’t give me the results I expected. I will try your idea to mix it with vinegar. Best regards
Jamie says
Spray on oven cleaner works the best! I too had tried many methods but then just started trying things in the cupboard. Woohoo. Something finally worked.
Katelyn Fagan says
Awesome! I will have to try it!
Janie Norman says
Cleaning the stove drip pans is a hard job no matter with what or how you clean them. May be that is the reason why mine are so dirty. 🙂 I feel motivated to finally pay some more attention to my oven and clean it as good as possible. I am planning to start with the stove drip pans and I am happy to find your post! Thank you for the tips! 🙂