This Ingredient Erases Grease From Your Stovetop With Way Less Effort Than Scrubbing

If you were able to use an ingredient that's likely a part of your daily life to clean your stovetop with little to no investment, you might think there's a catch — but in this case, there isn't. It's true: the properties of a common, yet often-thrown-away leftover ingredient, coffee grounds, works as an effective surface and stovetop cleaner. Just be aware of which type of material your stovetop is made of to determine whether you can clean it with coffee grounds.

There are numerous clever ways to use leftover coffee grounds. Many people have probably heard about using coffee grounds as fertilizer in the garden, or as a body scrub, but there are also ways to use coffee grounds in the kitchen. Because coffee grounds are a mild abrasive, they work wonders at cleaning tough stains and other food residue on the stovetop. Fortunately, coffee is also a natural de-greaser, so just as coffee grounds are effective on greasy pots and pans, they're perfect for cleaning grease on the stovetop. You just need to be careful about the surface you clean and how you clean it, especially if the surface is stains easily or is made of a material that is not appropriate for abrasives.

All it takes is a couple of teaspoons of coffee grounds mixed with soapy water and a soft sponge, and you're good to go. If you're not going to use the coffee grounds right away, just make sure to keep them refrigerated in a glass or plastic container, or better yet, dry them out on newspaper so they don't get moldy. 

If you own a stove with a metal top, you're more likely able to take advantage of coffee grounds for cleaning. One caveat is that if the stove's surface is stainless steel, you need to wipe it softly so as not to scratch the unpainted surface, as grounds can leave marks. Because coffee grounds are abrasive (more so for coarse grinds), they can scratch surfaces if you scrub too hard. The key is to scrub the surface gently and with the grain so you don't scratch it. 

If your stove is an electronic variety with electric coils, you need to take the coils out when the unit is turned off and remove the drip pans before scrubbing. You can clean the drip pans with the grounds (and you can scrub underneath them, too)  to remove build up, but not the coils. A gas oven with a metal stovetop can also be cleaned with coffee grounds, as can the grates over the burners if you take them and their caps off first. If you're looking for an effective cleaner for tough grease as well as a disinfectant, vinegar is a pantry staple you can mix with coffee grounds to make a powerful natural cleaner.

Induction stoves and electric stovetops (not the kind with coils) require non-abrasive cleaners to prevent damage, as ceramic and glass surfaces will scratch easily when using abrasives. If your stovetop is too delicate for coffee grounds, a vinegar solution is a good backup option. There are numerous ways to keep your kitchen clean with vinegar, and the pantry staple will still dissolve stains and food residue, just not as effectively as coffee grounds.