Cleaning Ceramic Hobs – Made Easy

I have personally restored many unloved and abused oven tops to a gleaming shine and I’ll share my methods with you.  I have tried many products, including steam cleaners (rubbish for this) that are both expensive and ineffective. However, a product called “Hob Brite” (@ £2 UK) a bottle is both fantastic value and very effective.

I shudder when I read of “metal scrapers and razor blades” being recommended or used as they can easily damage the finish and you! A razer blade in a protective “sheath” such as those sold in DIY stores for scraping paint off windows etc., is the safest way to use a blade. but be CAREFUL!

Effective Ceramic Hob Cleaning

The method I prefer is to use Hob Brite with a pan scrub, you know, the yellow and green type? Sponge on one side, scrub on the other? Dont use Brillo pads or wire wool types, they’ll damage the finish.
Draw a small ring of hob brite cream around each of the “pan ” areas and work in circular motions with the green side of the scrub pad.
You may need to scrub the burnt on areas quite hard or even repeat the process a couple of times – but it will come off!

Flip your pad over to use the sponge side and lightly wipe the top down – dont try to take all the cream off yet, we’re just checking if any more work is required. If it is, you will still see those stubborn crusty burnt on areas; add a little more Hob Brite and repeat the scrubbing!
Once you have cleared the burnt on bits, rub off as much as you can with the sponge, then wipe down with an old tea towel. You might even need a splash of soapy water as the Hob Brite cream is “greasy”.

Low Cost Ceramic Hob Cleaning

The magic finishing touch is to polish off with a micro fibre cloth, possibly with a glass cleaning product for that ultimate shine – voila – a perfectly shiny ceramic hob for less than £3 and a little “elbow grease”.

I thinks its fair to say we’d all like the cleaning to easier and quicker to do, so we can get with something more fun!

As a professional cleaning company we’re always looking for ways to be more efficient and either maintain the standards or improve them. In June 2008 we trialled a commercial grade microfibre cloth having seen something on TV – probably on the shopping channel! Anyway, most things we test really don’t live up to the promise or expectation and usually end up in the recycling or gathering dust in my shed!

Micro Fibre – Miracle Cloth

Put aside your cynicism for a second, because I can tell you these things really do work! They are quicker than normal “stockinette” type cloths in practice and require little or no cleaning product. The only downside is that good ones are a bit pricey (£4 40cm X 40cm) compared to your 10 for £1.50 type cloths.

….But You’re Worth It

Invest in them as we have done, you’ll clean faster and more hygienically too, somethings are a good investment!

The Science….

Microfibre textiles were designed to allow cleaning on a microscopic scale, as long ago as the 1950′s, although it was a well kept secret used during and after the second world war to clean sensitive instruments and rid them of not only dust particles but bacteria too. Thus, according to tests, using microfiber materials to clean a surface leads to reducing the number of bacteria by 99% whereas a conventional cleaning material reduces this number only by 33%.

You simply have to have some of these in your cleaning kit and when we get the store online later this year, you can buy direct from the professionals!