As you roll up your sleeves and get busy cleaning this spring, here are a few important money and time-saving tips for cleaning ranges:
Control Panel
When cleaning the control panel on your range or stove top, we recommend using a light-duty cleaner or simply soap and water with a rag. Using abrasive pads or too harsh of a cleaner can wear off the decal indicators, which identify the knob controls for each burner. If these decals get worn off from overzealous cleaning, the whole control panel will require replacement. If this has already occurred, enter you model number at RepairClinic.com to find the recommended replacement for your model. Check out this popular All-Purpose Cleaner. 
Door Cleaning
Keeping the front panel, window, and outer door glass clean is important because it prevents spills from staining the panel or glass when as heats up during oven operation. Only clean the front when your range or oven is completely cool. For spills that are tough to remove from the panel, we recommend this Heavy-Duty Degreaser.
Smooth Electric Stove Tops
Smooth top ranges are great because they are a snap to clean if maintained properly. If a heavy spill occurs, use a Razor Scraper to remove large food deposits. The next step is to apply Cooktop Cleaner. Let this sit and soak in for a few minutes. Then use a scratch-free cleaning pad to remove the remaining residue. Finally, apply a coat of cooktop protectant to maintain that new stove top appearance. We recommend this cleaning set because it includes a good cleaner, scratch-free pads and a quality protectant.
Gas Stove Tops, Burner Bowls, & Grates
Some gas stove tops are made of glass or ceramic and can be clean exactly the same as an electric smooth top (see above). Metal tops should be cleaned with Heavy Duty Degreaser and a non-abrasive pad. The most important tip when cleaning gas stove tops is to not use too much water when cleaning, especially around the knobs. Tweet this. If water drips down into the holes where the knob shaft comes through, ignition switches can short out and cause problems with the sparking system. Grates and burner pans can be difficult to clean. However, before you buy new ones, you can try and clean them with this Grate Cleaner.
Solid Burner Element
Some ranges have solid metal heating element burners. While this is not a cleaning product per se, it does an impressive job restoring solid burner elements to a near-new condition. It also helps protect burners against damage.
Beneath the range
People tell us they avoid important cleaning, maintenance and repair because they don’t want to move large appliances in fear of damage to their floors. Also, some people are concerned about power cords and gas lines connected to the rear of the stove. One tip on ranges is to pull the lower drawer out and remove it. Simply pull out toward you and then lift near the front to remove it from the tracks. With the drawer out, you can clean the lower cabinet and the floor. Tweet this.
We use this handy Vacuum Attachment and Bristle Brush to clean beneath the range.
Oven Interior
Self-cleaning ovens
Carefully follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using the self-cleaning function. This feature heats the interior of the oven to a temperature so high, it incinerates food particles and spills. The length of the process varies from model to model. We suggest that people do not run the self-cleaning cycle before a big cooking holiday like Thanksgiving because if an electrical component is close to burning out, an intense cooking cycle like self-cleaning could finish it off and you could be scrambling to find parts.
Important: Never use a cleaning solution to clean the interior of a self-cleaning oven unless it is made specifically for self-cleaning ovens. The oven liner can absorb non-approved solutions or cleaner and burn during oven use.
Non-self-cleaning ovens
Simply remove the oven racks and spray oven cleaner directly onto the interior surface. Wipe with a clean rag.
Related Info
Range-Stove-Oven Maintenance Tips
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