How to Clean a Glass Cooktop

Are you struggling to remove tough stains from your brand new glass cooktop? Perhaps you just want to revitalize the cook surface to make it look new again? Or, are you hosting Thanksgiving this year and looking to spare yourself some grief from judgmental in-laws? We’ve got some ideas to help you clean your glass cooktop!

Glass cooktops are a popular choice in modern kitchens. They enhance a kitchen by instantly giving it a sleek, clean, and sophisticated look. They are also far easier to clean than stainless steel or other cooktop alternatives. But, for all of their design and convenience, the biggest downside of glass cooktops is that they are fragile and require special care to maintain. Using the wrong product even once could lead to cracked, scratched, or tarnished cooktop surfaces.

Cleaning your glass cooktop

To assist you, we’ve compiled some of the best-recommended cleaners and products to get your cook surface clean. We’ve also made sure to call attention to types of cleaners and cleaning methods to avoid. As we love to do in most of our guides, we’ve provided some non-detergent methods as well to clean your cooktop and keep your kitchen environment healthier. 

Let’s get tidying!

Best cleaners for glass cooktops

When you are shopping for products to use for cleaning glass cooktops, the most crucial feature to look for is “non-abrasive.” Abrasives are designed to scrub away large amounts of soil from surfaces to save you some scrubbing effort. They are often too harsh for delicate surfaces like glass. Using an abrasive on your cooktop even once could result in permanent scratches, so please avoid them!

Affresh

Affresh Cooktop Cleaning Kit comes highly recommended by both customers and top brands such as Whirlpool and KitchenAid. This non-abrasive cleaner also comes with a non-abrasive pad to avoid damaging the glass cooktop. Affresh also carries single-use wipes, which are great for quick-cleanups and cleaning minor cooktop spills. With a 98% satisfaction rate on Home Depot, you can trust this cleaning product will do the job!

Weiman

Weiman Cooktop Max Cleaner and Polish is both a cleaning and polishing product. It is exceptionally efficient at removing all types of cooktop grease, stains, burnt-on food, fingerprints, you name it. And the cleaning formula works on all kinds of flat-top surfaces, so you can feel good when recommending this product to a friend that it will be safe for their cook surfaces, too! What’s more, this fantastic Weiman cleaner also features a non-abrasive pad to help turn your dirty cooktop into a shiny and polished surface looking like new!

Glisten

If you are looking for convenient, all-in-one cooktop cleaning solutions, Glisten Cooktop & Kitchen pads are a great choice! Not only are you able to clean your cooktop with one side of the pad, but you can also polish it to a shine with the other. These pads are designed to clean and polish your other kitchen appliances as well, making this product a great time-saving option for your kitchen.

Mrs. Meyer’s Baking Soda Cream Cleaner

We love Mrs. Meyer’s products for their effective cleaning ability without harmful chemicals. This versatile product is also quite effective at cleaning cooktops! This product is great for daily cleaning of your cooktop but may require a backup solution for some tougher, baked-on messes.

Cleaners that should NOT be used on glass cooktops

Glass cleaners might seem like the best way to clean your glass cooktop, but unfortunately, they’re not! Most contain ammonia, which has been shown to damage the cooktop coating. Further, ammonia is not strong enough to remove burnt or sticky food, so they are a type of cleaner that should be avoided altogether.

Like I mentioned earlier, abrasive chemical cleaners like Ajax are too harsh for a glass cooktop. Many are made with fine-grain minerals like feldspar, silica, and quartz, which is akin to scrubbing your cooktop with tiny rocks. Let’s pass on that.

Maybe this is a no-brainer, but rough sponges or steel wool are a definite no-go for your cooktop. They will leave small scratches in the glass and create a dull, non-reflective surface. 

Non-detergent methods for cleaning glass cooktops

As mentioned above, certain detergents can be abrasive. DIY natural cleaning products can often be an efficient alternative to commercial cleaning products and just as effective in many cleaning situations. We’ve provided some options for cleaning with natural ingredients you likely (and should!) already have on hand! By using these methods, you’ll get your glass cooktop sparkling clean within minutes. You’re welcome 😉

For each of the following methods, please ensure that your cooktop surface is cool to the touch to avoid injury and protect your cook surface from baking cleansers into a hard crust.

Vinegar and Baking Soda

To use this cleaning method, follow these steps after your cooktop surface is cool to the touch:

1. Spray white vinegar evenly across the cooktop’s surface. Allow the vinegar to soak the burnt food for a few minutes.
2. Wipe the cooktop clear with a damp cloth, making sure to get up as much burnt food and greasy spots as possible.
3. Generously sprinkle baking soda all over the glass top, and make sure that all burnt food has been covered.
4. Dampen a clean kitchen cloth or small towel in hot water and place it on the cooktop to moisten the baking soda for about 15 minutes.
5. Scrub your cooktop in circular motions to remove the baking soda and burnt food. 
6. Repeat the above steps if necessary.

Baking soda and liquid soap

To use this method to clean your cooktop, do the following:

1. Prepare your cleaning product by mixing ½ cup of baking soda and one tablespoon of natural liquid soap in a small dish or a dedicated bowl. 
2. Combine the baking soda and the liquid soap, which will create a paste (add a bit of water if necessary to get the right texture). 
3. Apply to a small portion of a soft, clean rag. 
4. Working in a circular motion, scrub your cooktop until you get all of the sticky food off.
5. Repeat the application of the cleaning paste to the cooking surface as needed to remove stubborn food.

The best way to remove burnt food from a glass cooktop

Badly-burnt food stains on a glass cooktop are the stuff of nightmares. Here are some tips for gently removing burnt food using things from around your house.

Liquid Soap, Baking Soda and Lemon Juice

Give the following cleaning method a try:

1. Pour one cup of warm water in a bucket and add ¼ cup of natural liquid soap and one tablespoon of lemon juice.
2. Soak an old kitchen cloth, wring it out a bit, and place it on the surface for approximately 30 minutes to allow the burnt food to rehydrate and soften.
3. Scrub the cooktop in a circular motion using the damp cloth until the burnt food has loosened and come up.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 if stubborn burnt food still remains.

Spoon, Baking Soda, Olive Oil, and Lemon Juice

If you have an extensive and badly burnt spill, try this method:

1. Once your stove is cool to the touch, lubricate the stain with some olive oil and allow it to sit for a minute.
2. Gently use the spoon to scrape off larger debris. Be gentle enough that you don’t accidentally scratch the cooktop surface. Continue with this step until food no longer comes up with your scraping.
3. Mix baking soda, lemon juice, and a little bit of water to make the mixture into a paste. 
4. Apply the paste on the burnt food stains and let the mixture sit for up to 10 minutes.
5. Use a soft cloth to scrub the burnt area using a circular motion.
6. Repeat the application of paste if necessary to remaining stains.
7. When all stains are removed, clean the cooktop with warm water and soap to remove any remaining cleaning paste from the surface and dry with a clean, dry cloth.

We hope that this article has shed some light on the Dos and Don’ts of cleaning a glass cooktop. Are there other tricks to cleaning glass cooktops that weren’t covered here that you’d like to share? Let us know!