Spend Less Time Scrubbing

Being a busy mom (I know just the word "Mom" implies the busy!) I am always looking for time savers and I have found a great one when it comes to cleaning. I make many of my cleaners, but this idea just can't be beat! I know it is using chemicals, so you may or may not like the idea... I just like the idea of simple!

I HATE cleaning the stove and the drip pans. Yes, I have a dinosaur that I inherited when we moved into our house. It is electric, with burners and drip pans that don't truly fit together. They are a pain!! However, they must be cleaned.  I have tried everything under the sun, from soaking the drip pans with a dryer sheet, to scrubbing with SOS pads and they just never seem to get all the way clean. Plus the scrubbing is just something I don't have time to do!

I found this incredible cleaning method through pinterest and the blog One Good Thing by Jillee. Here is the link: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/ I recommend following her blog and her boards on pinterest. She finds amazing cleaning tips and tricks, crafty things to do, recipes, home decor, a little of everything. I have gotten many great ideas following her and I must give credit to her and she gives credit to whomever she gets her ideas from. I think she says this cleaning tip came from the blog The V Spot.

Any way, back to cleaning....

So here I am with these nasty drip pans that I really don't feel like scrubbing... so I keep putting off cleaning the stove and they just get worse and worse, when I come across this simple solution: soak drip pans and burners in a sealed bag with a few splashes of ammonia - that's it!!

 

 

Jillee suggests soaking for 24 hours, however I put them in bags in the morning and washed them before going to bed so it was only about 12 hours and they still came out great!!! She also suggests making and additional cleaning paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to scrub off the last of the residue, however I found it wasn't really necessary for mine. They washed up nicely after they had their little soak!

 

 

I had a nice after picture of the drip pans out of the stove... but I must have deleted it because I can't find it!! Oh well. As you can see in the picture, my stove is shiny and clean.... only to be messed up again in a few short minutes when someone decides to cook!!

 

 

I hope this trick will help you save some time as you get ready for your holiday parties and gatherings of family and friends! Follow my board on Pinterest - Cleaning Tips and Tricks for many other ideas. You can find it here: http://pinterest.com/ackerstew/cleaning-tips-and-tricks/  Take some time to enjoy the holiday season... and spend less time cleaning!!!