The thread on favorite household cleaners got me wondering about how best to use (or not use) STPP as a hard surface cleaner.
The advantages of using STPP for this include:
1) Relatively gentle on hands. Much gentler than sodium carbonate (washing soda) or TSP (tri-sodium phosphate).
2) Known ability to break soil away and hold it in suspension.
3) Non-toxic - no nasty solvents.
4) Doesn't involve use of caustics like lye.
I had a grimy black "gas on glass" cooktop to clean last night. The drip bowls, which are basically fixed (although I have disassembled the cooktop in the past to clean them) were marred with burnt on drippings. The advantage of black is that they don't show up as easily, but still. So after using F409, I decided to try STPP.
I made a concentrated solution of STPP with 10% sodium metasilicate (standard mix I use to boost laundry, the silicate could probably be omitted for hard surfaces). It wound up looking like milk. I applied this with a sponge to the drip bowls and some sections of glass. After some scrubbing with a no-scratch Scotchbrite sponge/pad, I decided to let it sit overnight. This morning I was able to remove nearly all of the remaining burnt on drippings with the scrub pad.
I did find that a dried on STPP spot on the glass left a rather scrub resistant ring. For a while I thought that I had managed to etch the glass with the phosphate solution :-(. But I broke out the Clorox Soft Scrub and it came right off.
Conclusion: STPP will work to soften and loosen burnt on drippings on stovetops so it can be scrubbed away. I would suggest testing on an inconspicuous corner first if etching is a concern. I didn't find any etching of the porcelain drip bowls or glass. It's a lot nicer to work with than lye, Easy-Off, or solvent-based cleaners. I didn't wear gloves and my hands feel fine (and the fingernails are very clean!). To keep risk of etching down, apply only to cool surfaces.
The advantages of using STPP for this include:
1) Relatively gentle on hands. Much gentler than sodium carbonate (washing soda) or TSP (tri-sodium phosphate).
2) Known ability to break soil away and hold it in suspension.
3) Non-toxic - no nasty solvents.
4) Doesn't involve use of caustics like lye.
I had a grimy black "gas on glass" cooktop to clean last night. The drip bowls, which are basically fixed (although I have disassembled the cooktop in the past to clean them) were marred with burnt on drippings. The advantage of black is that they don't show up as easily, but still. So after using F409, I decided to try STPP.
I made a concentrated solution of STPP with 10% sodium metasilicate (standard mix I use to boost laundry, the silicate could probably be omitted for hard surfaces). It wound up looking like milk. I applied this with a sponge to the drip bowls and some sections of glass. After some scrubbing with a no-scratch Scotchbrite sponge/pad, I decided to let it sit overnight. This morning I was able to remove nearly all of the remaining burnt on drippings with the scrub pad.
I did find that a dried on STPP spot on the glass left a rather scrub resistant ring. For a while I thought that I had managed to etch the glass with the phosphate solution :-(. But I broke out the Clorox Soft Scrub and it came right off.
Conclusion: STPP will work to soften and loosen burnt on drippings on stovetops so it can be scrubbed away. I would suggest testing on an inconspicuous corner first if etching is a concern. I didn't find any etching of the porcelain drip bowls or glass. It's a lot nicer to work with than lye, Easy-Off, or solvent-based cleaners. I didn't wear gloves and my hands feel fine (and the fingernails are very clean!). To keep risk of etching down, apply only to cool surfaces.
