De-greasing the kitchen

[snowangel]

So, I'm having a mess of folks over for Easter, and the days have been sunny, and I'm on a mission to get the walls, cupboards, and all other surfaces in my kitchen (including a ceiling fan) clean and shiny.

What do you use? Some prepared spray bottle? TSP in water? Spic and Span? Mr. Clean? A scrungie? I know that there's elbow grease involved, but I'm thinking that upper part of the ceiling fan has not been cleaned in an age (I know we've lived here for 4 years, and lord only knows what the previous owners didn't do...).\

This is a home kitchen, with a worthless stove vent that is couched between two wooden cupboards).

[hummingbirdkiss]

I just did it with the larder purge ...I take everything I can take down and run it through the dishwasher ..then with a good degreasing dish soap and hot water..I just turn up the music and scrub with a scrubby spongue then rinse then dry ...

sorry no easy tricks but great exercise!

[lancastermike]

The one thing that will take off the grease is a serious steam cleaner. Not those little rinky-dink things that they sell on infomercials.

They can be rented but should be used with some caution. If applied incorrectly the steam will remove not only grease and grime, but also paint, light bulbs, light sheet metal and pets and small children.

[DCP]

The one thing that will take off the grease is a serious steam cleaner. Not those little rinky-dink things that they sell on infomercials.

They can be rented but should be used with some caution. If applied incorrectly the steam will remove not only grease and grime, but also paint, light bulbs, light sheet metal and pets and small children.

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And here I thought waiting for college or adoption were the only ways to get rid of them.

[kbjesq]

Interesting question, as I was just watching the kitchen show on QVC last night when I couldn't sleep, and a "Fuller Brush Man" from the Fuller Brush Company was extorting the wonders of "Fulsol", which is supposedly some kind of miraculous degreasing product that works with water to lift grease and rinses clean. It can be used (he said) on everything from glass, cooktops, grills, etc. to laundry. Well, actually the product description states:

"Grease has met its match. Fulsol Degreaser Spray from Fuller Brush is a free-rinsing blend of solvents and emulsifiers formulated to tackle grease on washable, hard, nonporous surfaces. The lemon-scented foam leaves no residue. You can even use the spray on grease-stained laundry! Biodegradable and phosphate-free."

Now, it sounds too good to be true, but my mother always spoke highly of the "Fuller Brush Man" that used to sell cleaning products door-to-door (I guess, back in the 40's - 50's?)

And of course there is a 30 day money back guarantee. So, I might just order some.

P.S. The product sold on QVC is a spray, but I see that it is also available in a liquid concentrate, (see here for example), use 1 oz. per gallon of water for washing kitchen surfaces.

[chezcherie]

my goddess cleaning lady requested that i buy this:

greased lightning

when i took over a less-than-spotless kitchen.

wow.

i used it the other day, without gloves. the bottle says use gloves for sensitive skin, and i don't think of myself as having that...i am growing back my fingerprints, after most of the skin peeled off my hands! so, do use gloves, but the stuff is amazing.

smart and final carries it, and apparently sam's club, as well.

[maggiethecat]

I swear by ammonia and water -- cheap and effective. Wear rubber gloves and crack your window open.

[emilyr]

I use the orange cleaning products that are out and about. Orange Clean is one brand, I think. Anything that says it contains real orange oil. I know that sounds contradictory, but it works.

[Margo]

Ammonia, and lots of it, like Maggie says. Simple Green is good, too--you can find it at the hardware store more likely than the grocery store.

[scubadoo97]

my goddess cleaning lady requested that i buy this:

greased lightning

when i took over a less-than-spotless kitchen.

wow.

i used it the other day, without gloves. the bottle says use gloves for sensitive skin, and i don't think of myself as having that...i am growing back my fingerprints, after most of the skin peeled off my hands! so, do use gloves, but the stuff is amazing.

smart and final carries it, and apparently sam's club, as well.

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Greased Lightning is a great degreaser. I buy it by the gallons. Use it to clean everything from the kitchen to the deck chairs and pool deck. It is not good to breath and is harsh on skin so use it with caution. I have switched to Simple Green in the kitchen more often because it claims to be non toxic. Simple Green was developed to clean the oil out of coffee drum roasters. It works well but not as good and the Greased Lightning. With GL you just spray on and immediately rinse off. The grease is gone. Usually the biggest grease problem I deal with in the kitchen is clean up around the rangetop and cleaning my ventilation hood. I tear down the hood often like once a week and give it a good cleaning. I guess I'm too impatient to use the dishwasher to clean the baffles and I want to get up inside it to clean all the surfaces I can reach.

[DerekW]

Usually the biggest grease problem I deal with in the kitchen is clean up around the rangetop and cleaning my ventilation hood.

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For cleaning around the hood and range, I'm fond of "Goo Gone" [the original stuff in the bottle, not one of their task specific reformulations]. We keep a little pump spray bottle of it for kitchen cleaning. Citrus terpene based, I think. A light spray, a wipe with a paper towel if the build-up was particularly thick and a further wipe with a damp sponge. Done.

That said, I'm absolutely loving the spin-trap, non filtration 600cfm hood we finally installed to replace the useless old recirculator. Seeing [and scooping out] the accumulating sludge from the catchers sure beats having the same sludge build up on the kitchen surfaces