Drip pans on electric stoves can get really gross - here's how to clean your nasty drip pans, easily!

How to clean drip pans on an electric stove

My fiance tried to scrub my drip pans (those metal thingies under the stove burners on an electric stove) clean a while ago, but he gave up. The stuff was just too baked-on.

Girls like to "think smarter, not harder." Have you ever seen the shirt that says, "Of course I don't look busy. I did it right the first time." Yeah.

So… I got to thinking there MUST be a way to get rid of the gunk easily. My fiance proved that soaking it in soapy water didn't work, nor did scrubbing with a plastic brillo-pad type thing. I had an idea. Follow along to see if it worked. 😀

Step 1: Remove the drip pans. First you will need to remove the burners by lifting…

and pulling straight out (sideways) to unplug them.

Gross, huh?

Step two: Marvel at the grossness. This is also a good time to clean the surface of your stove.

Step three: Put the drip pans in the sink and spray each one with a lot of WD-40. Then leave the room, so you won't get that lightheaded feeling. Unless that's what you're going for.

Step four: Do some laundry, browse around on Joyful Abode, and generally forget about the drip pans in your sink.

Step five: Try to cook dinner, but realize your stove is disassembled and there are WD-40-soaked drip pans in your sink. Scrub vigorously. Make sure you get all of the WD-40 off, so you don't explode when you replace the drip pans and turn on your stove. Stand in awe of the joy of WD-40, which by the way is not a lubricant, but a solvent.

Step six: Really, make sure you get all the WD-40 off.

Step seven. Ooh, ahh.

Step eight: Put the drip pans back on the stove, and plug the burners back in.

I bet you can't wait to clean your drip pans now. Right?