How to clean mineral scale off metal grates safely
Standard cleaners like Lime-A-Way or dish soap frequently fail on tough marks and scale, leading people to experiment with strong acids like vinegar or citric acid. However, acidic products will burn aluminum grates, making chemical removal dangerous if the metal is not stainless steel. Scraping thick buildup gently with a razor blade and scrubbing the remainder with Comet or an SOS soap pad removes the scale without damaging sensitive surfaces.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1soaking in baking soda and vinegar
- 2using Lime-A-Way
- 3soaking in citric acid or LemiShine
- 4soaking in oxyclean
- 5scrubbing with dish soap
- 6soaking in denture tablets
- 7scraping with a razor blade
- 8using Comet or SOS soap pads
- 9Scrubbing with dish soap, water, and a microfiber towel
- 10Rubbing the surface with a tiny amount of neutral oil (like olive or sunflower oil) on a cloth, then buffing it with a clean microfiber cloth
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Cleaning these has been very unsuccessful. Was thinking maybe a baking soda/vinegar soak? Lime-A-Way did nothing to them :/”source ↗
“My wife and I just got our new range and hood installed but there’s these marks on there. We think it’s fingerprints from the guys who installed it. We used dish soap and water and scrubbing it with a microfiber towel along the grain.”source ↗
“i have seen a lot of folks here talk about barkeeps friend. Also i have been having luck cleaning odd things with citric acid.”source ↗
“Be careful with acidic products. That is aluminum not stainless steel. Acid based products will “burn”. Gently use a razor blade to scrape off the thick stuff. Try Comet or an SOS soap pad for the rest.”source ↗
Where this came up
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