How to Remove Burn Marks from a Glass Stove Top

How to remove burn marks from a glass stove top

When we purchased our current house we were excited about the layout, location, and yard space but the interiors were in need of updates.

Our budget only stretched so far for immediate renovations, so we chose to live with our inherited kitchen and appliances for a few years before doing a full kitchen overhaul. That included our extremely scratched and burnt glass stove top. 

We considered investing in a temporary replacement, but before we went down that route I wanted to try my hand at cleaning our burnt glass stove top.

Through a series of trials and errors I am genuinely impressed by the before and after results.

Here is how to get burn marks off a glass stove top, remove stubborn cloudiness from a glass stove top, and polish away scratches! 

How to get burn marks off a glass stove top

How to remove burn marks from a glass stove top

As I embarked on this glass stove top restoration journey, I knew that my first step would have to be removing the burn marks.

There were layers and layers of burnt food left behind on the main burner (everyone has a favorite burner, right?).

Removing burn marks from the glass cooktop turned out to be a very satisfying process.

Materials: 

Instructions:

Step One: Dish Soap

Cover your burnt stove top with a layer of dish soap. Spread it over the burn marks with your fingers.  

Step Two: White Vinegar

Fill a spray bottle half way with distilled white vinegar and fill the rest with filtered water. (You could also fill the entire thing with distilled white vinegar if you’re feeling wild). 

Step Three: Spray

Spray the dish soap with a generous layer of your vinegar spray. 

Step Four: Wait

Take a break! Let this mixture sit and soften the burn marks for at least half an hour depending on the severity of your mess. I let it sit for just over an hour on my glass stove top before I moved on to the next step.

Step Five: Scrub

Use the rougher, textured side of a damp sponge to scrub your cooktop. It’s going to get sudsy!

Then rinse and use the softer side to wipe away the dish soap vinegar mixture. You should be left with a cleaner cooktop but some burn marks might remain.

Step Six: Razor Blade

If you’re stuck with stubborn burn stains, it’s time to grab a razor (this is the one I used). Hold it at a 45 degree angle and gently use short strokes to scrape away the layer of burnt food.

I found that I had the most success when I applied pressure on the outer edges of the razor blade.

The scraping step can be time consuming and tedious if you’re scraping away layers and layers (and layers…) of burn stains. Don’t quit! I promise this works and you will be left with a smooth, shiny stove top.

See this process in action in the video below:

@acleanbee

How to clean burn marks and cloudiness from a glass stove top #cleaninghacks #cleaningtiktok #cleanstove

♬ original sound – Kait

How to remove cloudiness from a glass stove top

How to remove burn marks from a glass stove top

My cooktop looked SO much better after scraping up the burnt food stains, but I was left with a layer of cloudiness that no razor blade could scrape away.

I believe that this gray, hazy, cloudiness on our glass stove top developed after years of hard water burning onto the glass. Hard water stains are best tackled with acidic cleaners. 

It was at this point in my journey that I decided to try a harsh commercial cleaner advertised to make quick work of mineral buildup on hard surfaces: Lime-a-way.

I applied (and re-applied) this multiple times to my cooktop and did see some progress, but not a lot. It also resulted in some etching in the glass. 

In the end, I gave up on the Lime-a-way and returned to my trusty trio: baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap. This combo plus time and patience proved to be the most effective – I’ll never stray again!

Materials:

Instructions:

Step One: Create a Paste

Create a thick paste by mixing dish soap and baking soda. Think toothpaste texture or even slightly thicker.

Step Two: Apply the Paste

Apply your baking soda and dish soap paste to the cloudy parts on your glass stove top. 

Step Three: Mix Cleaning Spray

Fill a spray bottle halfway (or more) with distilled white vinegar. Top the bottle off with filtered or distilled water.

Step Four: Apply Cleaning Spray

Spray the vinegar over the baking soda and dish soap paste. You will see some fizzy reaction between the baking soda and vinegar but not a lot.

Step Five: Cover with Plastic Wrap

Cover your stove top with plastic wrap taking care to seal around the outside of each cloudy area. Leave this to set overnight.

Step Six: Scrub

The next day, remove the plastic wrap and use the rougher textured side of a sponge (or a cooktop scrubber) to scrub the baking soda, dish soap, and vinegar into the cloudy cooktop. You might want to add some more vinegar spray as you’re doing this. 

Step Seven: Wipe Clean

Use the softer side of a damp sponge to wipe the cleaning mixture off of your stove top until it’s clean.

Step Eight: Polish

Finish by spraying with the vinegar spray and wiping completely clean.

NOTE: If the cloudiness on your stove top is severe like mine was, you might have to repeat this process multiple nights in a row. I did this three nights in a row in order to see significant improvement. I could have probably even done 5 nights in a row to completely eliminate the haze from mine. 

How to remove scratches from a glass stove top

How to remove cloudiness from a glass stove top

At this point my stove top no longer had burn marks or burn stains. The cloudiness on my glass stove top was greatly reduced but I was still left with scratches that needed my attention.

I tried a handful of “natural” solutions for minimizing the appearance of scratches. Ultimately the commercial cooktop polishes worked SO much better than any DIY solution.

So if your goal is to reduce or eliminate the appearance of scratches on your glass stove top, these are the products and methods I recommend.

Materials:

Instructions:

Step One: Apply Polish

Apply a small to medium application of the cooktop polish to your glass stove top burners.

Step Two: Distribute Polish

Use a cleaning rag or paper towel to distribute the polish over the top of your entire burner. 

Step Three: Buff

You can let the cooktop polish dry and then buff it out OR immediately start rubbing the cooktop polish into your glass stove top with your cleaning rag.

Rub in a circular motion and after a minute or two the polish will start to buff into your glass cooktop.

OPTIONAL: Because I was desperate, I also ordered a set of these orbital scrubbers and brush heads that could attach to my drill. I wanted to see if these would make any difference as I was buffing these polishing cleaners into my glass stove top. My results from this were not very impressive, but these orbital scrub brush heads are great for cleaning grout and bathtubs so not all is lost!

NOTE: I had many people suggest that I apply a thick layer of Weiman’s cleaner to my glass stove top then let it dry overnight. I was told to use the razor to scrape away the dried layer of cooktop polish the next morning to reveal a revived glass stove top. I tried this method and there was some improvement, so this method might be worth trying if you want stronger results. 

Other cleaning products worth considering

How to remove cloudiness from a glass stove top

If after reading this post you’re feeling stuck or discouraged because you don’t have my suggested materials on hand, this is a list of additional cleaning products that were highly recommended to me from kind Instagram followers. 

Some of these products I tested (I note my results next to each), and others I never got around to trying. If you have any of these items already in your home then go ahead and start there! 

See my notes for each product suggestion below:

  • Bar Keepers Friend – This is a fantastic product for cleaning tubs and sinks (among other things) but it was no match for my damaged glass stove top. Still worth a try if you already have some on hand!
  • Magic Eraser – I thought this might help sand away some of the cloudiness on my glass stove top. It would have required SO much elbow grease to make even a small improvement but again, worth a try if you already own a pack of these.
  • Olive Oil and Razor Blade – This combination was suggested as an alternative to dish soap and vinegar to soften burnt food before scraping. I didn’t personally try this because the dish soap and vinegar worked so well for me, but if you don’t have those ingredients on hand then this could be worth a try.
  • Sugar cube – I never tried this because I didn’t have any on hand but I’m curious about whether or not it would have made any improvement…
  • Pink stuff – I was close to ordering this product because it was such a popular recommendation! I simply never got around to placing an order. 
  • Toothpaste – This I also never tried. I figured it couldn’t be any more effective than baking soda and dish soap (but much more expensive). 
Learn how to clean burn marks off a glass stove top, how to remove cloudiness from a glass stove top, and how to remove scratches from a glass stove top. Everything you need to know when it comes to cleaning a glass stove top!

And there you have it. My journey to clean my burnt glass stove top. I hope you are able to learn from my successes and mistakes and restore your glass stove top too!

This exercise was a good lesson and reminder that sometimes we THINK objects need to be replaced… when all they actually need is a deep clean. Best of luck!

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One Comment

  1. I was searching for ways to clean candied honey that spilled over while I was making a marinade and, unfortunately, all of these solutions didn’t work. What actually did was oven cleaner! I had to apply it twice and let it sit longer the second time but I finally found something that cleans any stains from the stove with little to no elbow grease!

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