If sunny garden parties with friends and family have left your BBQ looking worse for wear, fear not. We have a simple tip from a metals expert to help you give your grill a good clean before firing up for your next guests.
His BBQ cleaning technique involves some good old bicarbonate of soda, which is less likely to cause scratches on the surface of your best BBQ than some other cleaners.
Metals expert Paul McFadyen, managing director at specialist metal provider, metals4U has shared his top tip. 'Stainless steel is used for barbecue grills as it's hard-wearing and doesn't rust like most other metals,' Paul begins.
'When cleaning it you should be really careful not to use anything too abrasive that might damage the metal coating,' he says. 'We advise using baking soda mixed with water to form a paste to remove any dirt as it is non-toxic.'
Paul also recommends rinsing the area thoroughly after treating it and drying the BBQ with a microfiber cloth to prevent any watermarks.
Metal expert Paul says that you can also use baking soda to clean aluminium - so it's worth testing it out on any grubby pots and pans in the kitchen. If you have any stubborn stains on the bottom of your pans, try using the same paste to get them looking shiny and new.
If you don't have any baking soda to hand, Baqir Khan from Proactive Cleaners recommends other natural cleaners, such as white vinegar. This will also break down grease and dirt - although it will likely need some hard scrubbing for a proper clean.
'The best time to clean a barbecue would be pretty much straight after it's been used and, in the case of charcoal grills, when the coals are no longer smoking,' Baqir tells us. 'This ensures food and other debris has less time to char and harden on and should involve less scrubbing.'
For more ways to get your grill sparkling, read our guide on how to clean a BBQ.
Will you be trying the baking soda hack? If it's good enough for a metal expert, it's good enough for us.
If your outdoor furniture is also looking a little grubby, our guide on how to clean garden furniture will help to revive tired-looking chairs and loungers.
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