Dusting off your grill to make burgers, hot dogs and other backyard BBQ staples? Make sure to give it a good cleaning first. You might be underestimating how gross your grill is, even after months without use: We’re talking 1.7 million bacteria microbes per square centimeter on an average grill, according to a 2013 study. That’s why you’ll want a tool like this scraper brush at the ready.
Eco-cleaning professional and Hudstone Home founder Elizabeth Davis previously told HuffPost that food and grease buildup on a grill can cause foodborne illness because it attracts bacteria, including salmonella, E. coli and listeria. While that’s reason enough in our eyes to be cleaning your grill regularly, there are also other factors to think about: Old debris like dirt and crumbs can be a fire hazard, and going too long without cleaning can cause rusting, damaging your — no doubt expensive — appliance.
When it comes to the best product for cleaning your grill, we trust the experts. Meathead Goldwyn, founder of AmazingRibs.com, a BBQ Hall of Famer and the author of “Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling,” told HuffPost that his favorite tool for cleaning his grill is this scraper brush by Grill Rescue.
Grill Rescue was founded by Anthony Tranchida and Scott Mobley. Mobley has years of experience as a firefighter, and also cooked at the firehouse, inspiring him to make this scraper brush.
The brush is notable for a few reasons. First, it’s bristle-free, so you don’t have to worry about bristles breaking off, and can safely use the brush on gas, charcoal, porcelain and other surfaces. It instead has a layer of aramid fiber, which is used in firefighter gear and can withstand heat up to 600 degrees.
There’s a metal scraper on the head to get at bigger gunk, but the pad also uses steam, aided by the grill’s heat, for effective cleaning. “To use the Grill Rescue grate cleaner, I dip it in a bucket of water for a few seconds, and then I wipe it across hot grates,” Goldwyn wrote on his website. “The water boils and steams off the grease. The pad gets black quickly but it you can wash it by hand or in the dishwasher and it works like new for many, many uses. When worn out, you can replace the pad.” You can buy the pad replacement either with or without the scraper.
Reviewers are similarly impressed with the convenience and effectiveness of the brush. One proclaimed, “This is the best product I have ever used to clean [my] grill,” while multiple others vouch that the brush works as advertised. The safety aspect of being able to clean without wire bristles was also a hit among reviewers.
“Holy Moly, worth every penny we paid,” yet another reviewer gushed. “This thing cleans like nobody’s business.”
Keep those nasty bacteria off of your grill with this steam-cleaning, firefighter- and grillmaster-approved tool by clicking the link below, or keep scrolling to read more glowing reviews from happy grill owners.
“I purchased two of these (one for my mother-n-law and one for myself) and it has made cleaning the grill so much easier. Also safer. My mother-n-law has a flat top grill that they use the most and was always outside scraping and using a sponge to clean her grill. I heard of this tool a while back and decided it was time to make a purchase and make my mother-n-laws life a whole lot easier. The first day we used it at her house was on 4th of July. So we cooked hamburgers, hot dogs, corn, and a few other stuff. Well, cheese on the hamburgers melted on the grill so by night time… everything was cooked on. We took out this tool and went to work. Two minutes later… the grill was clean and no issues.
Last weekend, I got to try it out on my Weber. I always had a hard time cleaning the sides of the grates. I took a bowl of water, turned on the grill, and with 3 passes… It lifted all the grease and bits and pieces that were cooked on. This thing is awesome and now I ask myself why I hesitated buying it a long time ago.” — Ivan Infante
“I was skeptical… I saw it on FB after all.
But, i also wasn’t loving my existing regular wire brush. The buildup never really seemed to actually get clean.
I used this the first couple times without leaving myself enough time to adequately clean, and even then I noticed a difference. When I finally planned ahead enough to let the grill get nice and hot, and spend some time cleaning, it was such an improvement! The gunk was gone! I need to turn the grates over and do the other side, but I finally feel like I got the grill clean!!!” — Erika“Throw away every other grill cleaner you have and GET THIS ONE NOW! It’s a must have. So easy to use and very effective. Doesn’t leave any little metal pieces all over the place like all the other ones. Where has this been all my grilling life?? I’ll never use anything else!” — CLB
“No more wasting propane to keep the burners on in order to burn off gunk on the grill or scraping with the wire brush. Clean-up is easy now.” — p bauman
Need more cleaning products? Check out these low-effort winners rounded up by HuffPost shopping writer Tessa Flores:
Amazon
A pressurized hand-held steam cleaner
This pressurized hand-held steamer recently became a hot-ticket item among HuffPost readers. Using a combination of high heat (230 degrees to be exact),1,200 watts of pressure, and a variety of brush heads, this cleaner easily powers through grime in hard-to-reach areas like baseboards, moldings, stovetops and tile grout, without the use of harmful chemicals. There are additional discounts of up to 20% off if you redeem the current on-page coupon codes.
Amazon
The truly magical Bissell carpet and upholstery cleaner
After continuously maintaining its rightful place as one of HuffPost’s top-selling products, I finally gave in to the hype and bought a Bissell Little Green carpet and upholstery cleaner a few months ago and it’s one of my most prized cleaning possessions. I’ve used it to magic away an entire spilled iced matcha latte from my rug, remove years-old stains on my baby pink velvet chairs and breathe new life into my couch that’s been tarnished with pet stains more than a few times. It’s incredibly easy to use: once you fill one side with the water and cleaning solution mixture, just plug it in and the nozzle sprays the water while the brush powerfully lifts and suctions away and kind of dust, mess or grime from soft surfaces. Not only is it incredibly effective, it’s also super simple to keep clean thanks to the separate wastewater reservoir and the self-cleaning nozzle.
Although this tool is already compact, the brand very recently launched a mini version with all the same cleaning power, just packed into a smaller build.
Promising Amazon review: “Okay. I waited a long time to review this because up until last night I only used it to clean some pillows. My dog has been sick the last couple days and had a huge and I mean huge diarrhea episode on our recently carpeted stairs and this thing cleaned it all up like a beast. It was like it never happened. We picked up as much as we would with clorox wipes and sprayed with resolve and out the Bissell into action. It worked wonders!” — Missy L.
Amazon
The famed cordless electric spin brush
Clean grout, stone, tile, hard surfaces, car rims, baseboards, ceilings and bathroom or living room floors with this chargeable cordless electric spin scrubber with a retractable pole. It lets you reach the ground without hunching over, scrubbing away dirt and grime simply by pushing the triggers. This machine comes with four rotating brush heads for reaching corners and cleaning wider surfaces. Many reviewers say scrubbing is effortless and doesn’t require much arm, back or leg strain to clean.
Promising Amazon review: “This product exceeded my expectations and I use it far more often than I thought I would. It works well on my bathtub and tile and does a much better job than my hand scrubbing. Great not having to bend over to clean the tub. Nice choice of brushes to use and plenty of battery life. Would buy again.” — Amazon customer
Amazon
An eternally viral multi-purpose cleaning scrub
The Pink Stuff cleaning paste has earned a special place in HuffPost’s unofficial cleaning hall of fame for its versatility and mess-tackling ability that seems to know no bounds and has been touted by many reviewers as “a miracle in a jar.” At just $6 a tub, this rhubarb-scented scrub renews rust-caked pots and pans, eliminates permanent marker from walls, makes glass and shower doors sparkle and cleans filthy oven interiors. The non-abrasive, non-toxic and scratch-free formula can even work on removing stains from wood and marble.
Pro-tip: Several reviewers say this works even better when combined with the also famous Scrub Daddy sponge.
Promising Amazon review: “WOW! This stuff really works! I hate my black glass stove top because everything sticks to it, every single little thing. And it’s next to impossible to get it clean. I have tried every home remedy, almost every cleanser out there but to no avail. Even ones especially made for glass cooktops. I’ve used razors and green scrubber things. Other than scratching up the surface they did nothing. PINK STUFF WORKS. Thank goodness! I have a bright shiny black surface now. Try it yourself. You will love it.” — Grammie
Amazon
Ice machine cleaning tablets
If you’re the proud owner of one of those trendy countertop ice machines, then you might have also noticed that they’re not the easiest to clean. These zero-effort tablets are formulated to give your beloved appliance a deep clean, descale the interior surfaces and fend off mold so that your ice machine runs better and makes the best-tasting ice possible.
Promising Amazon reviews: “This works so good in my portable ice maker it was black on the inside and I was trying to figure out a way to clean it in my roommate sent me a link to this product and within 24 hours it looked pristine and brand new and ice taste perfect now with portable ice makers I suggest you run it through at least four or five times to get all the chemicals out before ingesting ice” — shannon byers
“I have a countertop ice machine (almost 2 yrs old) and live in a home with very hard well water. The machine began to smell musty and I tried vinegar, citric acid, hydrogen peroxide and other things and the smell returned within a few days. This product got the ice maker clean and odorless-I highly recommend!” — Rita S.
Amazon
A lightweight wet to dry vacuum
Taken from the “For You” pages of TikTok, the Tineco Floor One S3 is a vacuum cleaner that’s become famous for making easy work of disappearing wet and dry messes from various floor types. Since we first started covering it (and other Tinco models and generations), it’s also been a favorite among readers and members of our own newsroom. The vac uses a clean water tank and a dirty water tank, so while it suctions debris, a mop roller head uses the clean water to scrub and polish your floor.
The vacuum not only hoovers up dirt, but also sucks up the dirty water left from the mopping process making this a one-step solution to floor messes. This is a huge advantage over most wiping robot mops, which scrub well enough but don’t actually remove dirty water. Cordless, self-propelling and lightweight, the Tineco smartly and accurately senses the difference between the type of mess that it’s been assigned to optimize the type of suction and flow control
I wanted to address some of the complaints I saw in other reviews: 1. Refilling the clean tank – I do usually refill the clean take half way through but, again, my entire main level is tile so it’s a big area. You only need to use one cap full of the cleaner and the rest is water. Two bottles of cleaner come with the product, which is super nice! Someone else made a great point – if you want a bigger tank, get the bigger option. 2. Cleaning the mop vac – yeah, you need to dump the dirty container and clean the parts. You have to do the same for a vacuum and regular mop. This is super easy to clean. You dump the dirty contents into the toilet and rinse the canister. The roller is super easy to remove. Rinse it and let it dry. It takes less than a day to dry but you get two in the box so I just swap my roller daily. If you plan to mop more than once a day, buy more rollers. Then wipe down the space where you took the roller off and clean out any hair (it can get stuck between the roller and the dirty container). Pop everything back in place and boom, clean in two minutes. 3. Charge – I let it charge fully and I haven’t had any issues with it dying mid cleaning.
Ultimately this gave me freedom from a chore I hate and made it so I don’t have to worry about dirty floors. My babies can play in the mud and come inside and I know it will be cleaned up in no time. Do yourself a favor and buy a mop vac!” — Shay & Drew
