If Cleanliness is Next to Godliness, I'm in Big Trouble

My late grandmother probably wouldn't be proud of me. She was the kind of woman who vacuumed and dusted daily. She would get on her hands and knees and use a scrub brush to get her floors sparkling clean.

I'm the kind of gal who vacuums and dusts only when company's coming. I use a Black & Decker battery-powered scrubber to clean my shower, but only after a healthy dousing of Scrubbing Bubbles.

I'd like my home to be spotless. I just don't want to exert the energy required to clean it. I spend big bucks on the latest cleaning sprays that are supposed to instantly, effortlessly dissolve gunk and goo. But most of the time, I find I'm just out another $6, and I still have to scour 'til my fingers go numb.

My mom can get things really clean, but her secret--elbow grease--doesn't do me much good. So I've been reading a lot of home magazines and websites lately. I recently got a hot tip online, and miraculously, it really works. Natch, I had to share it.

Cleaning Stovetop Burner Grates
Most folks I know clean the burner grates on their stove with powder cleanser, a scrubbing pad or brush, and a lot of effort. I, um, don't clean mine. Until now. If you clean your oven regularly, you can put the burner grates inside the oven and spray with oven cleaner. But if you're like me--meaning you clean your oven, um, never--try this:

1) Place one burner grate in a plastic zip-lock bag.

2) Spray oven cleaner into bag, saturating grate. (You also could use ammonia instead of oven cleaner.)

3) Close bag; place bag in oven (so as not to get your kitchen all fumy) and let it sit overnight.

4) The next day, remove grate from bag. Scrub off gunk with a pad or brush (it should come off very easily) and rinse in warm water.

Yay--easy! My stove top is pretty again, with minimal effort. Just don't look inside my oven.