Grease around Stove (Impossible to Remove)

[thehick]

I am cleaning up a rental (you know what that means) apartment and the grease on the walls around the stove is proving very difficult to remove. Tried: Baking Soda, TSP, Dishwashing Detergent, Bleach, WD40, Lysol, Spray Nine. Tomorrow I'll try Dunk (automotive degreaser). It just isn't coming off.

I guess I could scrape it too and then sand it but that'll make an unholy dusty mess of the kitchen. We want to paint the whole apartment so if the paint comes off, that's OK too. Underneath is probably plaster. Not drywall.

Any other suggestions? thanks...thehick

[Stormin Mormon]

Ask for the stuff Limbaugh reccomends. Greased Lighning. It's lye and some soap. Much the same as oven cleaner. Definitely needs gloves, lye eats skin.

I've had good results with Simple Green. And I like the root beer barrel scent. Nylon scrubby pads, gloves, rinse.

[spammer]

Since you're planning to paint anyway, you could try a paste paint remover. It will soften the paint under the grease, then scrape off the whole mess, then prime and paint.

[zxcvbob]

You need a stronger alkaline cleaner. Heavy duty oven cleaner, or undiluted extra strength (10% to 27%) ammonium hydroxide. You can get the ammonia at Ace Hardware for about $2.50 per quart.

If you want something cheap and less nasty to work with, you can try washing soda and hot water first. Don't expect it to work, but it's worth a try.

I recommend the oven cleaner.

Bob

[thehick]

thanks for the suggestions. i knew about greased lightning but i haven't seen it yet. i'll try walmart tomorrow. hmmm. alkaline cleaner? is that a clue for me that i've been using the wrong type of cleaner? ...thehick

[Lawrence]

Once you have tried the things you said then you are not expected to do anything else, especially on a rental. It's clean enough for paint. I use an oil-based enamel on problem surfaces, a real problem fixer.

[zxcvbob]

You were on the right track with the TSP, but it's not strong enough. You need something that will attack polymerized vegetable oil, and that something is lye. It has gotten almost impossible to buy lye anymore, but heavy duty oven cleaner will contain either lye or some kind of caustic amine chemical that is almost as alkaline and will work.

If you try the washing soda, it comes in a big yellow box, and is sometimes hard to find. It's not the same thing as baking soda. It will be next to the borax in the laundry detergent aisle.

I probably shouldn't have mentioned the extra strength ammonia because its fumes are so bad.

Bob

[j]

Had this problem for years on the wallpaper behind the stove. It laughed any cleaner i tried.

Tried a Magic Eraser and water on a whim - frigging amazing - like the finger of God.

[Jim Elbrecht]

I just got some stuff at Sam's- says it is for commercial use only- and you definitely want to use gloves.

"Proforce"- works wonders on baked on grease- says it is good for ovens, grills, etc. The second ingredient [after water] is Sodium Hydroxide aka lye. Comes in a handy spray bottle.

OTOH- its a rental. . .get it close and paint it.

Jim

[Stormin Mormon]

Most alkaline cleaners have the word hydroxide in their list of ingredients. Lye is sodium hydroxide, for an example.

Alkalines turn grease into soap, a process called saponification. It's how folks used to make soap. Lye mixed with animal fats, and then heat.

You can do the same, and the resulting soap rinses off the walls easier than dried grease.

[Doug Miller]

Washing soda. Not baking soda, washing soda. Available in many grocery stores on the same aisle as laundry detergent. When you find the "20-Mule Team Borax", you're getting close.

Mix a cup or two of it into a gallon of warm water, and start scrubbing.

It's nearly as effective a degreaser as lye, but nowhere nearly as dangerous. Just the same, wear rubber gloves and goggles. You don't want to splash the stuff in your eyes, and without gloves you will soon know the *exact* location of every tiny nick, cut, hangnail, or splinter on your fingers and hands.

[thehick]

I understand. Tomorrow. Today I tried full-strength Dunk which usually cleans my engine pretty well. No effect on the greasy walls! I checked Rona and Walmart and couldn't find any lye. Got some oven cleaner. Tomorrow I'll go to Sam's Club and check their cleaning aisle. Gonna look for Washing Soda and something-hydroxide. thanks to all for bearing with me on this mission...thehick

[harleyron]

A question of how to remove grease was asked and to this I say:

Try fresh vegetable oil. Just take corn oil, canola,peanut or what have on A rag and massage the walls. The new stuff liquefies the old oil and grease than after it is liquified it can be removed with any household cleaner. I have not tried this on on drywall but it works on hard surfaces like stove tops and counters so it should work on plaster.

Good Luck! H.R.

[jJim McLaughlin]

Simple Green. Start with a 25 % solution in w hot repeat hot water.

If that doesnt work, go to 50 % solution. In hot water.

Let it sit / stand whatever > I am cleaning up a rental (you know what that means) apartment

[Just Joshin]

When I moved into my house, I found parts of my stove too greasy. I thought nothing was working, but the truth was it was working, greenie with tough detergent. Just that it was removing layers of grease, but there was many, many layers of grease. After a while I won.

tom @

[Nexus7]

Mineral spirits, regular, not the low odor stuff.

[Meat Plow]

Lye soap or oven cleaner will take the grease but probably take paint.

[Just Joshin]

Isn't Lye the active ingredient in Easy Off?

tom

[xPosTech]

Must agree. Stuff will remove almost anything. Including skin around fingernails. Find it at $ General.

[Dave Bugg]

Denatured alcohol works great for old, hardened grease as well.