How can I clean my iron pan stands?

[MerryMarigold]

I'm sure they're covered in layers of grease as I am constantly scrubbing the rest of the cooker, but they hide it so well , so I just give them a quick wipe over. If I want to give them a good clean without putting too much elbow grease into it, what would I use?

The bath, run very hot water, add a scoop of biological washing powder and put them in for a soak. Biological powder will break down the grease. Give them a scrub with a brush and then rinse and dry well.
Added bonus of using the bath other than the size is any of the dirty greasy splashes will stay in the bath or at worst on the tiles and not half way round your kitchen!

remembering that if the bath gets chipped or scratched, it will cost you a bit to replace it.

Plumbers still talk of replacing baths for people who used to wash their steel venetian blinds in them...

Merry, I assume you haven't got a dishwasher?

After you have cleaned them, dry them in the oven before they can go rusty, rub off any odd rust marks with a scourer, and rub over a little cooking oil to preserve bare metal.

Thanks for the biological tip. I have a very large sink and the pan stands can actually sit inside it completely so I can do it there. I do have a dishwasher. But I don't think it'll get this stuff off. It struggles with the dishes let alone layers of grease!!! But maybe that would be a way to maintain them rather than letting them get filthy. How often should I do them in the dishwasher?

I put mine through the dishwasher once every couple of weeks, but they arn't iron, (not sure what they are to be honest, sort of painted). I imagine they would be fine as long as you dry them well and treat them as PigletJohn said.

enamel? like the material they sit on top of? My old ones used to be like that and they were easier to clean as you could just cillit bang 'em and they'd be beautifully shiny after. These ones are a pain and I'm not sure what will damage them.

Enamel yes!! Well I think! In my defence the cooker came with the house!

I think you can pretty much use most things on iron, so long as you dry thoroughly and treat any rust! But I know the biological powder is great for taking the elbow grease out of cleaning jobs. I use it to mop my floors, really so much better than any off the shef product for de greasing and smells so much nicer

Great! I have been converted to Tesco value biological liquid. It smells really nice and is v cheap (a whole lot cheaper than Flash that's for sure). I'll give it a go today on the pan stands and try it on the floor soon. I tend to use Fairy Liquid on just about everything other than washing clothes, although I've found that WD40 cleans brushed stainless steel amazingly well. Thanks