Trying to clean an aga

[JaneB29]

Have inherited an aga in our new home, the top is filthy, very scratched, covered in very thick grease, have tired scraping this off with an aga approved scraper, seems mostly to be making the top more scratched and dull looking. Aga is not in current use, is oil fired and not yet up and running. Lid tops also very scratched, tarnished and dented. Any tips gratefully received.

Do you know if the thing actually works? I wouldn't like to see anyone break their spirit attempting to reclaim the surface of something where the guts of the mechanism are knackered.

Can you get the thing serviced by Aga - or a local engineer - at a halfway reasonable cost? If it's still working, I'd be tempted to see if you can source some new parts. The existing ones sound as if they've more or less had it.

Ooh, we've just inherited an Aga too. It was on when we moved in, so firing it up is still a mystery!!

Your description matches ours exactly although I'm not sure if some of the wear is on or in the enamel. It's due a service in the new year and it will get a proper clean then.

Have you had one before?

Unfortunately I've got nothing constructive to add apart from I think ours would be much more disgusting if it were cold - the continual heat does burn off any grime in the business area! I think the previous post is right and checking it's in good working order is a sensible idea!

Looking forward to reading any more constructive cleaning tips:-)

In some ways it is easier to clean when cold as you tend to burn yourself on hot agas! Aga do special cleaning products so you could look on their website and then you can often but them cheaper on eBay when you know what you need. You can buy round aga pads which cover the lids to make it look more presentable.

BTW you do learn to love the beast. I hate it when mine is turned off in the summer.

Replacement lids? Think you can buy new ones or reconditioned ones...

Ive had mine for 15 years now. If there is thick baked on grime it can be easier to scrape off when The aga is on as it softens it a bit. Although I know this can be contrary to aga advice I have used a diy palette knife type of gadget to carefully scrape off as much as possible. Then I use a Brillo pad to get off as much of the baked on stuff as possible. Once the worst is done I use a scourer with fairy liquid followed by a damp cloth to rinse clean. Micro fibre cloths are very good for buffing to a shine afterwards.

Companies that specialise in reconditioned agas would probably come out to replace parts if need be but if you look on the aga web site you can order things like thermometers, seals, new lids and handles if you are able to do it yourself. I think there are even some sites giving tips for doing up an aga.

You could get a specialist aga cleaner out if you don't mind the cost and I expect they would be able to replace some of the small parts.

I love mine so much I never turn it off and don't have any other cooker.

Good luck.

I've never had my own Aga but I've lived with other people's briefly (both oil and wood-fired) and the thing that strikes me is that they're usually a system and not just an implement. My own house has been in the family for long enough that I know most of the features from their installation or renovation but a strange Aga (or Raeburn - I use the two terms interchangeably) would make me want to be checking more than the lid covers.

They might well, for example, be providing hot water when operating so I'd be wanting to eg have the plumbing checked out, the fuel feeds, the exhaust systems etc etc. I did like them very much when I was using them but I would be unlikely to invest considerable time in renovating the surface of something where the innards might be non-operational or in difficulty.

Good luck with it.

Thank you so much for your feedback. We have had the aga serviced and it is in working order. The plumber is checking whether the hot water pipes are actually still fixed to the hot water system. I have been given aga pads for the lids as a Christmas present and my (fairly adult) children have spent their Christmas break with a palette knife scraping off the dirt, I took the doors off and (on the aga engineer's advice) sprayed them with WD40 to loosen the dirt and then brillo padded them - the gunk came off beautifully! And they've been super washed to make sure none of the WD40 remains. So all your comments work, unfortunately the enamel is very scratched and dull so I will follow advice and check out further advice but am immediately getting out my micro fibre cloths to see what shine they can add.
The next mission is the actual plates which are very rusty!!! Not sure whether I can do anything with these or the rust will burn off once the aga is lit and running for a while.
In the meantime I'm really looking forward to getting it up and running.
Happy New Year!

Well that's all good news! (And great tactics on getting the adult DCs to do the scraping.) I look forward to more news when it's fired up.

You can get AGAs re-enamelled, not sure how much it costs though.

Will definitely look into re-enamelling. Thanks.

PS - look up recipes for rice pudding. Home made rice pudding is a joy (especially with raisins) but Aga rice pudding is something blissful.

I give my Aga a thorough clean once a year, when it is switched off and just before it has its annual service. I have always struggled to get the layer of baked on grease off BUT this year I had a revelation and decided to use steam, in particular the wallpaper steamer attachment and held it over the cruddy areas and then scraped off the tacky grease with a scraper I have from Lakeland. Excellent results :-)

www.lakeland.co.uk/23291/The-Skrapr

I use this scraper for cleaning off all burnt on bits on baking trays, metal or glass.

Hope that helps :-)

Thank you so much, will definitely have to look at this, sounds a really clever idea - you should market it!!

Another vote for the scraper method. It seems to work better than degreaser type cleaning products. Mine is just a regular one with a changeable razor.

My local AGA shop ran a free session in the summer (when most AGAs are switched off) which gave advice on how to clean them, and flog their branded cleaning products with 20% off.

It was quite useful. It's definitely easier to clean whilst off and they told us never to use 'power spray' type products as they will damage the enamel surfaces and it's irreversible.

Don't bother with their branded cleaners though, the paste is the same a Astonish and the e-cloths are just regular e-cloths but more expensive!

The domes can be cleaned with car chrome polish on the outside and with a Brillo pad on the inside. Those circular pads hide a multitude and prevent further damage.

The hot plates need a regular scrubbing with a wire brush (when it's switched on) to get rid of burnt on deposits, there needs to be a good unobstructed contact between the plate and the bottom of the pan.

If you take the doors off, make sure you don't fully submerge them in water when soaking them, it ruins the insulation inside. Just soak the raised inside bit in shallow water instead.

The inside of the ovens an mostly self cleaning. Deposits are burnt in the heat and mostly carried away by the flue. I occasionally vac in there. Leave the doors open for a few minutes to let the heat die back a bit then put the metal nozzle of the Henry vacuum cleaner quickly round.

Also, keep the control panel free of dust (it gathers quite quickly with the heat) as the whole thing works more efficiently without dust.

HTH!

Thank you so much, lots of helpful advice here, sure it will be very useful.