What is Selleys BBQ Tough Grease & Grime Cleaner, and where should you use it?

Selleys BBQ Tough Grease & Grime Cleaner is a 500mL trigger spray for cleaning your BBQ hotplate and grill each time you use it. It is a fast acting formula that cuts through grease and grime, and the routine it is built around is a short one: spray, wait two to three minutes, wipe.

The distinction worth understanding before you buy is that this is a maintenance cleaner rather than a rescue product. Selleys' own advice is that cleaning each time you BBQ will avoid the build-up of stubborn grime. Used that way it does the job in a few minutes with no scrubbing. Left until the plate is layered with baked-on residue, you are asking a light product to do heavy work.

Where to use it

• BBQ hotplate and grill
• Outdoor furniture
• Many other surfaces

Selleys describes the product as excellent for outdoor furniture, which makes it more versatile than its name suggests — the same greasy, weathered grime that collects on a hotplate collects on an outdoor setting over a summer. As always, the exclusions below apply wherever you use it.

How to use it

1. Spray directly onto a slightly warm hotplate or grill. Slightly warm is the stated condition — not hot, and not stone cold.
2. Leave for 2 to 3 minutes. This is the dwell time that lets the formula break down the grease so you do not have to scrub it off.
3. Wipe clean with a damp Selleys Super Cloth or a Selleys BBQ Tough Wipe.
4. Wipe again with a clean cloth to remove any product residue. This second pass is part of the directions, not an optional extra — the surface you are cleaning is one you will cook on.

For more stubborn grime, Selleys says to spray it on and scrub lightly before wiping off. Note the word lightly: the extra effort is meant to be mechanical assistance, not force.

Limitations — where it should NOT be used

• Do not use on BBQ decals, prints, signs, dial marks or clear plastics. These are exactly the parts of a barbecue that are hardest to replace — once a temperature scale around a dial is gone, it is gone. Keep the spray on the cooking surfaces and be deliberate about overspray onto the control panel.
• Wipe off immediately from brass and painted surfaces. This is not a blanket exclusion, but it is a time limit: contact with brass or paint should be measured in seconds, not in the two to three minutes you allow on a hotplate.

Between those two rules, the practical approach on an assembled barbecue is to spray onto the plate rather than across the whole unit, and to have a clean damp cloth in your other hand for anything that lands where it should not.

Fitting it into a BBQ cleaning routine

Selleys positions three things together here, and they work as a sequence rather than as alternatives. BBQ Tough Wipes can be used together with this cleaner, and are the convenient option for the wipe-down after every cook. This spray handles the tougher, less frequent clean of the hotplate and grill. And for baked-on grease that has been left far too long, Selleys BBQ Tough Clean is the heavier product — with its own, quite different directions, including a strict cold-application rule. Do not carry the "slightly warm" instruction on this page across to that product.

Hazard classification

Classified as hazardous under Safe Work Australia GHS 7, with the signal word Warning.

• Skin corrosion/irritation — Category 2. H315: causes skin irritation.
• Eye damage/irritation — Category 2A. H319: causes serious eye irritation.

What is in it

Chemical entity	CAS number	Proportion (w/w)
Ethanol	64-17-5	1–10%
Monoethanolamine	141-43-5	1–10%
Non-hazardous ingredients	—	Balance

Worth comparing with its stablemate. BBQ Tough Clean, the aerosol, is classified skin corrosion Category 1B and eye damage Category 1 — H314, severe burns — and is an extremely flammable aerosol. This trigger-spray Grease & Grime Cleaner is a step down on both counts: Category 2 irritation rather than corrosion, and no aerosol or flammability classification at all.

The reason is the concentration of monoethanolamine, the alkaline active that lifts carbonised fat, and the absence of a hydrocarbon propellant. Same job, milder formulation, different precautions.

That does not make it a benign product. It is still alkaline, still an eye irritant, and still best kept off aluminium and other reactive metals. The ethanol content is low but real, so keep it away from a live burner — and as with any barbecue cleaner, the appliance should be off and cool before you start.

Protection

• Eye protection — safety glasses or goggles.
• Gloves — nitrile rubber for intermittent contact.
• Ventilation — use in a well-ventilated area.
• Wash hands after use, and wash contaminated clothing before reuse.

First aid

Exposure	What to do
Eyes	Rinse cautiously with water for several minutes, removing contact lenses if present and easy to do, then keep rinsing. If irritation persists, get medical advice.
Skin	Wash with soap and water. If irritation develops, get medical advice.
Inhalation	Move to fresh air. If irritation persists, seek medical advice.
Swallowed	Do not induce vomiting. Rinse the mouth and seek medical advice.

If poisoning occurs, contact a doctor or the Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand — with the container to hand. Selleys emergency line: 1800 220 770 in Australia, 0800 220 770 in New Zealand.

Common questions about Selleys BBQ Tough Grease & Grime Cleaner

Should the BBQ be hot, warm or cold when I spray it?

Slightly warm. That is the condition Selleys specifies for this product.

How long do I leave it on?

2 to 3 minutes, then wipe clean.

Do I need to scrub?

Not for normal use — the product is described as requiring no scrubbing. For more stubborn grime, spray it on and scrub lightly before wiping off.

What should I wipe it off with?

A damp Selleys Super Cloth or a Selleys BBQ Tough Wipe. Then wipe again with a clean cloth to remove any product residue.

Do I really need the second wipe?

Yes. Removing any product residue is a stated step, and it matters on a surface you cook food on.

Can I use it on the outside of the barbecue?

Be careful. Decals, prints, signs, dial marks and clear plastics are excluded outright, and anything that lands on brass or painted surfaces must be wiped off immediately.

Can I use it on outdoor furniture?

Yes — Selleys describes it as excellent for outdoor furniture and many other surfaces. The same exclusions apply to any painted or plastic parts.

Can I use it with BBQ Tough Wipes?

Yes. Selleys states the two can be used together, and lists a BBQ Tough Wipe as one of the things you can wipe the cleaner off with.

How often should I use it?

Selleys recommends cleaning each time you BBQ, which avoids the build-up of stubborn grime in the first place.

What if the grime is baked on hard?

Spray on and scrub lightly before wiping off. If it is beyond that, BBQ Tough Clean is the heavier-duty product in the range — read its own directions rather than applying this one's.

What size does it come in?

A 500mL trigger spray.