How do you remove the grill on the top of radiators?

There's got to be a trick to this, but I just can't figure it out!

Here's the grill that covers the top of all the radiators in my house:

http://img.hexus.net/v2/parm/rad-1.png

It seems to be held on by the side panels, so removing those should bring the top with it, but none of it seems to want to budge. I think the circular plastic bits have something to do with it - there's one in each corner - but they aren't for moving either.

http://img.hexus.net/v2/parm/rad-2.png

Is there an easy way to get the grill off without hammer and chisel? Basically want to give the radiator a good clean round back, where there's lots of dust that the hoover won't reach.

They look a bit different to mine but if they're remotely similar; start by giving one of the bottom corners a firm yank outward and the rest should basically just fall of, as the tension from the bottom corners is what's holding the whole thing on. Unless it's a bit over engineered and it's screwed on by the valves. In which case I'd guess they won't come off without draining the rad.

If all else fails, try a feather duster down the back instead.

Pull off the two sides and the top will lift off

:)

Hmmm, tried the ol' pull-and-yank, but the sides don't budge. The circular plastic bits do seem to rotate a bit though, think I might be on to something...

There may be a spring/wire at the bottom of the side panel that clips round the bottom pipes.

Hi: This is an old thread, but I am posting because I had the same problem as the OP, and didn't know how get at my radiator insides, to clean them. The advice given by DR did not work for me either, but it did give me a clue. The radiators shown in the photos shown above look very much like the radiators in my house, and, for anyone still still puzzled by this question (I know this is an old thread), here is what I discovered. I gripped the side panel firmly and, forcefully, pulled straight upwards. To my delight, the panel slid upwards, and could then be pulled away. It's easy when you know how, but, for months, I had pondered on this problem, with no success. A belated thanks to DR!