How to Clean an Oven Without Wrecking It
Most of an oven clean happens while you're asleep
An oven is the one job everybody puts off, and the reason it feels enormous is that people try to do it in an afternoon with a scourer and a lot of determination. You don't have to. Baked on grease softens if you leave something alkaline sitting on it long enough, so the work is mostly waiting, and the scrubbing at the end is about ten minutes.
Take the racks out first
Everything is easier with the racks out, and they clean better soaking than they ever do in place. Fill a laundry tub or the bath with hot water and dishwashing liquid, lay a towel down first so you don't mark the bath, and leave them for an hour or two. What is left after that comes off with a nylon brush rather than a scourer, because a scourer will take the chrome off and then they rust.
Baking soda, and leave it overnight
Half a cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water makes a thick paste. Spread it over the inside, keeping it off the heating elements and off the fan, then shut the door and walk away until the morning.
Wipe it out with a damp cloth the next day. If a patch is still stubborn, put more paste on that patch rather than starting the whole thing again.
One correction worth making, because you'll see it everywhere: the vinegar spritz at the end does nothing useful. Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid, so all they do is fizz and cancel each other out, which looks impressive and leaves you with salty water. Plain warm water and a clean cloth is what actually gets the residue off.
The glass door
Same paste, and a longer wait. A plastic scraper or an old bank card takes off the hard bits without scratching, and the trick people miss is that most of the brown haze is on the inside of the inner glass rather than on the face you're wiping. On a lot of ovens that inner panel comes out with two screws under the door edge, and on plenty of others it doesn't, so have a look before you start dismantling anything.
About the self clean cycle
If your oven has a pyrolytic cycle it will take the grime to ash at very high heat, which is genuinely the least work you'll ever do. Two things to know before you press it.
- Racks come out unless the manual says they're pyrolytic rated, because the cycle discolours ordinary chrome racks and warps some of them.
- Ventilate properly and get birds out of the room. The fumes off a self clean cycle are a real thing.
And run it when you're home rather than overnight. Very high heat for hours is hard on door seals and on control boards, and it is the one cycle worth keeping an eye on.
When the strong stuff earns its place
Months of neglect on a very greasy oven will beat baking soda, and that's when a proper oven cleaner or a degreaser is the sensible answer rather than a failure. Gloves, open windows, read the label, and keep it off aluminium and off anodised trim.
Then it stays clean for almost nothing
Wipe a spill the day it happens, while the oven is still warm rather than hot, and it comes off with a cloth. Leave it and it bakes back on every time you cook. An oven liner on the bottom shelf catches the drips from a pie or a roast and it lifts straight out, which is about as low effort as maintenance gets.
Shop related products
- Plastic Bucket with Lid 5L. For soaking racks when the tub is full of dishes.
- Sugar Soap for Floors 750ml. Cuts the grease film that ends up on the cupboards either side.
- Hand Wire Brush, Stainless Steel, Single Row. For cast iron trivets and burner grates, never for the oven lining.
- Cleaning supplies. What is listed online.
Did you know we keep Boston oven cleaner in 750ml, Boston foaming degreaser and the Diggers water based degreaser on the shelf in store. Boston is a dangerous goods line so it cannot be posted and it is in store only, which is why you won't find it on the website. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's there.
Where to get it sorted
If the cupboard doors either side of the oven have gone yellow and sticky, that's grease in the paint and it wants a repaint rather than another scrub. We mix and tint Haymes and Taubmans to order from the range we stock, so have a look at the paint mixing service.
Keep reading
- How to Deep Clean Your Home Without Damaging Surfaces
- How to Maintain Your Roof and Gutters to Prevent Leaks
- How to Prevent and Fix Common Drafts in Your Home
I am the sort who shuts the oven door on a spill and decides it's a problem for future me, so the baking soda paste suits me perfectly. Future me does the wiping.
Cheers,
Candeece
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