How to Clean the Oven?

Cleaning the oven, one of the easiest house cleaning chore… to ignore. Close that oven door, and BOOM you can pretend all is well for a couple of more months (at least)! “No one else sees the inside,” your inner procrastinator whispers, “It’s what comes out of the oven that counts”.

But this is one chore you really shouldn’t ignore for too long – ovens accumulate grease and spilt food which can result in excessive smokiness and even, run the risk of a grease fire.

Plus, the longer you wait to clean your oven, the harder it gets to do – so take a deep breath, buckle down and get cleaning!

Here’s an easy, non‐toxic solution for oven cleaning:

A. Clean your oven racks

1. Remove the racks from your oven.

2. Sprinkle baking soda over the racks, then spray with vinegar – watch out for the bubbling effect as the baking soda reacts to the vinegar.

3. Place the oven racks in a large bucket large enough to soak your racks (you can use your bathtub too! Note: If using the tub, lay down some towels at the bottom of the tub first).

4. Fill the bucket or tub with enough hot water to cover the racks and let it sit overnight.

5. The next day, scrub the oven racks with the coarse end of a sponge. Rinse thoroughly.

Source: Appliance Video

B. Make your own cleaning solution

Clean your oven with items that can be found in most household pantries: vinegar, coarse salt and baking soda.

1. In a spray bottle, combine 1/3 cup of vinegar with 2/3 cup of water.

Source: Dailymail

2. Spray the inside of your oven including the inside of the door with the vinegar and water solution.

3. Sprinkle baking soda all over the oven – put more on any stubborn caked on areas.

4. Sprinkle a thick layer of coarse salt over the baking soda.

5. Spray the oven again with your vinegar and water solution.

6. Leave to sit overnight.

C. Use some elbow grease

Now I didn’t say you can get away with zero scrubbing. But the good news is, with your pre-clean and your homemade solution, the rest of the oven cleaning shouldn’t take much time at all!

Source: Slightly Steady

1. With the coarse side of a sponge, scrub the oven. Prepare to be amazed at how easy all that muck comes off!

2. Spray again with the vinegar and water solution to remove the last of your oven debris.

3. Wipe everything down with old towels or paper towels. Voila, all done!

Time spent cleaning: 2 -3 hours
Time spent getting other things done while the racks clean: 8 hours

Bonus tip:
Now that your oven is nice and clean, use it to make your whole house smell amazing:

Put two teaspoons of vanilla into an oven-proof coffee mug and place in a 150 degree Celsius oven for an hour.

This article was written by Airtasker – Larling P.