Oven Cleaning Without Harsh Chemicals

Oven Cleaning Without Harsh Chemicals

Cleaning the oven has never been high on my priority list. I dislike being around harsh chemicals and scrubbing with dishwashing detergent takes forever. Is there some easy way to get a clean oven that I don't know about?
Dawn

Woman Cleaning Oven with Sponge photo from Shutterstock

Cleaning With Amonia

If you don't have a self-cleaning oven, or if you need to clean parts of the oven that are not exposed to high heat, make it simple for yourself. Put a bowl of full strength ammonia in the oven, preferably when the oven is slightly warm, and leave it overnight. The next day, open your kitchen windows a little and then open the oven door carefully. Don't breathe in the fumes! Most grease should wipe right off with paper towels or rags.

While this method does involve a strong chemical, it is super easy and the chemical dissipates quickly if you air the room. You can allow the room to air out a bit before wiping down the oven.

Another method is to use a steel wool pad. This will also clean parts of the oven not exposed to self-cleaning oven heat. However, this method takes a lot more effort and time. Be sure that you never use steel wool on surfaces that are meant to be heated for self-cleaning. You could damage the finish and the oven.

By the way, wiping a small piece of waxed paper over shelf edges after running a self-cleaning cycle will make the shelves glide smoothly again.
Barbara in CT

No Chemical Cleaning

Get a hand-held steam cleaner. It will make cleaning your oven so much faster, and it will get it sparkling clean. Try it and you will love it.
John

Oven Cleaning With Vinegar and Baking Soda

Put some white vinegar in an oven-safe bowl and put it in the oven. Set the oven at 350 degrees for half of an hour. Let cool. Wipe down and scrub with baking soda.
Katharine

Clean with Dryer Sheets

I am not sure where I heard this, but burned on stuff on pans can be removed with dryer sheets.

I didn't realize until it was too late that I hadn't lined the bottom of my oven with foil and ended up with a mess on the bottom of the oven and even some on the sides. So, I gave it a try. I re-use dryer sheets for a lot of things and keep a supply of the cheap ones for other things. So, I took some of the cheap ones, got them just short of dripping wet, and put them all over the oven.

After they had dried out, I checked and the burned-on stuff was soft! So, I just wet the dried out sheets slightly, put a little baking soda on the wet sheet, and wiped the goo out. Then I just rinsed everything with a clean paper towel. If a few spots didn't come out very quickly, I just repeated the steps. This takes only a few minutes of work, and there were no nasty fumes.
Patricia

Natural Paste Oven Cleaner

Make a paste of white vinegar and baking soda. Spread on oven surfaces. Wait about 30 minutes and then wipe off with a wet sponge.
Pam

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