Wire scrubber or used toothbrush
Hot, soapy water
Baking soda
Plastic spatular
Vinegar
Microfiber cloth
One of those skills you'll use time and time again is how to clean an oven. Over the festive season, even roomy double-wall ovens do a lot of the heavy lifting, so you probably have lots of grease and spills around the sides and bottom of the oven. This guide will take you through the steps to clean it step by step.
You should check a few things before you start cleaning, though. Does your oven have a self-cleaning mode? Many of the best ovens have this smart feature, which incinerates anything clinging to the inside of your oven, allowing you to wipe it off when it's cool with a high-heat cycle.
You've seen those oven-cleaning solutions at the grocery store, with heady chemicals that require lots of ventilation and an oven-free day to clean. While it's tempting to blast the inside of your electric range or gas range with one of these kits now and then, you probably have everything you need to have a chemical-free, clean oven at home. You don't have to go to the store or pay for oven cleaning kits this way. Plus, putting chemicals inside your cooker doesn't always seem like a good idea.
How to clean an oven: Step by step guide
Step 1: Take out the racks
The racks inside your oven will only get in the way as you clean them, so we suggest taking them out. If possible, you can leave them to soak in hot, soapy water while cleaning the interior of your oven. Then, turn your attention to the racks themselves. Using a wire scrubber or a used toothbrush, give both sides of the rack a good scrubbing to remove any burnt-on spills and grimy buildup.
2. Make a DIY cleaner
If you’ve read up on how to clean a refrigerator or even how to clean a pillow, you’ll know that one of the best natural cleaning methods is to use baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda foams up when exposed to vinegar, which can lift out tough, greasy stains. It’s also a great exfoliant because of its small granules, meaning it’s perfect for scrubbing out baked-on grime.
Combine baking soda and water to make a thick paste for a DIY oven cleaner. Start with generous amounts of baking soda and slowly add warm water until you’re happy with the thick consistency.
3. Apply your cleaner
Slather your baking soda and water mixture over the inside of your oven in a thick and generous coating, making sure you wear gloves if you apply it by hand. If you have a paintbrush, that’s an even better method.
As you do this, make sure you reach into all the corners and between the rack shelves of your oven. Avoid the door, as this is a more sensitive area. We’ll tell you how to clean that shortly.
You’ll need to leave the mixture to do all the hard work for at least a few hours. While you do this, leave the door of the oven open, as this will allow the mixture to dry out a little.
4. Get scraping
Once you’ve left your baking soda for a good while, it’s time to remove it. You can do this with the flat side of a plastic spatula or even an old card. The idea is to scrape off the baking soda solution, leaving behind a clean oven. If it gets too baked on, spray a bit of water (or, better yet, vinegar) to loosen up the solution.
Clear out the left debris, and inspect your oven for missed spots. We’ll get to that next.
5. The finishing touches
For this step, top up a spray bottle with vinegar. A bottle of vinegar is always useful, whether it’s for cleaning your barbecue grill or your microwave.
Give the inside of your oven (including the door, this time) a generous spritz, and using a firm plastic brush, scrub away any remaining grime that’s still stuck to the inside of your oven. Using a soft microfiber cloth to prevent any scratches, buff away the vinegar on the glass door of your oven. If anything proves difficult to shift, sprinkle some baking soda and top it with a spray of the vinegar once more. Leave that to bubble away, and give your oven time to breathe with a soft, dry cloth before wiping everything down.
How to clean oven glass on the outside
A streaked and grimy oven glass door is a common but avoidable kitchen nightmare. So, where should you get started with cleaning? The outside of your oven is the best place to begin, given that it’s probably a lot less grimy than the inside. If you want to opt for the natural cleaning approach, then you can simply grab lemon juice or distilled white wine vinegar to get the results you need. Here’s what to do:
- Decant your chosen cleaning product into a bottle with a spray nozzle, and go to town on the outside of your oven door. Be generous with the amount
- Then, simply wipe it away, using downward strokes to prevent any nasty streaks and repeating wherever necessary to get a lovely shine.
- You can then use a dry microfiber cloth to buff out any streaks on the glass.
If you’d prefer to use a shop-bought product, a cleaner, such as this Amazon Glass and Mirror spray, that’s specifically for glass, will be best, as you don’t want to damage your oven glass. If you opt for a dedicated cleaner, repeat the steps above to get your oven glass looking as good as new.
How to clean between the oven doors
Given the awkward positioning, having dirt or stains between the two panes of glass that make up your oven door might seem impossible to rectify. But there is a novel way you can get inside that space and clean away any residue that might’ve emerged from food explosions, spills, or accidents. And just like cleaning the oven doors, this little hack can be done using products you probably already have at home.
- Find a wire hanger and extend it so you can use it as an arm to reach up inside your oven. After straightening it out, wrap your microfiber cloth or kitchen towels around the wire and secure it with an elastic band.
- Spray suitable cleaning products onto the towel or cloth, such as distilled white wine cleaning vinegar or a glass cleaning spray.
- Carefully insert your DIY tool into your oven via the narrow holes at the bottom of your oven door.
- Use your tool to wipe clean the glass from the inside, moving further or nearer away holes to get an all-over clean.
You can also end this process by using a paper towel to buff away any stains or marks and get a final, gleaming clean. If you don’t have those convenient narrow holes at the bottom of your oven to reach within the glass panes, you might need to take further action by unscrewing the glass. You’ll want to consult your manufacturer’s manual for this job and ensure you follow all the advice to ensure the quality of your appliance.
How to clean an oven: FAQs
Can you just clean your oven with detergent?
If you want to opt for an oven-cleaning method that’s a little more heavy-duty, swapping out your baking soda and vinegar for detergent might do the trick, especially if you’re battling against stubborn food debris.
This method can also be carried out in your sink, with the first step being to fill it with hot water. Again, if your sink isn’t quite big enough, you can always opt for your tub. Toby Schulz, CEO and Co-Founder of Maid2Match, then advises mixing detergent into the sink or tub and letting the racks soak for at least 30 minutes to loosen the grease and debris stuck on them.’
Next, ‘use a scrub brush or scouring pad to work them clean.’ Within a pretty short timeframe, you should have oven racks that are sparkling clean once again.
How often should you clean oven racks?
Before we get into the specifics, it’s good for your cleaning schedule to know exactly how often you should clean your oven so that you can mark a time on the calendar and get supplies. Most of us use our ovens every day, making it hard to gauge exactly how often we should carry out this (often quite time-consuming) task.
While general estimations for how often you should clean your oven frequently sit at the 3 to 6-month mark, Toby Schulz says your schedule depends on ‘how often you use your oven!’. He adds, ‘Generally, you should wash oven racks every 3 months. But if you see scorched food starting to cake on, there’s no harm in doing it sooner.’
Another expert, Ron Shimek, President of Mr Appliance, an appliance repairs company, echoes the same sentiment, adding that ‘oven racks should be cleaned any time they are dirty.’ With that in mind, It’s especially important to clean your oven racks if you’ve cooked food straight on the shelf (like bread or pizza) so that any debris doesn’t become much more challenging to clean off in the future.
Wondering what might happen if you decide to leave the task too long? Shmiek says that while they won’t malfunction, ‘you will have a burning odor which can stink up your kitchen and transfer to the food you are preparing. Also, you can see some smoke as the residue burns off. It’s always best to clean up spills after each use once the oven has cooled down.’
What is the aluminum foil hack for cleaning the oven?
One excellent hack for cleaning oven racks is to use aluminum foil, a method that’s both effective and affordable. This method is also scrub-free and highly effective, an excellent combination if you find this cleaning task more than a little gross, especially when contending with baked-on food.
It might sound odd, but once your racks are out of the oven, you need to wrap them entirely in aluminum foil and then pop them into your bathtub. Fill the tub until the racks are entirely submerged, and then pop two dishwasher tablets in there with them.
Wait for two hours, and then remove the foil. The racks should be squeaky clean, thanks to a reaction between the foil and the tablets that eat away at all of that baked-on grime. No effort is needed!
What can't you use to clean an oven?
So now you know exactly what to do to get the desired results regarding your oven racks, but which methods and products should you avoid at all costs?
Cleaning expert Ron Shimek advises that if your oven is self-cleaning, you should avoid using anything ‘except a damp cloth to wipe up spills.’ This is because ‘cleaners can damage the surface and stick to it. They can then give off toxic fumes when baking or self-cleaning.’
As with so many cleaning queries, it’s probably best to avoid abrasive scrubbers and steel wool for this particular task, too, as you risk damaging your stainless steel racks.
