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How to clean an oven naturally
Use these tips to avoid coming in contact with harmful chemicals found in conventional oven cleaners.
Wed, May 18 2011 at 12:17 PM
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Photo: Super Fantastic/Flickr
A cheesy casserole bubbles over at 450 degrees, and what's left in your oven is a tar-like black sludge that seems like it might require heavy-duty chemical oven cleaners to tackle. But toxic conventional cleaners aren't your only choice to make an oven gleam like new. Learn how to clean an oven naturally with safe, gentle ingredients that you may already have in your pantry.
Avoid chemicals in conventional oven cleaners
Many conventional oven cleaners seem to miraculously dissolve even the toughest baked-on messes after just a few minutes. There's a good reason for that: they're usually made with extremely corrosive ingredients. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, oven cleaners typically contain lye (either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.)
Many conventional oven cleaners seem to miraculously dissolve even the toughest baked-on messes after just a few minutes. There's a good reason for that: they're usually made with extremely corrosive ingredients. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, oven cleaners typically contain lye (either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.)
Lye may be effective, but it's also dangerous. It can burn your eyes and skin, and can be fatal if swallowed, so it's not a safe product to have in your home, especially if you have young children.Prevent oven messes that are tough to clean
The first step to a clean oven is prevention. Try placing casserole dishes on cookie sheets while baking to keep sauces from spilling over onto oven surfaces. You could also line the bottom of your oven with aluminum foil if you're cooking a dish that's likely to make a mess. Wipe up any minor spills immediately to keep them from hardening into a mess that's tougher to clean.
The first step to a clean oven is prevention. Try placing casserole dishes on cookie sheets while baking to keep sauces from spilling over onto oven surfaces. You could also line the bottom of your oven with aluminum foil if you're cooking a dish that's likely to make a mess. Wipe up any minor spills immediately to keep them from hardening into a mess that's tougher to clean.
How to clean an oven naturally
It's easy to make non-toxic oven cleaners yourself with basic ingredients like baking soda, lemon juice and vinegar. These natural oven cleaning solutions are frugal, effective and totally free of harmful chemicals and caustic ingredients.
It's easy to make non-toxic oven cleaners yourself with basic ingredients like baking soda, lemon juice and vinegar. These natural oven cleaning solutions are frugal, effective and totally free of harmful chemicals and caustic ingredients.
For grease, mix non-toxic dish soap like Seventh Generation Free & Clear Natural Dish Liquid with water and scrub with a sponge. Natural dish soaps contain cleaners derived from plant sources like coconuts to dissolve fats.
To tackle bad smells, squeeze two lemons into a baking dish filled with an inch of water and toss in what remains of the lemons. Place the dish in the oven and bake it for 30 minutes at 250 degrees. Not only will your oven smell like lemons instead of scorched food, the citrus oils will soften gunk on oven surfaces, making it easier to remove.
Burnt-on food and elbow greaseFor burnt-on food, sprinkle baking soda over the bottom of the oven and then spritz it with water from a spray bottle. Let it sit overnight and then remove it in the morning with a sponge, and most of the gunk in the oven will come out with it. If baked-on spills still remain, sprinkle on some more baking soda and then add a little bit of white vinegar. Let the bubbling mixture sit for 30 minutes, then scrub.
To remove the cloudy residue that has made a glass oven window nearly opaque, try mixing baking soda and lemon juice into a thick paste. Rub it onto the door, leave it for half an hour and then scrub, and the glass will be clear and shiny again.
Finally, for those situations where elbow grease just doesn't seem to cut it, don't be afraid to use the self-cleaning function on your oven if you have one. Self-cleaning ovens heat up to temperatures that can reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit to burn off spilled food. While this process uses a lot of energy, it's offset by the fact that self-cleaning ovens are double-insulated, reducing your overall energy consumption from regular use. Just try not to use it more than once a year or so.
Have other tips for how to clean an oven naturally? Leave us a note in the comments below.
Photos: dpstylesTM/Flickr; bloomsberries/Flickr
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I tried the above methods for cleaning my oven, using baking soda and water and also baking soda and white vinegar and neither method worked well. I still had to use a commercial oven cleaner to get the baked on grease off. I also tried cleaning the oven racks by putting them in a plastic bay with 1/2 cup ammonia and leaving outside for several hours and that didn't do anything. Does anyone else have any ideas?
For the wire shelves put them in a black plastic bag and tip a half a cup of ammonia in the bag. Seal the bag and leave outside in the sun for a few hours and hose off.
I tried this but it didn't work
I tried using baking soda and spritzing with water - let it soak for about 7 hours and it did very little other than to make a pasty mess - and the oven only had a couple little patches of burned food etc. I wouldnt recommend this method unless perhaps you skip just the baking soda and go right to using the vinegar as well. Off to buy over cleaner. Do yourself as a favor and dont waste a night attempting this method
Thank you. I am terrified of oven cleaners!!
I used vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda. I let it sit for an hour or so. I was not very happy with the results. Only the top layer of charred drippings could be scrubbed off. I even used one of those magic erasers and with absolutely no results.
I resorted to using a razor blade to scrape of what had apparently become one with the oven surface and that worked.
Thanks Gordon for the tip about the razor blade. I cleaned the glass on my oven door and most gunk came off but there were a few stubborn spots. I used a one edge razor blade and the spots came off easily.
any good ideas with the wire shelfs?
thanks
Have you tried putting them in your dishwasher?
I have used baking powder last night to clean my oven.It is like new now .thank-you
Thank you! My husband has COPD, so I don't want to use harsh chemicals to clean the oven.