Clean Your Oven with this Easy, Non Toxic DIY
This is my favorite and easiest way to clean a dirty oven using just two simple, non-toxic household ingredients found in every home
This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon
affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
My full disclosure policy can be found here.
I don't know about you but my oven gets gross and dirty really fast. Maybe
because I use it so much.
Recently I spilled some chicken grease while I was turning a batch of chicken
wings and the grease spilled inside the oven, on the glass door
(and on me - but that's another story!).
I meant to clean it and then we got busy and you know how that goes - out of
sight, out of mind!
It wasn't until the next day when Mr DIY was heating a pizza and we smelled
something awful that I remembered the burnt on grease in the oven. Now it was
doubly burned on!
I'm not a big fan of cleaning, but what I do love is being able to use
something non-toxic to clean my oven, something readily available and simple
that really works! All you need is about an hour
(only 10 minute or so of that is hands-on time), and a couple of
everyday household ingredients that you probably already have on hand!
I hate using strong smelling cleaning ingredients. The chemicals irritate my
eyes, nose and throat and I know they're harmful to breathe. So anytime I can
clean with simple, household ingredients that are not harmful, I do! I am
always amazed at how easily the tough, baked on grease in my oven is cleaned
using this easy method!
The easy and non-toxic way to clean a dirty oven
Let's start with the supplies you'll need. These are simple household supplies
that you probably already have in your pantry or under your sink!
Supplies
- baking soda
- Dawn liquid dish soap (the blue one)*
- bowl and spoon
- spray bottle filled with water
- non abrasive scrubbing sponge or brush
- dish cloth
*
Don't use a cheap substitute! Dawn is a proven grease-cutter and the only
one I'd recommend for cleaning your oven. It is a little pricier but
that's because it works!
Step 1 to a clean oven using non-toxic ingredients
Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of baking soda in a bowl and then pour over maybe 2-3
tablespoons of Dawn liquid dish soap. Mix well with a spoon.
You want the constistency to be like toothpaste. It should look the the
image below. If it's too dry, add a little more liquid...too wet, add a little
more baking soda. You can't really mess this up!
The amount you use depends on how dirty your oven is. If you're just spot
cleaning, you'll need much less!
Step 2 to a clean oven using non toxic ingredients
Spray the oven stains with some water and then spread the cleaning goop in a
nice, thick and even layer over the stains.
I use the spoon to drop dollops of the baking soda/dish soap cleaner in my
oven and then spread it with my hand!
Remember, this stuff is non toxic and non harmful!
Amazingly, you can see below how some of the burnt on grease is already
releasing from the glass on my oven door! And I'm just getting started.
Step 3 to a clean oven using non toxic household ingredients
Let the non toxic cleaner sit on all that baked on oven grease for up to an
hour. You don't want it to dry out so spray it periodically with water. You
can test it by running a finger through the cleaner and seeing what comes
away. If the baked on mess doesn't release, leave it to soak longer.
I had a greasy mess inside my oven door as well as a spot in my oven. Leave
the door open so the cleaning ingredients don't slide around!
Step 4 to a clean oven with non toxic ingredients
Scrub and wipe. Use a non-abrasive sponge or brush to agitate the stain. You
won't need to scrub hard, just enough to remove any stubborn, baked on stains
and really work the cleaning solution in. Let it sit awhile longer if still
dirty.
Finally, we need to remove the baking soda and liquid Dawn from the oven. Dawn
is very sudsy
(it's dish soap after all), so use a damp rag and wipe, rinse and
repeat until there's no more cleaning residue in the oven. I had to do this
about 5 times.
The results are a beautifully clean oven. Now, it's not going to look brand
new but all those stains should be gone!
I have had a few stubborn burnt spots where nothing but using my Auto Oven
Cleaning setting will work, but this only happens once or twice a year. The
rest of the time I rely on the super easy and effective combo of baking soda
and Dawn dish soap to keep my oven clean!
It's very satisfying and you don't have to deal with harmful chemicals and
strong odors! Just a nice, clean oven...that is really difficult to photograph
because of all the reflection 😄
Remember all that chicken grease that made a big mess in my oven? It's gone!
And it was so easy to clean!
Want to remember it? PIN IT!
Looking for other highly effective and simple household tips and ideas? Check these out:
-
The Easiest Way to Clean Stainless Steel Utensils
-
The Easy Way to Clean Dirty Baseboards
-
The Easiest Way to Keep Area Rugs from Buckling and Shifting
-
Easy Solution to Disguise an Ugly Electrical Box
-
How to Update a Dingy Deck
-
How to Organize a Pantry
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! i never look forward to cleaning my oven. the chemical that you buy is so potent and, like you, i cant hardly breath or see while i use it. not to mention in the winter when you cannot open up widows to let it air out! i am going to try this today! where would we be without Dawn dish soap! such an amazing product!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sweet comments Megan! I've been meaning to share this cleaning tip for years and figured January was a great time! Happy cleaning 😉
DeleteAWESOME!
ReplyDeleteThank You so much for sharing your oven cleaning technique.
Do you also clean your oven racks in the same matter?
As for me; I would place my oven racks in large heavy duty black trash bag and spray them with oven cleaner and let them bake in the hot sun for a few hours and then take the garden hose and rinse them off
Thanks Colleen, I haven't but I'm sure it would work! I'm going to use this on my stove top too (don't know why I haven before!) to try and remove some baked on stains.
DeleteI tried ur cleaning idea today! WHERE HAS THIS BEEN!!! AMAZING!! I HATE spray oven cleaners & cleaning, toxic fumes, can't breathe.... ok, use a plastic glove which rips because of, u know fingernails, loved I could just get my hands into it & if necessary scrub HARD, I added a lil Dawn to the water spray bottle as not to dilute paste, set the timer @15 mins, spray, check with finger( NO GLOVE, lol) I did the whole oven !! Luv, luv this!! Thank U!!
ReplyDeleteFollowed the steps as instructed. No change at all even after leaving for 5 hours. Useless advice!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, I've always had quick success! You need to keep the mixture damp, if it dries out its not as effective. If your oven was especially dirty, you may need to try again.
Delete