How to clean an oven without harsh chemicals?

Cleaning the burnt food and grime in an oven has been causing people headaches ever since the oven was invented. However, there are some tips that make cleaning an oven a lot easier, and we’ll be looking at these oven cleaning tips today. We will also have a step by step cleaning guide that uses natural, readily available cleaning supplies. There’s no need to use harsh cleaning chemicals to clean your oven; all of the cleaning can be done with things you’ll find in the baking aisle of the supermarket.

How to clean an oven without chemicals – a step by step guide

Boil the kettle and remove the racks

The first step of cleaning an oven is removing the oven racks. You can let the racks soak in a mixture of vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and water in the sink. A 3:1 mix of water and vinegar and a good sprinkling of bicarbonate of soda will make quick work of dissolving any burnt-on food on the racks.

Next, turn the oven to about 220 degrees Celsius and boil the kettle and fill an oven-safe bowl with the boiling water. Place this bowl in the bottom of the oven, close the door and leave it for about an hour. The steam will flow around the oven and loosen all of the burnt-on food and make it really easy to wipe away afterwards.

Make a cleaning solution

Once the boiling water has been left to work for an hour, you can remove it from the oven and begin scrubbing the food away. This is a lot easier with a very simple cleaning solution. Mix a 3:1 water to vinegar solution in a spray bottle, and grab your bicarbonate of soda again.

If you notice any really stubborn burnt-on food, spray the solution onto it and sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda over the top. Let this sit as you begin scrubbing the rest of the oven.

Elbow grease time!

The boiling water trick should have loosened most of the burnt-on food in the oven, but some elbow grease will still be needed to remove it completely. Spraying a good amount of your natural cleaning solution into the oven and letting it soak in for 10 minutes before you start wiping it away can help with the more stubborn areas. However, give it a try. You may find that the boiling water has released the food enough to make cleaning it straight away really easy. If not, you can either scrub like your life depends on it or let the vinegar and water soak into the food further. You can add some bicarbonate of soda over the top of the solution to increase its effectiveness too.

Keep wiping away any food and loose bits of grime, and you will quickly see the inside of your oven shine again. A microfibre cloth is perfect for cleaning an oven, but a sponge will work well too. Some people say to use a metal scraper or spatula to clean your oven, but we wouldn’t recommend this. Using metal can damage your oven. If the food is burnt on enough that you feel you need to use something like a scraper, see the next section.

Really stubborn food

If you have very stubborn areas of burnt-on grime in your oven, you may want to repeat the boiling water step once you have removed as much as you can. You can also make a paste from the bicarbonate of soda and leave this to soak into problem areas. Just add some bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and slowly add water, mixing as you go. Once it has a paste-like texture, cover all of the problem areas in the oven. You can also use this bicarbonate of soda paste on the glass door of your oven if required. However, if you follow the cleaning steps above, your oven door should be quite clean already.

When it comes to removing this bicarbonate of soda paste, just moisten a microfibre cloth and wipe it away. The bicarbonate of soda will begin to dissolve and take the grime with it.

Don’t forget the racks

Now that your oven racks have had plenty of time to soak in the vinegar, water and bicarbonate of soda, you will probably be able to wipe away the grime and food very easily with a microfibre cloth. Leaving the racks until the very end gives them time to naturally soak in the cleaning solution, so a quick wipe is usually all that’s needed.

Cleaning an oven the natural way

This is the easiest way of cleaning your oven, by far, and it is totally natural. The boiling water trick is the key, though. Leaving the boiling water in the oven for an hour with the heat on just before you clean it really helps to loosen all of the burnt-on food and often results in a very quick cleaning job that doesn’t require any harsh cleaning chemicals at all.

Of course, if you want to use a chemical oven cleaner, you can, but use the boiling water trick before you use it. All the boiling water is doing is releasing the hold of the burnt-on food on the surface of your oven. So, it simply helps whichever cleaning solution you choose to use after this.

To recap

Cleaning an oven seems like a near-impossible task, but with the right tips, it is actually a very easy and stress-free cleaning job. To clean an oven, all you need to do is:

Remove the racks and soak them
Fill a bowl with boiling water and pre-heat the oven
Leave this in the oven for an hour
Make a cleaning solution
Spray the solution in the oven (let it soak in for 10 minutes if needed)
Wipe away the burnt-on food
Clean the racks
Have a cup of tea

More cleaning tips

We hope this look at how to clean an oven has been helpful. Cleaning Express also provides oven cleaning services. Remember, no matter whether you use a chemical oven cleaner or a natural solution, use the boiling water trick. It will make things so much easier! Also, our professional cleaners can clean your oven as part of our cleaning services, such as domestic cleaning services including regular cleaning, or deep cleaning, and of course end of tenancy cleaning. Give Cleaning Express a call or send us a message via website or Facebook. Or for more amazing cleaning tips like this one, please explore our website further.