The Best Way to Clean a Horribly Dirty Oven

Cleaning an oven is something that is so easy to put off. The oven cleaner setting on the oven is tempting to use, but is it really the best method? A natural maintenance solution is the best bet.

Oven Cleaner Ingredients

A combination of 1 1/2 cups baking soda, 1/4 cup vinegar, and 1/2 cup dish soap make up the basis for this oven cleaner. Make sure you mix them in an oversized bowl because the baking soda and vinegar will chemically react by bubbling and expanding. Think science experiment. Then, with the added bubbles from the soap you get a glorious concoction that will clean the dirtiest surfaces. Even the following horribly dirty oven.

Note: I love using this cleaner on my bathtub and shower scum also!!!

The before: no judging!

After combining the baking soda, vinegar, and Dawn soap into a frothy concoction you dab them on all surfaces of the inside of the oven including the racks. Now you wait 30 minutes, allowing it to soak in.

Oven Cleaner

After it has had some time to soak, start washing the suds out with a wet cloth. You will need to wash out your cloth frequently due to the amount of suds. Use cold water for this process because it reduces the amount of “bubbles”. Most of the dirt and grime will come with it. Now because my oven was horribly dirty we had additional steps that were needed. A straight razor was great for scraping off the fried-on grime from the many uses of the oven cleaning cycle. If you use this be careful not to scratch up your oven. For the racks a stainless steel scrubber wrapped around those rods well and scrapped off the harder bits. Finally, a magic eraser was used on the window of the oven to get that last little bit off. If you clean regularly with the solution all the rest is unnecessary.

Just in case you don’t want to scroll back and forth or up and down, for the before and after I will give you a closeup.

Before and After

Cleaning a dirty oven with Lye

An alternative cleaning solution is to use sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as lye or caustic soda. This is harmful if it touches you or you breathe it in so proceed with caution. A pair of goggles, gloves and heat resistant containers are needed.

First place on your protective gear.

To make the solution start with 500ml (2.11 cups) of cold water, add 50 grams of lye and carefully stir until it is fully dissolved. These create a chemical reaction which creates heat so be aware of it. It can reach temperatures around 200 degrees in a very short time.

Carefully pour it into a spray bottle or you can apply it using a cloth. Label with the contents and warnings.

If you are spraying the lye in the oven be careful not to cause overspray or to breathe it in.

Allow it to soak for 10 minutes and then use a cloth to wipe out the lye and grime that comes with it. (Don't forget your gloves and goggles.) Sometimes there will be pieces that have dried on hard and they require scrubbing, scraping with a razor blade or an additional coat.

I really like this method for the racks as it makes the grime just melt right off.

Even the bits that I use steel wool for come off so much easier.

I like and use both of these methods. Sometimes one makes more sense to do than the other and I am glad to have many choices when cleaning my oven.

Now I feel ready for all of my holiday baking!