Learn how to clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar. You can get a sparkling clean oven without using harsh chemicals. Just grab these two ingredients from your pantry and a with a little elbow grease, you'll be able to clean off all the baked-on and burnt food from your oven.
How to clean the worst oven
When was the last time you cleaned your oven? Go take a peek inside- and if it looks kind of gross, then it’s time to give it a little freshening up. Cleaning your oven is easy and you don't need any special cleaners.
We got our oven last year and I was determined to keep up with cleaning it on a regular basis. Unfortunately, my daughter and I have had too many home baking disasters and it was definitely overdue for a deep clean.
I like to make my own homemade cleaners when possible and avoid potentially toxic chemicals.
The EPA actually has a handy website to help you search products and choose cleaners that are considered "safer". You can check it out here.
You can buy oven cleaner, but a more natural and cheaper way to clean your oven is to use the power of baking soda and vinegar. This method works great even if you don't have a self cleaning oven (I don't).
I find the process of getting all those grease stains off weirdly satisfying. It always feels so good to finish a tough cleaning job.
Watch my video below and then read the rest of the blog post for more details:
Supplies to clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar
- baking soda (buy it in bulk here)
- vinegar
- water
- small bowl
- scubber sponge- this is one of my favorites
- aluminum foil (optional)
- wet/ dry vacuum or Shop Vac (optional) - I use this one all the time
Homemade oven cleaner recipe and instructions
- Remove the oven grates and set them aside.
- Wipe out all the loose debris that you can.
- Make a paste with baking soda and water in a small bowl. Use about a 50/50 mixture of water and baking soda.
- Spread the all over the oven, scubbing as you go. Make sure to get into all the areas with baked on grease and stuck on burnt food.
- Let the baking soda sit for at least 30 minutes. Leave overnight if necessary.
- Spray vinegar all over the oven and scrub down the oven.
- Keep scrubbing until all the gunk is gone.
- If there are stubborn spots do another round of paste and scrub it with a ball of aluminum foil.
- Wipe off the vinegar and baking soda paste residue with rags or paper towels.
- If necessary use a wet/dry vacuum or Shop Vac to clean out all the gunk.
After the inside of the oven is sparkling clean you can do the same with the racks. Clean them the same way with the baking soda paste and vinegar spray. The easiest way is to do this in the sink.
Once everything is done, place the racks back in the oven and you can use it right away!
Do you have any oven cleaning tips to share? Leave them in the comments!
Janet says
Thank you im going to clean my ovEn
adrienne says
Good luck! Let me know how it goes!