Having a clean and tidy home is so important, not only to make it look pretty, but also to help make your home a nicer environment to live in. It really is true that a clear house leads to a clear mind.
When trying to clean your kitchen, one thing that can be a particular nightmare to clean is the oven.
Having a clean oven is a must have to stopping any nasty bacteria from building up and potentially getting into your food. Not only this, but bits of food left in your oven can also actually absorb heat in the oven and so make it less effective at cooking food.
Well, cleaning your oven doesn’t have to be such a chore anymore! Keep reading to find out some useful ways you can clean your oven.
What You’ll Need:
When you clean your oven, chances are that you’re going to be using products with chemicals in. Therefore, it’s very important that you stay safe. So, below is a little checklist of equipment you need to have before you start with the oven cleaning process:
- Rubber gloves
- Safety goggles
- Protective coverings for the floor (e.g. newspaper)
- Face mask if using particularly nasty fumes
How to Clean the Shelves | How to Clean Oven Racks | How to Clean Oven Trays
The first thing you should tackle are the shelves. It’s usually the easiest part because they can be removed from the oven and cleaned over the sink.
- Put Them in the Dishwasher
If they fit, you can actually just pop the shelves in the dishwasher and that’s your job done!
- Soak Them
If your shelves don’t fit in the dishwasher, then you’ll need to fully soak them for a good hour or so. Hot water with 250g of soda crystals is your best bet to get some squeaky-clean oven shelves! You can either soak the shelves in the sink or, if they don’t fit, in a large container.
Another little cleaning hack to use with this is to get some foil and scrunch it up into a ball. Use this to scrub the shelves and you’ll find that bits of charcoal and food come off easily!
After soaking and scrubbing the shelves, leave them to dry while tackling the rest of the oven.
How to Clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar
- Use an Oven Cleaner
A fairly straightforward option for cleaning the shelves is to use an oven cleaner, which you can get from almost all supermarkets.
It’s important, however, to note that oven cleaners can’t be used in stainless steel ovens.
To use the oven cleaner, you’re going to have to take the shelves outside, and then, whilst wearing some form of safety glasses, spray the whole shelf with the oven cleaner.
Once you’ve done this, place the shelves in a bin bag, tie it up and then leave outside for the time specified on the cleaning bottle.
After this time, remove the shelves from the bag and wipe them down in a bowl of hot, soapy water. Leave to dry and then that’s the shelves all sorted!
- Baking Soda and Vinegar
With your racks in a sink or other container, sprinkle some vinegar and baking soda over them until a foam starts to form.
The foaming will eventually stop, and once this happens you need to fill the container up with hot water.
Leave overnight, scrub them down and then dry them!
How to Clean the Oven Door | How to Clean Oven Glass
- Spatula Method
When it comes to cleaning the door, a handy little method is to get a spatula and use this to scrub any bits of food off of it.
You should then get a good, trusted glass or oven cleaner. Spray this on, leave for the time specified on the bottle and then wipe it down.
- Bicarbonate of Soda
Another method is to mix some hot water and bicarbonate of soda to make a paste and use this concoction to clean the door.
You should apply a thin layer, keep it there to sit for 20 minutes (more or less), wipe it down afterwards.
How to Clean the Inside of the Oven
Now for the big job! Cleaning the inside of the oven is the part that usually takes the longest, and if your oven is particularly dirty you need to be prepared that the cleaning might involve leaving things to sit overnight.
- Oven Cleaner
One of the simplest options is to pop to the shop and get a good oven cleaner. However, as noted previously, remember that oven cleaners can’t be used for stainless steel ovens.
Firstly, you need to lay down a protective covering, such as sheets of newspaper, on the floor around the oven.
Next, whilst wearing safety goggles, spray the inside of the oven all over. In an electric oven you shouldn’t spray the heating elements, and in a gas oven you need to leave the part where the oven has holes for the gas to come through.
Close the door and leave for the amount of time specified on the bottle. Then, with a damp cloth, wipe everything down and scrub away any stubborn bits of build-up.
- Baking Soda and Vinegar
This is a great cleaning formula you can make yourself, so you don’t have to use any products that might have nasty chemicals in them!
Firstly, you need to mix together water and baking soda until it forms a paste. Apply the paste all over the inside of your oven (you’re going to need to make a lot of the paste to cover every nook and cranny!) However, just like with the oven cleaning spray, you shouldn’t put the paste on the heating elements of electric cookers or on the areas where the gas comes out in gas ovens.
Once the paste is applied, leave for about 12 hours (overnight is probably the easiest way to do it). After this time wipe down the whole inside of the oven with a damp cloth. To get rid of the stubborn bits of paste, put some vinegar in a spray bottle and spray it on these hard-to-remove spots. Then wipe down again!
How to clean oven with lemon water
- Lemon Water
This method is good for when your oven only needs a little refresh and not a full scrub and clean!
You need to get out a large, oven-proof bowl and fill it with water and two cut up lemons.
With your oven heated at 250 degrees, place the bowl on a shelf and leave for about an hour.
Then, turn the oven off and, with the door slightly open, leave it to cool down.
Finally, wipe down the whole inside of the oven, scrubbing if needs be (with something such as the scrunched-up ball of foil mentioned above).
So, there you have some great ways to clean your oven so you can have it looking as good as new! Just always remember to stay safe and use the proper protective gear.