Before you head to your local supermarket to buy a premade chemical oven cleaner you have to give this a try, it really works and better still it is non-toxic and costs less then a $1.
I will be honest and say my oven hadn’t received a proper clean for maybe nearly a year. It had received the occasional wipe over but that’s it. Cleaning the oven is always one of those maintenance jobs in the home that we love to hate…love it when it’s clean……hate it when it’s time to do it.
After searching the web for non-toxic options that really work, I came across a few suggestions for this method I am about to show you. I was sceptical but willing to give it a go.
It left my oven grease free and the surfaces were nice and clean. Due to the length of time between proper cleans I have a few stubborn black marks on the bottom that I will have to give a deeper clean to. A reader on Facebook said using a paint scraper wrapped in a dish cloth (to stop scratching the oven surface) and then a bicarbonate soda paste should do the trick.
Here it is, the non-toxic way to clean your oven overnight:
1. Remove all the shelving and the side runners these should easily pull out. Make sure your oven does have removable side runners.
2. Place the shelving and side runners into the laundry tub filled with laundry powder and boiling hot water.
3. In a spray bottle add 1 cup water and 1/2 cup bicarbonate soda. Shake to dissolve the bicarbonate soda.
4. Spray the the inside of the oven and the door making sure to cover all the surfaces well.
5. Turn the oven on to 180 degree Celcius and heat for approx 10 – 15 minutes and then turn off. The inside of the oven should look like this. Where there was a lot of grease it will be brown and the bicarbonate soda should be flaking away.
6. Respray the oven again and this time leave overnight.
7. In the morning, spray the inside with a 2 parts water 1 part vinegar solution and then begin to wipe away the flaky bicarbonate soda and all the grease and build up.
8. To remove stubborn stains particularly on the glass door. Make a paste with the bicarbonate soda and rub this over them, they should come off with little effort. You can also use this for stubborn spots inside the oven.
If you have black caked on areas on the inside of the oven try wrapping the end of a paint scraper with a dish cloth and scrape it off with the help of the bicarbonate soda paste.
With your shelves and side runners, these should just wipe clean after soaking overnight or with a little help of a scourer the tougher bits will come off.
Place the side runners and shelving back into the oven.
Because you have used no harsh chemical cleaners your oven is ready to be cooked in straight away.
I recommend doing this once a month as the more often it is done the less effort you will have to put into cleaning it each time.
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Wow Amanda! That’s great! I’ve never heard of this one. I’m going to give it a try.
Anne xx
Baking soda is a chemical. It is a base. It just isn’t a very strong one. Vinegar neutralizes it, which is why you use that to do the rinsing. The heat speeds up the chemical reaction. Regular oven cleaners are also bases, but stronger ones, which is why they clean faster and with much less elbow grease.
It may be a base doesn’t mean it’s a chemical, it’s actually a salt…going by that reasoning it would mean our skin is a chemical because it’s acidic… just thought I’d clear that one up… the reaction was a chemical one, but it was non-toxic, and that is what most people are after. Thank you for the suggestion, I’m going to try this one! 🙂
The laundry powder in the tub of boiling water for the trays is chemical… is it safe to then put this in the oven?
Hi Melissa it’s non-toxic and as you are rinsing them then yes it is fine.
brilliant tips, thanks a lot. The nice thing about bicarb is that it doesn’t have the same effects on people as other chemicals can. You wouldn’t use Domestos as a deoderant would you 😉
Is this ok to use in a Gas oven as well?
Thank you for this – I’ve shared it on my Facebook. I think more and more people are going for natural and chemical free solutions to cleaning these days. I didn’t realise at first but a lot of professional companies to this too. I’ve been using a couple of professional companies for my various properties and they do a fantastic job of this. I’m disabled so it’s sometimes hard for me to get down to clean devices myself, but I’d be happy to recommend oven cleaning maidstone if anyone’s in the area. But with blogs like this, people can continue to arm themselves with the knowledge needed to have a clean, happy and safe home – great work, thanks again!
Ooh nice post 🙂 I’ve been scouring the blogosphere for cleaning and maintenance posts, lots of goodness out there, thanks! I’m enjoying trying a lot of tips people are kindly passing on. I’ve also recommended in a few placed my favourite pro-cleaning companies that are just as chemical free as doing it myself, because I found when I was pregnant I was unable to do it myself, but hated the smells from my dirty cooker! They’re oven cleaner birmingham and oven cleaner maidstone. Thanks again 🙂
Professional before and after images! Seriously great results without chemicals, Amanda. I too am all for the “green” approach to cleaning.
You can’t beat good old Bicarbonate soda & elbow grease for oven cleaning!
– Oven Cleaner Sheffield
wait…is this the same oven????? WOW!!! i ‘ll definetely try this!!
Can’t beat Mr Muscle!!!
Can you use this with a gas oven??
Ive always cleaned my oven like this, I can buy ( Mr Muscle, Oven Pride) but nothing compares to this method..And yes you can use it on Gas Ovens.
Is the bi carb you use the one for cooking or the bi carb in the cleaning isle of the supermarket?
Yes the bi carb in the cooking isle
Wow this is awesome. I will definitely be trying this the next time I clean my oven. I have just cleaned it using harsh chemicals. Thanks so much for sharing this. Regards
Tried to do this tonight with 2 different spray bottles but the solution wouldn’t come out….it must be clogging up the tubes. Gave up, most disappointed
I also had problems initially with spray bottles blocking until I realised I had left too much residual bicarbonate of soda in the mixture. Pouring in just the dilute and using warmer water worked fine.
just done up to step 6…so far so good. except for the first spray bottle. must remember to keep shaking before and during spraying or it gets clogged up. fingers crossed it turns out like your “after” pic 🙂
Goodness, what a mess in the first image! it’s almost hard to believe that is the same oven in the second image. what a difference.
I wish I could give this a go myself but a struggle with arthritis in my legs and knees. being that my oven is really low down to the floor I can’t do it.
It might be useful for people to know that you can hire oven cleaning services to clean your oven for you. I started to struggle with my legs over 5 years ago and with little family to help me, tasks like oven cleaning were impossible. I just went onto google and typed in “Oven Cleaning Sheffield“. I am from the city of Sheffield and I was spoilt for choice with who to choose from. Anyway, I choose one and I have been using the same company every year for the last 5 years now. It’s worth looking into if like me your can no longer manage this task.
Take care.
Barry from the UK.
Is baking soda and bicarbonate soda the same, i like to try cleaning my oven.
yes it is.
I don’t think our oven has removable side runners (I will need to check laler) If not can I still use this method?
yes can still be done, it will just mean that you will have to wipe in between then, which can be a little time consuming.
I spent over half an hour last night trying to get that bi carb soda to dissolve, I tried cold, hot and boiling water and still wouldn’t dissolve then spray bottle got clogged up. Not happy at all. What was I doing wrong?? Looks easy to get clean if you can actually spray first!!!!!
Hi Donna, I few people have had this problem, I’m not sure why it happens but it didn’t happen for me (sorry). I have suggested simply wetting the inside and dusting with the bicarb. My spray bottle may of had a larger nozzle.
can you do this with a fan forced oven? Any ideas about how to get exhaust fan filters above the stove top? So much oil in them.
Yes mine is fan forced. For the exhaust fans they are all different. Mine used to come out if I pushed up and then it came down. Maybe google the instruction manual for your model.