7 effective ways to clean the oven

The oven is one of the hardest things to clean in our homes. Dirt sticks stubbornly when it gets burnt on and simply wiping it off with a cloth isn’t enough. But how do you clean the oven then?

We have compiled no less than seven methods you can use.

That way, you can hopefully start immediately with things you already have at home.

How effective the methods are depends on how dirty the oven is.

Often, environmentally friendly options work perfectly well, but sometimes stronger cleaners are needed to deal with food residues and other burnt-on grime.

1. Ovens with self-cleaning programmes (pyrolysis)

If you have an oven with a pyrolysis function, you can use it regularly to clean the oven.

These ovens can withstand very high heat and heat up to 500 degrees, turning dirt into ash that can then be wiped away with a cloth.

Always read the instruction manual for your specific oven. Remove trays, racks and rack holders as they are not designed to tolerate such high temperatures.

Remove loose dirt before running the programme and let the oven cool down properly before opening the door and wiping clean.

The programme takes a few hours and it’s good to be at home during the process in case, against all odds, a fire starts.

Also remember that the oven door can become very hot when cleaning the oven, so make sure no children or pets are nearby.

How to do it:

1. Keep children and pets away.

2. Remove trays and racks.

3. Wipe away loose dirt and food scraps with a damp cloth.

4. Run the pyrolysis programme.

5. Let it cool down completely.

6. Wipe away the ash.

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2. Cleaning the oven with “normal” oven cleaner

Sometimes you may not have the time or energy to use household tips to clean the oven, or it might be so dirty that you need something stronger.

Always read carefully on the bottle before using oven cleaner and follow the instructions meticulously.

Oven cleaner is one of the strongest products you can use at home. It is the most effective way to remove burnt-on grime when you have a well-used oven.

How to do it:

1. Place a durable towel on the floor in front of the oven to protect the floor.

2. Use gloves! Many skip gloves and suffer severe itching and very dry, cracked hands. These are strong chemicals and gloves are essential.

3. Often you cannot use oven cleaner on the entire oven, for example on the ceiling or inner walls. Read the bottle carefully and consult your oven’s user manual if you are unsure.

4. Let the product work for at least as long as stated on the bottle.

5. Open windows to ventilate vapours and smells from the oven cleaner.

6. Wipe clean according to the package instructions. Better to wipe too much than too little.

3. Cleaning oven with bicarbonate of soda and vinegar

Ovens that aren’t too dirty can be cleaned well with bicarbonate of soda and white wine vinegar. Make a paste of bicarbonate and water and paint it inside the oven.

Then use a spray bottle to spray vinegar. This creates a chemical reaction that foams up, dissolves dirt and cleans the oven. Let it work for at least 30 minutes.

You can also use baking powder to clean the oven. But since it’s the bicarbonate in the baking powder doing the work, it’s better to use bicarbonate if you have it at home.

Then it’s time to wipe clean with a damp cloth. You need to wipe several times to remove all the bicarbonate.

When we tested this trick ourselves, we found bicarbonate in the oven the day after as well, so it’s good to know that this method can be a bit messy.

Not recommended for end-of-tenancy cleaning unless you want to give the next resident a possible bicarbonate surprise.

This way of cleaning the oven is environmentally friendly, risk-free and fairly quick. Also, you can do it with things you have at home and don’t have to worry about strong chemicals contaminating your food.

To remove stubborn stains on the glass, you can use steel wool (make sure it foams up properly to avoid scratching the glass).

How to do it:

1. Make a paste of bicarbonate and water.

2. Paint the paste over the surfaces inside the oven.

3. Spray white wine vinegar so it foams.

4. Let it work for at least 30 minutes.

5. Wipe off several times with a damp cloth.

But natural products are not just for cleaning ovens. Fancy cleaning more with bicarbonate? Read our post Environmentally friendly cleaning with bicarbonate of soda.

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4. Cleaning oven with soap

Soap is a natural product that smells nice and dissolves grease very effectively. It works especially well when heated.

Spread concentrated soap in the oven, heat it to 100 degrees, let it cool and wipe with a damp cloth. You’ll need to wipe many times to get all the soap off.

When you’re done you can use a dry, clean kitchen towel to dry. This prevents nasty streaks on the glass and makes the oven look freshly cleaned.

How to do it:

1. Use your hands to apply concentrated soap inside the oven.

2. Heat the oven with the door closed to 100 degrees.

3. Let it cool completely.

4. Wipe with a damp cloth until there’s no more foam.

5. Wipe clean with a dry kitchen towel for a neat finish.

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5. Cleaning oven with vinegar

Vapourised vinegar doing the work for you, not a bad idea!

You start by heating the oven to 50 degrees. Then put an oven dish (take one with burnt-on stains if you have one) with a couple of decilitres of vinegar inside.

Let the oven run with the vinegar inside for about an hour, then let it cool and wipe out a few times with a damp cloth until you’ve removed all the evaporated vinegar.

This can smell quite strong, so it’s good to have a window open.

How to do it:

1. Heat oven to 50 degrees.

2. Put oven dish with 2 dl vinegar inside.

3. Let it work for an hour while the oven is on.

4. Let cool and wipe out with a damp cloth.

6. Cleaning oven with lemon

This way of cleaning the oven smells really fresh and is natural. The oven should be heated to 225 degrees. Then fill a medium-sized ovenproof bowl with water and put two halves of a lemon in the bowl.

When the oven is hot, place the bowl in the centre of the oven on the rack and let it work for an hour.

After that, turn off the oven and let it cool until it’s cool enough to wipe clean with a damp cloth.

Note! If you use a cast iron pot for the lemon water, it’s important that it’s heated gradually inside the oven.

Putting the pot in when the oven is cold can prevent the enamel from cracking.

How to do it:

1. Heat oven to 225 degrees.

2. Fill a medium-sized ovenproof bowl with water and add two lemon halves.

3. Put in the oven and let work for an hour.

4. Turn off the oven and let cool.

5. When cooled, clean the oven with a damp cloth and possibly foaming steel wool.

Lemon cleaning is natural, but have you considered it’s not very environmentally friendly since they have to be transported a long way?

Read more about the difference between natural and ecological in our post The Truth about Ecological Cleaning.

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7. Cleaning oven with washing-up liquid

Too good to be true? Can you really clean the oven with ordinary washing-up liquid? Yes, you can!

This tip is especially good for cleaning the bottom of the oven. Pour some water in the bottom and add a few drops of washing-up liquid to the water.

Heat the oven to 60 degrees and let it be on for an hour. Then let it cool, wipe away the water and that’s it.

How to do it:

1. Pour some water in the bottom of the oven.

2. Add a few drops of washing-up liquid.

3. Use a cloth to spread water and washing-up liquid over the inside of the oven.

4. Heat the oven to 60 degrees.

5. Let it work for an hour before turning off the heat.

6. Let cool and wipe.

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What happens if you don’t clean the oven?

In many homes, the oven is cleaned too rarely. People forget, or think it doesn’t matter since the food doesn’t touch the oven itself.

Even though food stains and splashes don’t look fresh, the most important reason to clean the oven isn’t hygiene, but rather the fire risk.

A really dirty oven full of burnt food residues and grease could pose a fire hazard.

Another reason to clean the oven regularly is that it affects how the food tastes, which is quite important too.

Bonus tip: How to clean a really dirty oven tray

Sometimes it can feel impossible to get rid of burnt stains on oven trays.

But it is possible. Start by washing the tray thoroughly and scrubbing off what you can with foaming steel wool. Then put on gloves and spray oven cleaner.

Be careful not to get it on your worktop and work in a well-ventilated room, like a laundry room or bathroom where you can open the window.

The trick is to let the oven cleaner work overnight. In the morning, put your gloves on again, scrub the tray with more steel wool and finally rinse it off. Ta-da! A clean oven tray.

The same tip works if you have a really dirty oven rack.

Bonus tip 2: How to clean the oven door

Oven doors with burnt-on grime can be really hard to clean, but it’s doable.

Here you have the advantage of being able to remove the oven glass. How to do so varies from oven to oven, but usually you can take off the glass without removing the whole oven door.

You can also use this opportunity to clean the inside of the glass, as it gets dirty too.

The most effective way to clean the oven door is to let oven cleaner work on it for a good while and then scrub with foaming steel wool until all stains are gone.

Repeat until the door is completely clean. Optionally, you can let the oven cleaner work overnight if the oven door is covered with burnt food splashes.

Imagine never having to clean the oven again?

We at Städade Hem have cleaned ovens for many years and know exactly how to get them sparkling clean.

Contact us if you want a clean oven without any effort, or if you have other cleaning projects that never get done. We are happy to help with both deep cleaning and regular home cleaning in Stockholm.