How to Clean an Oven

We often get asked, what are the best oven cleaning tips?

Your oven is a hard worker in your kitchen both at home and in your office, which means it’s also an appliance that gets dirty fast with baked on grimes that are often challenging to remove with ease. When it comes to how to clean an oven, like an expert, there is more than simply wiping down surfaces with a cloth and water. Oil and fat splatters on the walls, racks, and door of your oven can build up quickly over time. This often leads to unpleasant odors and glass that’s hard to see through which is equally as challenging to clean. This is why routine cleaning is a must and should be regularly scheduled based on your usage. To get your oven glistening again, we’re sharing our expert tips for cleaning every part of this essential kitchen appliance.

How Often Should You Clean Your Oven

“You should generally deep clean your oven every three months, but you may need to clean it more frequently if your oven is heavily used,” according to Kitchenaid.com. If you are a keen baker, or notice burnt food, lingering smells, grease, or dirt, you should clean it more frequently as required. Give your oven a quick wipe-down after each use to prevent a build-up of grime in between deep cleans and this is particularly important for the glass front.

How to Clean an Oven Using the Self-Cleaning Feature

Using your oven’s self-cleaning function to remove stubborn food residue and grime without the need for extensive manual scrubbing sounds like a dream come true. Majority of ovens with a self-cleaning function have a dedicated feature or control panel setting to do just that. Empty your oven completely of all trays (you may also need to remove racks depending on the model you have in your home), then press the button or select the appropriate setting to start the self-cleaning cycle.

The self-cleaning cycle time varies from model to model, but typically takes several hours to complete. During this time, your oven will heat up to extremely high temperatures (often around 500 Degrees Celsius) to burn off the food residues and oils. Once the self-cleaning cycle is complete, the oven will need time to cool back down to room temperature. Once this occurs, open the door and wipe everything down with a damp microfiber cloth.

Oven Cleaning Materials

If you’re cleaning your oven manually, make sure you have these cleaning supplies on hand which can be purchased from reputable suppliers such as Bunnings, Woolworths or Coles.

• Baking soda
• White cleaning vinegar
• Water
• Dish soap
• Spray bottle
• Small bowl
• Scrubbing sponge or brush
• Large container
• Microfiber cleaning cloth 

How to Clean the Inside of an Oven

We recommend using baking soda and vinegar to clean the inside of your oven, which creates a foaming reaction that helps lift dirt, grease and grime.

1. Remove racks, trays, and other removable components from the inside of the oven.
2. Mix approximately 1/2 cup baking soda with water until a thick paste forms.
3. Spread the baking soda paste with a spatula evenly over the oven’s interior surfaces. Ensure you avoid applying the paste to heating elements or other sensitive oven parts such as wiring.
4. Now let the paste do the work, leave it on the oven surfaces for several hours to cut through the dirt, grease and grime.
5. Fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray the interior surfaces of the oven with the vinegar solution, which will cause a foaming reaction on top of the settled paste.
6. Once the foaming reaction subsides, gently scrub the interior surfaces of the oven with a brush or sponge, focusing on areas with stubborn stains and grime. 
7. Using a damp microfiber cloth to wipe the baking soda residue and loosened grime from the oven surfaces.
8. Wipe the oven dry with a clean microfiber cloth which should now be glistening from your efforts.

How to Clean Oven Racks

Often marked as one of the most challenging parts of the process, this essential step of cleaning the oven will require routine cleaning to remove stubborn spills, stains, dirt and grime.

1. Fill a bathtub with warm/hot water.
2. Add a few drops of natural dishwashing soap to the water. For extra grimy racks, add 1 cup baking soda as well.
3. Place the racks in the tub and leave them to soak for several hours.
4. Use a sponge or brush to scrub the racks, paying careful attention to corners.
5. Rinse with warm water and wipe dry with a clean microfiber cloth.

How to Clean the Oven Door

Use a clean microfiber cloth for cleaning the oven door and at all costs avoid using abrasive materials so you don’t risk scratching the glass.

1. In a small bowl, mix several drops of natural dish soap with warm water.
2. Place a microfiber cloth in the solution so that it is damp.
3. Wipe the outside of the oven door, focusing on areas with a lot of dirt and grime.

Still Need Help Cleaning Your Oven?

Cleanco Commercial Cleaning provides oven cleaning services to clients, from Commercial Cleaning to NDIS Cleaning, we are always ready to handle the challenging tasks thrown at us, such as how to clean an oven, expert. To discuss your oven cleaning needs with one of our professionals, feel free to contact us here in the office and we will be more than happy to discuss this further with you.