How to Clean Your Oven Using 3 Household Ingredients

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Does your oven need a good cleaning but you can’t stand the smell of oven cleaner? Check out this tutorial for how to clean your oven with 3 household ingredients!

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Have you looked closely at your oven lately?  Is it in need of a good scrubbing?  Do you hate using store-bought oven cleaner, or smelling that burning smell when you use the self-clean option? Yea, me too. Here’s an easy tutorial on how to clean your oven using 3 simple household ingredients.

I’ll be honest with you, I’m not one to pay attention to my oven when I am baking something. It’s not because I don’t care, it’s just not something I really think about.

With that being said, the other day I happened to get a good look at my oven and man was it bad! Now, before you get your judge on, let me tell you that this is a rental house. That means I cannot be held responsible for the neglect this poor oven has endured.

Inside dirty oven

How to Clean Your Oven with Household Ingredients:

What you’ll need:

Take everything out of the oven and off the stove (oven racks, knobs, grates, etc) and soak them in HOT water with 1 cup white distilled vinegar. I soaked them all in my (clean) bathtub because oven racks just don’t fit in the sink. Let them soak while you finish the next steps.

Combine the baking soda and dish soap in a small bowl. Slowly add vinegar to the mixture until it forms a paste. Be sure to go really slow or you will have a 3rd-grade science project volcano on your hands. And your counter, sink, and floor 😉

bowl of baking soda and vinegar

Using a scrubby sponge and an old toothbrush, use some of the paste to start scrubbing away at the stovetop and outside of the oven. Save the inside for last because it will be the dirtiest part..

Scrub the inside of the oven with the paste and sponge. Magic erasers also help get rid of the “sweat rust” that tends to live on the inside of the glass. 

Once everything is scrubbed down, wipe it clean with an old rag soaked in warm water until there is no soapy residue left. I kept a bucket of warm water next to me while I did this to minimize my trips to the sink.

Next, clean the soaking oven racks, grates and knobs. The grease should easily wipe off after soaking in the vinegar and water.

Last, put everything back together!

Inside clean oven

Isn’t it SO much better?  All it took was a little elbow grease and a few things everyone has around the house.  The next renters are going to hit the jackpot with a clean oven!

More Cleaning Tips:

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How to Clean Your Oven Using 3 Household Ingredients

7 Comments

  1. I tried this and it did not work at all ! I left it on overnight re did it again left it on another night . Needless to say I’ve literally been cleaning my oven for almost 2 weeks now . I went to my local store and just bought easy off came off instantly. I’ve tried 2 or three different pins on here no one worked.

  2. This worked awesomely! I am so glad I found it. I have some pretty impressive before and after pictures. I have six kids and hate the idea of chemical cleaners in my oven. I am going to use it to clean my microwave next!

  3. This is a great reminder that I need to clean my oven soon. I don’t know why I never used my bathtub to clean the oven racks. Would make it a lot easier than taking them outside to scrub down.

  4. Hello! I have learned the hard way how much I despise cleaning my oven! Thanks for the great pointers! One tip I have is to cover the bottom of your oven with tin foil. That way when pies boil over or there are any other hard to clean spills, you can just remove the tin foil and put some more down in it’s place!

    1. Oh I hate it too Ruby! That is a good tip though with the foil. I need to start doing this!! You have no idea how many times I have had something bubble over while baking.

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