The Best Methods For Cleaning Your Oven
Let’s face it. You’re not going to clean the oven every day. Even giving it a wipe down every week seems a little bit too much to ask. So, every so often, maybe every 3 months, you’re going to have to get your hands dirty and give it a deep clean.
There are a variety of methods and we’ll talk about them all below.
1. Natural chemical cleaning method
Mix some bicarbonate of soda with water into a thick paste thick. Apply it all over the inside of the oven – inside the door and over the heating elements. Leave overnight. In the morning, get some scouring pads and a bucket of water – and scrub. It will be a tough job, but with enough effort, it will come up nicely in the end. It’s also the safest, most cost effective, highest calorie burning and environmentally friendly method of cleaning your oven.
2. Home made chemical cleaning method
This is a fairly fierce method of cleaning. In fact – it’s toxic. So make sure you’re covered up with protective clothing – a face mask, rubber gloves, goggles if you have them and some old thick clothing.
Take out the oven shelves and put them into a hot bath. Sprinkle in washing powder and leave overnight to soak. In the morning, the grease and grime should wipe off relatively easily.
Mix ammonia bleach and water. Apply liberally inside the oven and leave for a couple of hours. On your return apply some more of your caustic mixture, wiping down the interior surfaces with a scouring pad. Use soapy water to remove any traces of the bleach. Now replace the oven shelves.
This is a cheap method but it will still give you a bit of a work out.
3. Industrial chemicals and commercial cleaners
Use a commercial chemical application to get your oven clean. Take out the shelves and put them in the bags supplied or a waterproof bin bag. Give them a liberal coating of the chemical and seal the bag. Take the spray gun or apply the chemical liberally around the oven and close the door.
Leave both the bag and the oven for an hour (by all means follow the instructions – but leave it for an extra half hour or hour – the marketing department needs to put ‘fast acting’ or ‘quick’ to sell more products). Come back and wipe sown with warm soapy water.
Good commercial oven cleaning products are Ovenmate – which won the Which? 2010 Best Oven Cleaners award and the Best oven cleaning product by the Good Housekeeping Institute and Ovenpride – highly rated by users on Mumsnet.
The products themselves are relatively inexpensive and save a lot of time and effort.
4. Cheat! Get someone else to do it
Yes, you really can do this. And if you can afford it – why not? There are many specialist oven cleaning companies out there and even your local cleaning company will probably be able to help you. You can have your oven professionally cleaned from around A�30 to A�60 depending on where you are in the Country.