Cleaning an oven can be a real pain, but you don’t need to spend hours scrubbing or use harsh chemicals to get rid of grease stains — two affordable supermarket items can help make it much easier
Cleaning your oven can be daunting, but this makes it easy(Image: Getty)
Ovens are notoriously difficult to clean in any household, as grease from cooking spills over and becomes baked onto surfaces the next time the appliance heats up. Many people don’t realise that grease undergoes a chemical transformation when heated, turning into a burnt, thick and incredibly sticky residue.
Once heated, grease takes on an almost varnish-like quality, making it impossible to shift with water-based cleaning products, leaving you scrubbing for hours with harsh chemical cleaners that can irritate your eyes. Fortunately, there’s a natural yet highly effective method to tackle grease stains without spending a fortune or wasting hours on your oven.
Jules Gordon, a professional cleaner and founder of Eco Cleaning Fairies, has shared that you can deep clean an oven “with a little bit of washing up liquid and a little shake of soda crystals.”
Washing-up liquid is formulated to tackle stubborn food marks on dishes and contains surfactants that help lift grease by reducing its stickiness.
Soda crystals are highly alkaline, enabling them to dissolve the fats and oils found in grease, which softens stains rapidly and makes them far easier to remove.
What’s brilliant about these cleaning products is that they’ll break down any food residue in an oven, allowing you to simply wipe surfaces clean without spending ages scrubbing.
With soda crystals and washing-up liquid in hand, tackling your oven will no longer feel like a chore, as stubborn stains can be banished in roughly 30 minutes of work.
Soda crystals are typically found in the cleaning or laundry section of most supermarkets, though they may also be labelled as washing soda or sodium carbonate.
How to clean your oven
You will need:
- Soda crystals
- Washing-up liquid
- Stainless steel scourers
- Cloths
- Rubbish bags
Method:
Start by filling a basin with hot water, then add a squirt of washing-up liquid along with some soda crystals. Take out any trays or racks from the oven. Pop smaller trays or racks into the basin to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.
For larger trays and racks, sprinkle soda crystals over them, dip a scourer into soapy water and give them a gentle scrub. Next, place them inside a clean bin bag and leave them to soak for approximately 20 minutes.
It may seem unusual, but bin bags trap moisture, preventing the soda crystal solution from drying out and helping to dissolve any built-up grime.
In the meantime, prepare a bucket with washing-up liquid, soda crystals and hot water. Dip a cloth into the mixture and use it to wipe down the oven interior.
Start at the top of the oven and gradually work downwards. Then, use a scourer to tackle the greasy patches, which should come away with minimal effort. Rinse the oven with clean water and ensure it’s completely dry before switching it back on.
Polish the oven door with a dry cloth, though some people swear by crumpled-up newspaper, an old-school trick for making glass sparkle. Take out the trays and grills from the basin or bin bags. Use a scourer to give them a good scrub, making it far simpler to shift any stubborn marks.
Your oven should now be gleaming and entirely blemish-free, meaning you’ll never need to delay cleaning it again. Now you’re equipped with the right products for the job.
