Cleaning your oven can be a hassle. This essential appliance is the workhorse of your kitchen, so it can easily accumulate rogue dinner debris, burnt-on gunk, and plenty of grease. You probably know staying on top of deep-cleaning your oven can help maintain it over the years (and prevent unwanted odors in your kitchen). But mustering the motivation to perform this cumbersome chore? Not that easy — until you learn these brilliant oven-cleaning hacks.
Fortunately, with a bit of strategy, you can take the stress out of this annoying-but-important job. The best cleaning tricks are the ones that make the job faster and easier, and, of course, do the job well. Below, find 15 of the best oven-cleaning hacks on the internet to get every inch of your oven sparkling (plus, how to make them work on your own oven).
The Very Best Oven-Cleaning Hacks of All Time
1. Soak dirty knobs
Rather than trying to swipe your rag around the bumps and turns of your knobs, remove them completely and soak them in dish soap and warm water. Soak them for an hour or so, give them a rinse, and let them air dry to dissolve grease with no scrubbing required.
2. Use a razor on glass stovetops
If the thought of scraping a razor on glass brings up nails-on-a-chalkboard memories, I get it. But there’s none of that, so don’t be afraid! A simple razor blade makes mincemeat of those stubborn, burnt-on food marks on your glass stovetop and eliminates endless scrubbing. (Or, check out the winning glass stovetop cleaning method.)
3. Give oven racks a bath
Scrubbing every inch of wire rung on an oven rack is tricky. But with this clever oven-cleaning hack, you can sit back while most of the hard work is done for you. Simply soak your racks in the bathtub and watch as the grime is lifted away. Just be sure to line your bathtub with towels, so the racks don’t scratch the tub. (You can also try this ingenious oven rack-cleaning trick for a deeper clean.)
4. Sprinkle some salt
Petya Hoelvich, cleaning expert and supervisor at Fantastic Services, recommends cleaning with table salt. “Sodium is an eco-cleaning ingredient because of its abrasive and absorbent properties,” she says. If you spill food in the oven, sprinkle salt on the affected area, and let it sit for a few hours. Then, use a soft cleaning cloth to remove the residue when the oven is cool.
5. Soak your grates, too!
Again, rather than scrubbing or trying to wipe down intricate, gritty shapes, let water and time do the heavy-lifting. Grates soaked in boiling water and dish soap come out almost completely clean, and a bit of scrubbing with Bon Ami or another non-abrasive scrubbing powder finishes the job.
6. Use a vacuum cleaner to deal with crumbs
7. Or use a paintbrush
If you’d rather not bust out the vacuum cleaner (or you don’t have a handheld one), a paintbrush is small enough to reach in awkward corners. Use it like a broom to sweep out any crumbs.
8. Paint your oven pink
9. Make your oven clean itself
10. Use a Magic Eraser to clean the oven door
11. Or a dishwasher tablet
12. Harness the power of lemon juice
James King, operations manager at DeluxeMaid, recommends this eco-friendly oven-cleaning hack: Squeeze lemon juice into a baking dish, then add ⅓ cup water. Pop the baking dish in your oven and let it bake at 250 degrees for about 30 minutes, then let the oven cool down. Grab another lemon, cut it in half, and coat the ends with baking soda to scrub the tough spots away. “This clever trick lets out natural citric acid vapors that can work wonders on stubborn grease and stuck-on food,” he says.
13. Hack your power drill
Time to bring your power drill in from the garage! That’s right — by adding some cleaning attachments to your drill, the task of scrubbing the inside of your oven becomes a whole lot easier. And even starts to feel like a game!
14. Try Bar Keepers Friend
One of editors’ very favorite kitchen-cleaning products is the century-old Bar Keepers Friend, a multi-purpose cleaning powder. To use it on your oven, make a paste with the powder and water, apply it to the dirty area, and let it sit for up to 45 minutes. When we tested several methods of cleaning oven grates, this trick was the clear winner. “This method is a bit messy (the paste will drip), but — holy cow! — it works wonders,” writer Ashley Poskin noted. “It ended up being my favorite method because it was easy and cleaned with very minimal effort.”
15. Whip up a DIY spray
To break down grease and tackle tough stains, try mixing equal parts distilled white vinegar, water, and a few drops of dish soap in a spray bottle. “Spray the mixture inside the oven and let it sit for a few hours,” says Rocky Vuong, founder and owner of Calibre Cleaning. Then, wipe away the grime with a cloth or brush.
Do you have any oven-cleaning hacks to add to this list? Leave them in the comments below!