How to Clean Your Oven

January 16, 2012 by 22 Comments

After a long holiday season I’m sure your oven could use a little cleaning, or a major detailing, I know mine does!  So today we’re going to show you how to clean your oven.  In fact, we will be cleaning every part of our ovens.

 
To thoroughly clean our ovens we will work our way from the inside out.  If you have a self cleaning cycle on your oven I recommend using that because it’s the easiest way to tackle the tough drips on the bottom of the oven.  However I know that many of you don’t have a self cleaning cycle so here is what you need:
 
Pour about 3/4 cup of baking soda into a dish and slowly add water to it until it becomes a thin paste.  You don’t want it to be too thick because you want the mixture to be easy to spread, but you also don’t want it to be too runny, about the thickness of pancake batter is perfect.
 
Spread the mixture all over the bottom of you oven, and if you have splatters on the sides, then coat them as well.
 
Wait 15-20 minutes and then wipe the oven clean.  Most of the drips will come right up but for the tough drips, that want to put up a good fight, I recommend using Arm & Hammer toothpaste and a toothbrush to scrub off the drips.  Arm & Hammer toothpaste, and a little scrubbing action, will work wonders for cleaning the tough spots in your oven!
 
Use the same baking soda mixture to also clean the glass on the oven door.
 
Now that the inside of the oven is clean let’s move on up to the burners.
 
There are a lot of stove top cleaners on the market but all of them have the same awful, chemical, smell to them.  I have found that the best way to clean my cook top is using Arm & Hammer toothpaste and a toothbrush.  Spread the toothpaste onto the toothbrush and then use the toothbrush to cover the burn spots on your cook top with the toothpaste.  There’s no need to scrub, you could even apply the toothpaste with your fingers if you don’t have an extra toothbrush.
 
Wait 10-15 minutes.  When the timer has expired wipe the surface clean using a damp cloth.

The stove top will be sparkly clean {and it will smell good too}!

We are almost done!  There’s just one more thing to clean and it’s something that is usually overlooked when you think about cleaning the oven.  Know what it is?
 
The knobs!  Don’t just wipe them clean, actually pull them off and see what’s lurking under there.
 
 
Pretty gross.  But don’t worry, it’s an easy fix.  For this simple task you will need a spray bottle filled with white vinegar (or a white vinegar/water mix if you prefer), a sponge and a clean bowl.Here’s what to do:1. Place all the knobs in the bowl and fill it with white vinegar.  Leave them to sit while you clean the oven.2. Next spray the oven with white vinegar and let it set for about 30 seconds.  Some of it will drip to the stove top but that’s okay.

3. Take the sponge and wipe down the stove making sure to get all the grime that is stuck to the surface.  If your stove has decades of grime crusted to it and the grease isn’t completely coming off with the white vinegar then sprinkle a little baking soda onto your sponge.  The baking soda will cut through the grease and it will wipe right off.

4. Next drain the vinegar that the knobs are soaking in and scrub them clean too.  I like to let my knobs dry for at least a few hours because I’m paranoid that a little water might mess up the stove.  Once they are dry place them back on the oven.

We’re finished!  Our ovens are sparkly clean and ready for a break after the big holiday baking season!  The best part about cleaning the oven this way–no harsh chemicals.  It’s amazing what you can clean with a little baking soda, Arm & Hammer toothpaste and some vinegar!  One last note: If you used the Self Cleaning Cycle to clean the inside of your oven, check out this great tip for how to get your oven racks to slide easily again.
 
If you are looking for how to clean BETWEEN the oven glass please see this post.
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Filed Under: 14 Day Challenge, Cleaning, Cleaning, Cleaning with Baking Soda, Cleaning with Vinegar, Feature, Green Cleaning, Kitchen, Most Popular, Series 22 Comments
About Anna

"Hi I'm Anna! Welcome to Ask Anna where I love to answer your household questions! I have always loved to clean, organize and decorate and this blog is a fun way for me to help you love it too! I am a busy mom of a beautiful little girl and I'm married to the love of my life. Together we fill our days with projects , laughter and love. I serve an incredible God and overall I'd say I'm truly blessed!"

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Discussion !

  1. 1
    Jo :
    June 28, 2012 at 3:56 am

    Thank you for your article Anna, the baking soda really works well, without those harsh chemicals.

    One tip I found, being not too tall, reaching all the way to the back of the oven is quite hard. I found that the door can be taken off for cleaning making it a lot easier. This video on you tube showed me how to do it http://youtu.be/iyw-57ExLDQ

    With the door off it was much easier to reach inside and clean the bottom at the back.

    Reply
  2. 3
    Mona :
    July 13, 2012 at 9:20 am

    Thanks for all the great tips. Especially like the one about the toothpaste!!

    Reply
  3. 5
    Ange :
    July 26, 2012 at 11:37 am

    Is there a way to clean in between the 2 pieces of glass in the oven door? I have “stuff” that drips down in between there and have never been able to clean it! Any suggestions?

    Reply
  4. 7
    julie :
    August 19, 2012 at 10:24 am

    Still would like to see a darker text on your site–the gray is tough to read

    Reply
  5. 8
    MJVC :
    October 20, 2012 at 11:40 am

    Hi, I just wanted to post a comment on here saying thank you for this tip. I was totally shocked that my oven came clean with no scrubbing. I stuck the stuff on there and let it soak for awhile. Came back and wiped it off and it came clean, even the window on the door. So thank you thank you thank you!

    Reply
  6. 9
    Mimi :
    November 23, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    You must have looked at my bottom oven on Thanksgiving. It’s a mess. I will try this. THANKS!!!

    Reply
  7. 10
    Martha Orlando :
    November 23, 2012 at 3:22 pm

    Great, all-natural cleaning tips, Anna! Thanks so much for sharing!
    Blessings to you and yours!
    Martha Orlando recently posted..Comfort in the CrossMy Profile

    Reply
    • 11
      Ginger Wilkins :
      November 23, 2012 at 5:56 pm

      I can’t believe I’m saying this…but I am looking forward to cleaning the Oven tommorrow! :-) Thank you for the great tip!

      Reply
  8. 12
    Mel :
    December 2, 2012 at 2:28 pm

    American baking soda must have different properties than Australain baking soda. Following these instructions didn’t do anything for my oven, especially the glass on the door. Rather disappointing as I really wanted to get away from the nasty smelling chemical cleaner.

    Reply
  9. 14
    Kaitlyn :
    December 28, 2012 at 5:28 am

    Do you have any recommendations on how to clean in between the glass of the door? I have some drip stains that were there when we bought the house and have no idea how to clean them!

    Reply
  10. 15
    lisalynn :
    January 1, 2013 at 8:59 pm

    Hello,

    I pull off the stove knobs once a week & put them in the tray in my dishwasher..
    works like a charm & NO elbow grease needed ..
    my kind of clean..
    Love your cleaning tips ..
    lisa

    Reply
  11. 17
    Brianna :
    February 25, 2013 at 12:12 pm

    Maybe my oven is beyond needing a cleaning cuz the baking soda did NOTHING for it :( Super sad when I had to wipe all that off and the junk was still there … I even let it sit for a couple of hours, could that be the reason it didn’t work?

    Reply
  12. 18
    Steph :
    April 6, 2013 at 10:36 am

    This does not work AT ALL. I followed the instructions exactly and it did nothing to the gunk in the oven (which wasn’t that much to begin with). Not only did I waste 3/4 cup of baking soda, but I had to spend 10 minutes to scoop the baking soda chunks out of the oven. It took me less time to actually clean the oven with a Brillo pad.

    Reply
  13. 19
    Cara :
    April 16, 2013 at 7:36 pm

    How do you clean between the vents right behind the door handle on the oven? Mine are all greasy!

    Reply
  14. 21
    Vicki I. :
    June 13, 2013 at 5:19 am

    This may be a silly question, but does any toothpaste work or does it need to be Arm & Hammer because of the baking soda?

    Reply

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    [...] writing the post on how to clean the oven, I have received so many questions about how to clean between the oven glass, so today I am finally [...]

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