After publishing my post about how to clean between oven glass I have received lots of questions about how to clean a self cleaning oven. The good news is that self cleaning ovens aren’t any harder, or different, to clean than non-self-cleaning ovens.
We’ve always had self-cleaning ovens but honestly I really don’t like to use that feature too often because basically a self cleaning cycle gets the oven so hot that it burns off all the drips and turns them to ash. As a result the house gets really hot and it usually smells pretty bad. The only time I even use my self cleaning cycle is right before Thanksgiving, when I know the oven is going to be on for the entire day.
So when you have a self cleaning oven, but don’t want to heat up, or stink up your house, I recommend using baking soda to clean the inside of the oven. By making a baking soda and water paste you’ll be able to get the grime off your oven without any extra heat. Read the full tutorial of how to do it HERE.
You can also clean between the oven glass the same way you would a non-self cleaning oven. When we did our living room remodel we had to rearrange where the oven was placed in our kitchen, and in the moving process the glass on one of my ovens shattered. Of course it was a huge bummer but it has also allowed me a look inside to know that there isn’t anything to damage by cleaning inside the oven glass.
So whether your oven is self cleaning or not, you can use this trick to clean in between the oven glass.
Two of the questions I get asked a lot, about self cleaning ovens are if there are electrical wires inside the glass and if it will “break the seal” cleaning between the oven glass. Since one of our ovens doesn’t have glass on it now, I can tell you there’s no electrical wires inside the glass. All the electrical is housed in the outer part of the unit. Even when our ovens where completely out of the wall there wasn’t any electrical wires that could be seen.
There also isn’t a “seal” to be broken. The outer glass isn’t sealed, it’s only there as a barrier to prevent you from touching the inner glass, which is the one that gets really hot. Here’s what the inside of an oven door looks like.
Having a self cleaning oven is great because you can use the self cleaning feature when you want to, or need to, but you can also clean it by hand when you want to avoid smelling up your house. If you have any other oven cleaning tips I would love to hear them! I always love learning new tricks!
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Hey Anna, I’m a bit confused by the link for the oven cleaning tutorial- it links up to a tutorial on oven glass cleaning. Anyway, I really need to clean my oven and would love feedback! I don’t really like the self-cleaning setting. Super smokey.
You can use the same method for the rest of your oven too. Instead of wiping the baking soda off with a wash cloth, after it sits for 15 min, use a scrub brush, or sponge to scrub up all the burnt on stuff. After scrubbing then use a wash cloth to clean it up.
Sorry, I’m a little confused. It’s okay to use the self-cleaning feature on the oven even when the outer glass is gone? Doesn’t it just get really really hot? I’ve always been put off the idea of using the self-cleaning function, I’ve heard too many times that it can go a bit wrong and end up breaking the machine, which I definitely can’t afford to replace right now with a baby on the way!
Baking soda is always good, you can also use white vinegar as well, and lemon. Although I think by judging them all, the baking soda paste is best for getting tough stains.
I have one more golden nugget: if you spill something on or in your oven but can’t clean it up yet because it’s too hot, just sprinkle some salt on it. When the oven has cooled, the stain will come up super easy thanks to the salt on it =)
Sarah,
Thanks for the great tips!
I use the self cleaning feature on my oven 3-4 times a year. Last time I forgot to take the oven liner out of the bottom and it adhered itself to all the surfaces. I have tried magic erasers and also cleaning paste but it has not moved the fiberglass from the walls, door or glass. Any ideas to remove the dull finish and see shiny porcelain again?
Unfortunately I think once it’s turned dull like that, there’s no going back. 🙁 I think it burns the finish right off.
My self cleaning oven does not have a odor when I clean it it also does not heat my houseI have a whirlpool and I have always heard that it had a bad smell when cleaning .But that has not happen and I have cleaned it twice. Gets I am just lucky.
Not a trick but Easy off oven cleaner has one with a blue cap just for self cleaning ovens. No heating the oven and odorless. Works great even on the worst ovens. The stove I bought the oven was never cleaned and looks bran new. Can be used on the racks also.
Awesome thanks.. so I can use this after the self cleaning cycle stops. I never can get the sides of my oven clean, even after the self cleaning cycle…..
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Thank you, I am widowed also. My husband recently passed this past May 2016.
Thank you for all your wonderful helpful tips. I have a self clean oven with the discoloured oven door. Have tried magic eraser, doesn’t work to remove stain, also now after cleaning oven left the racks in and they don’t have the shine anymore.
Is there any way to bring the shine back on the racks.
Thanks for your time keep up the tips.
I’m not really sure, I’ve just always left mine not shiny. 🙂 You could call an appliance shop and ask them.
Thank you so much for your oven door cleaning tip. I had my brand new oven for less than a month when my son spilled egg down the front and it fell in the vents. Now I’ll finally get it back to looking new. BTW, I broke my last oven when I used the self cleaning feature. The repair man said it got too hot and recommended not to do the self cleaning, just a mild non abrasive cleaner. So thumbs up to you!
The self cleaning feature on an electric oven is also hard on the circuit breaker. My stove started acting funny, only one burner worked at a time. I talked to an appliance guy and he said to check the circuit breaker. The electrician showed me that one side of it was MELTED. Keep this in mind.
how long is the cycle on a self cleaning oven
I think mine is a few hours. I usually open a window and run it at night while we’re in bed.