Guide to Cleaning Your Oven

Try to recall the last time you cleaned your oven. If you’re struggling to pinpoint a timeframe, it’s time for a deep clean. While scrubbing your appliances may not be on your top 10 favorite things, you have to do it to ensure it’s safe and sanitary enough to cook in.

A fresh, clean oven can be accomplished easily by you or a cleaning service — it just needs a little elbow grease. Below are tips for cleaning an oven, when to use the self-clean feature and how exactly to give your oven the shine you want to see.

Why Should You Clean Your Oven?

Cleaning your oven is essential to its overall success as a kitchen appliance. When it has a buildup of dirt, grease and grime, your oven will struggle to cook your food, emit fumes and release smoke. Having a clean oven will ensure it functions properly, keeps your kitchen clean and positively contributes to your overall health.

Common problems of a dirty oven include:

• Food: When you’re baking in a dirty oven or cooking on the stovetop, your food will absorb fumes that affect the smell and taste of your meals.
• Health: A dirty oven will eventually struggle to perform. In this case, it may not cook your food all the way through or stay at the right temperature. Eating undercooked food can lead to serious health problems.
• Grime: A buildup of dirt and grease will cause your oven to function poorly and create a displeasing look on glass and other surfaces.
• Damage: Dirt and buildup can damage your oven, just as they can damage anything else. In this case, your oven will have a difficult time warming to the right temperature and can face overheating.
• Smoke: The food left inside your oven and the grease on its side will burn every time you power it on. The result is burned food and grease that begin to smoke. The fumes in this smoke are harmful to you and the environment because they’re full of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and other harmful gases.
• Life: Keeping your oven clean can help to extend its lifespan. While a dirty oven struggles to work and faces the potential of a heat overload, a clean oven will perform nicely and have a longer life.
• Pests: Because most of what’s inside your oven is food, you might see bugs and small rodents in your kitchen when you leave your oven dirty for too long.
• Fire: Everything at the bottom of your oven will continue to burn every time you power it up. The smoke your oven emits can create a fire hazard.

Supplies You Need to Deep Clean Your Oven

How often you should clean your oven depends on your use. You should expect to clean your oven about every three months, but if you use it nearly every day, expect to clean it more frequently. Although soap and water usually work well for other home areas, it’s not enough for your oven. You’ll need to gather or purchase a couple of different materials to ensure a deep clean.

Here are the materials needed to deep clean an oven:

• Cleaner: You want to ensure you have a quality cleaner for the job. There are several DIY methods to create cleaner, but the most effective solution is to purchase an oven cleaner.
• Gloves: Always be sure to wear gloves when cleaning. You’ll be touching grime and grease you don’t want on your hands. You’ll also be working with chemicals that should not touch your skin.
• Glasses: For extra precaution, wear safety glasses. You’ll typically be spraying the oven cleaner and scrubbing your oven harshly. You want to ensure the cleaner and any burnt particles don’t enter your eyes.
• Sponges: A microfiber sponge will help tackle stubborn spots. You may need more than one to ensure a thorough clean.
• Toothbrush: Corners can be tough to clean. A toothbrush is small enough to get close to the edges and sturdy enough to let you have a firm grip.
• Cover: Put something on the floor to avoid cleaner or dirt spreading around your kitchen. These covers could be newspapers, old rags or towels you plan to throw away.

How to Deep Clean an Oven

Once you’ve obtained all the necessary materials, you can work on your oven.

Here are the steps you should take to clean your oven:

1. Make sure your oven is turned off and completely cooled down before starting.
2. Take everything out of the oven, including the racks and any pans or stones you may store inside it.
3. Lay down the covers on the floor and spread them out to cover below the oven and around you.
4. Put on the safety gear.
5. Look for any loose particles you can remove by hand and throw them away.
6. Spray the oven cleaner everywhere. Coat the top, sides, bottom, back and door of your oven. If your stove is electric, leave the heating elements dry. For a gas stove, don’t spray where the gas comes out.
7. Close the oven and let the spray sit for as long as the instructions detail.
8. Move to the racks and spray them with the cleaner outside your house.
9. Set the racks aside in your sink or in your bathtub.
10. After your oven has had enough time to soak, prepare the sponge with soap and warm water.
11. Begin scrubbing as needed, using the toothbrush to access corners and the sponge to work tough spots.
12. Clean the sponge after each pass through the oven to avoid spreading grime and dirt.
13. After you’ve finished the oven, soak the racks in warm water with soap.
14. Use the sponge to clean the racks.
15. Wait until the racks and oven are dry before reinserting the racks.

Tips for Cleaning Your Oven

There are many ways to make cleaning your oven easier and more thorough so you don’t have to clean it as often.

Here are some great tips to make cleaning a dirty oven easier:

• Soak the toothbrush you plan to use in the oven cleaner beforehand.
• Use salt on the oven’s surface if you accidentally spill something. After it’s cool, it’ll be easier to wipe away.
• Boil water and add equal parts of white vinegar in a pot. Put the pot in the oven and let it sit for about an hour to loosen the grime in the oven and make it much easier to clean.
• To get rid of crumbs before deep cleaning, use your vacuum crevice attachment.
• Use water and baking soda to create a paste to leave on the oven’s glass front. After sitting for about an hour, you can wipe it away and reveal a nice shine.
• To minimize how often you need to deep clean, get an oven liner to catch all spills and droppings. These liners are usually easier to clean and tend to be dishwasher safe.

Whether you choose to utilize one or all of these tips, you’ll find cleaning your oven to be much easier. To make things even simpler, consider using a cleaning service. Everyone can benefit from hiring a professional for house cleaning services — you’ll be able to save time and money and feel confident the job is done correctly.

Contact Rent Maids for Kitchen Cleaning

Rent Maids is a cleaning service made up of professionals who understand the importance of a clean kitchen. We want to help you make your kitchen shine from top to bottom at an affordable price. We strive to give you exceptional service and make your home functional, safe and, of course, clean.

Schedule kitchen cleaning services with complete oven cleaning from Rent Maids to clean your kitchen in Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas.