Oven cleaning the magic way – because cleaning the oven doesn’t have to be a mission! I kept putting off cleaning my oven, but there came the day when I had to face it. One thing I knew for sure is that I wanted this process to be as easy as possible.
Cleaning the oven can be such a hassle, and not to mention how dangerous the fumes in the canned cleaners can be. I scrubbed my oven to clean it once, and that was more than enough for my entire lifetime.
So when it was oven cleaning time, I decided to turn to Pinterest to see if there was a way that I could save my back and still get my oven sparkling clean. And I found several! Here are the 2 oven cleaning methods that worked the best for me.
Now before we get started, I have to warn you:
WARNING, WHAT YOU WILL SEE BELOW MAY SCAR YOU FOR LIFE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
OK, you have been warned, and now I have to come clean about my ovens.
First, let’s start with what type of cook I am. I HATE, HATE, HATE cooking in a dirty kitchen. If my kitchen is dirty, then I get it all clean before I start cooking.
Then, I clean as I cook. That way when I am done, I can sit down to enjoy my meal because I know I don’t have a big mess to clean up when the meal is over.
Having the kitchen clean helps my food taste better.
Yes, I know, I am weird.
Now, at this point you may be thinking, “she is one of those people who keeps everything clean all the time”. Well, the pictures below will tell you otherwise. Yes, this picture is of my filthy, dirty oven window.
Oven Cleaning The Magic Way
How this whole oven cleaning mission started
It’s not that I don’t want a clean oven. The funny thing is when you close the oven door the icky mess is no longer visible. This makes it very easy for me to say to myself “I’ll clean the oven next week”.
Well, next week become a month, a month turned into months, months turned into a year, and years turned into… well… 5 years!
I know it’s gross.
I’ve made myself feel good about it by saying that instead of cleaning the oven I chose to spend lots of quality time with my kids. As a result, I have GREAT kids.
But at the end of the day, I also have disgusting ovens! I use my top oven the most, so of course, it is the worst.
Off I went to Pinterest in search of oven cleaning solutions and I found two options.
option 1 was perfect for cleaning my top oven. I chose option 1 because I thought there was no way it would not come clean without some scrubbing. The baking soda would be the perfect abrasive, I figured.
How to make your oven cleaning solution – option 1
Both of these oven cleaning options are wonderful since they can be made with supplies that you probably already have in your kitchen.
I was a bit nervous about the 2nd option since it was a no-scrub method, but it actually worked out quite well! If you want to clean your oven but don’t want to scrub, keep reading!
These are the simple household items needed to create your oven cleaning solution:
- 3 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1/8 cup liquid dish soap
- 2 cups hot water (tap water is fine)
- Baking soda (do not add to mix)
Once you have your ingredients, you’re ready to put them to work.
- Combine the first four ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well to mix thoroughly.
- Spray the mixture generously to cover the surface of your oven and the oven door completely.
- Sprinkle generous amounts of baking soda on top of the liquid solution.
- Spray more of the liquid mixture over the baking soda.
- Leave overnight to work its magic.
- The next morning wipe out the mixture and wash the surface with hot soapy water.
If you need some extra scrubbing power for the extra tough spots, you can use half a lemon with some salt. You can also add a few drops of Dawn soap for extra grease-fighting power.
Oven Cleaning Results
As you can see in the photo below, I started with half of the oven to be able to see how well my solution worked.
I would say that with this method, about 40% of the buildup was removed with the first pass. Another 10% with the second pass, and then I had some scrubbing to do.
It wasn’t that bad, took me about 30 to 40 minutes. Considering the many layers baked in my oven I felt this method worked pretty well.
I tried another method, too
After cleaning half of the upper oven, I stopped and went to oven #2 to see how well cleaning option 2 had worked. I was a bit skeptical of this scrub-free oven cleaning method.
Could a scrub-free cleaning method actually work on so many layers of stuck-on food and grease? I wasn’t sure, but that is what I set out to figure out!
Would I be pleasantly surprised or disappointed? Either way, I knew that I had this first method that worked. So far, so good. I am really excited about being able to clean the oven while I sleep.
Talk about multi-tasking, right?
No Scrub Oven Cleaning
This no-scrub oven cleaning requires only 3 ingredients and little to no elbow grease. It uses the amazing and often overlooked power of steam to get the cleaning done. Don’t forget to turn the oven off before adding your cleaning solutions.
No Scrub oven cleaning ingredients
- Ammonia
- Water
- Baking soda
No scrub cleaning procedure for your dirty oven
- Preheat the oven to 200° Fahrenheit then turn it off.
- Fill a heat-safe glass dish with ammonia and set it on the middle rack (about 1 to 2 cups of ammonia).
- In another dish, fill it with about 2 cups of boiling water and set it on the bottom rack.
- Leave the bowls in the oven overnight so the steam can loosen the grime and grease.
- The next morning, remove the bowls and wipe down the inside with a hot wet sponge first drizzled with baking soda.
No scrub oven cleaning results
Even though I had great success cleaning my stove burners and BBQ grills with ammonia, I was still skeptical about the oven because it was in such bad shape. I mean, that is a lot of years of great food that has been building up in there.
I couldn’t have been more wrong!
The yucky gunk literally wiped right off. I did have to rub over a few places more than once, there were two small spots that needed some scrubbing.
I loved that this worked on both the oven and the racks at the same time. This made this method extra effective. Don’t forget to wipe those down, too.
This oven cleaning method won hands down!
The real test came when I decided to try method #2 on the still uncleaned half of my upper oven. I only cleaned half of it so I could have a picture for comparison.
Out came the ammonia again. I was excited when I woke up the following morning to see how well it worked.
Once again the ammonia came through! 90% of the gunk was removed with one pass! I had a couple of spots that needed 3-4 mins of scrubbing and I was DONE!
This is definitely the best oven cleaning method I have ever found! I absolutely love the simplicity of the ingredients, and the amazing way it just cuts right through the grime.
Never again do I have to suffer through scrubbing the insides of the ovens! My back feels relieved just thinking about it. I’m so grateful to have found this magical cleaning solution on Pinterest!
These hacks made cleaning an oven so easy!
I love having two sparkling clean ovens. Now that I know how easy it is, I will definitely clean them at least twice a year! A HUGE thank you to Life 123 and Cleverly Inspired for these great cleaning tips!
I’m just saying This Pin ROCKS!
Oven Cleaning Updates
Update 1
- I was so excited to have a clean oven after all of these years that I started wondering what else I could clean with these simple ingredients. Learn how to use this no scrub ammonia cleaning method on your stove burners and BBQ grill as well!
Update 2
- If you have a gas oven, turn off the pilot light. Before cleaning, make sure the pilot light is out and the gas has been turned off.
- Never mix ammonia with other strong cleaning agents, such as bleach or oven cleaners.
Love these oven cleaning tips? Check out these great articles we have for you:
- Cleaning Barbeque Grills The Magic Way
- Best Cleaning Tips on Pinterest
- 20 Cleaning and Organizing Tips to Make Your Holiday Easier
- 29 Recipes Your Kids Will Love To Make
- Discover 12 New Ways To Use Baking Soda
Oh my goodness. I thought my oven was bad. Your oven turned out great though! I just cleaned mine and used baking soda and dish soap.
Since the bottom seems to be worse, I buy these aluminum trays that are oven liners for the bottom of the oven. They almost look like a big cookie sheet. There are two in a package. When It gets dirty just throw it away and put in the other one. They are super cheap (under $2) and makes the oven even easier to clean when you only have to clean the sides. You will find them with the disposable aluminum bake ware in Walmart or sometimes in the grocery store.
Vicki,
These sound wonderful, what a great idea! I’m going to get a pack ASAP. Thanks for the great tip! Tracy – (the middle sister)
Just FYI, I work for an appliance manufacturer and it is recommended that you never put aluminum foil (like our moms used to) on the bottom of your oven. It can ruin both the functionality of an oven as well as burn up your element, These aluminum liners would have the same effect. https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/tools-products/aluminum-foil-dos-donts-10000001154398/ and https://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg0111124020825.html
Karen,
Thanks so much for the great information, I was planning on buying foil pan for my oven. I’ll just have to clean it more often! Have a great weekend, Tracy – (the middle sister)
The aluminum trays are good but do NOT put them on the bottom of the oven as it will decrease the life of your bottom element ( or cause a fire). There are instructions on the bottom of the foil trays that say this. What I do is put the tray on the bottom rack. This reduces spillage onto the rack as well!I For baking cookies, I remove the foil tray . Works well for me.
Hi Patricia!
I was not aware aluminum trays decrease the life of the bottom element or could cause a fire. I obviously did not read the instructions, thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will move my aluminum tray to the bottom rack in my oven and keep it there from now on. Sure glad to have you following us! Have a great day! Tracy
They do make oven liners that are not aluminum. I can’ remember what they are called.
I still smell the easy off cleaner coming from my oven, I thought I got it all out and need to use it. Is it safe or no?
Hi Marie!
I would wipe your oven down one more time with warm soapy water and then wipe with clean hot water. Using ammonia should then be safe and will give you a sparkling clean oven! Have a great day, Tracy
I lived in a rented apartment, when I moved in the oven was terrible. I finally decided that it was time to clean it, which went very well until I came to the racks. I need some tips on how to clean them, I have tried soaking them in a tub of hot water and I tried spraying them with cleaner. Food is BAKED on so I need tips.
Put racks in large heavy duty trash bag then pour 1 cup ammonia in bag. Seal bag with twist tie. Leave racks in bag for 24 hours.
This works great. Just make sure you put bag outside or sit in a pan in case the bag leaks. I have just cleaned mine and a friends oven racks. I also did the grates on top of my gas range. You will not believe how easy this is. Hope this helps.
Dawn Power Dissolve is fantastic. Find it in the dish detergent aisle. Small blue trigger spray bottle. Great for barbecue grills, too.
You can use the ammonia and hot water over night in your oven or place 1 cup of ammonia in large trash bag with the oven racks (I also place my grill grates in at the same time) Seal and leave overnight. Next morning wash with hot soapy water and sponge. May have one or two spots that need scrubbing.
I used to clean houses. Take lots of newspaper outside ( make sure you don’t do on a deck or anyplace that could get ruined if you are not careful ). Lay a bunch of newspapers out and then spray both sides of the racks with Easy Off Oven Cleaner then lay them down on top of the newspaper for a few hours. Sure beats scrubbing them! Ammonia is wicked on the lungs.
I have had good luck cleaning oven racks by soaking overnight in hot water with oxi clean (a powder) put in the water. I use the bathtub…. The gunk just wipes off the racks in the morning. Shiny clean. No scrubbing.
To all of you. You can spray the baking soda with Hydrogen Peroxide and just about all of it comes off. Spray and let sit for several hours, little scrubbing to be done. You can also put your racks in a garbage bag, outside, spray down in the bag with oven cleaner and add 1 cup of ammonia. Fold over top of bag and let it lay in the sun all day and hose off. You will have little scrubbing.
In Option #2 do you leave the oven running all night? It sounded like the better way to go.
Hi Jason,
No, you do not leave the oven on all night. Turn the oven off as soon as it reaches 200 degrees, works like a charm for me every time! Best, Tracy
Am going to try the ammonia cleaner today. Mine is a mess and I think it imparts cookies, etc. with that burned smell.
Have had my double ovens for awhile and just recently saw an article that using the self-cleaning cycle shortens the life of an oven. My top oven quit on Christmas Day! and have been using the bottom one since then. We just ordered a new one and I will never use the self cleaning cycle. Hopefully I can remember to put a tray under any questionably drippy pans to lessen the mess. My mom totally ruined her brand new oven with aluminum foil.
Have a G. F. grill for grilling, so I will not broil either.
Hi Irene,
I never use the self cleaning cycle because the ammonia does such a great job. Thanks for sharing about the foil damaging your mom’s new oven. So glad you follow us! Tracy
Angela,
I wish I could say that I did not clean my ovens on purpose, just so other people wouldn’t feel so bad about their own oven! Now that I know how easy it is, I doubt I will ever let them get this bad again 🙂 Great to hear you have a clean oven as well. Tracy – The Middle Child
HI, which method did you use on the racks..I have a self cleaning oven but it doesnt get the glass and edges very good, so I will be trying this…I dont clean the racks in the oven because it darkens them on the high heat. Thanks for the help
Esther,
I used the ammonia and water method for the oven racks and it worked great! Mine needed a small amount of scrubbing in some places. I love how easy it was. Tracy – The Middle Child
One method I’ve found that works on the racks is to buy a small sample box of Tide, fill tub to cover with this and hot water…let soak for several hours and baked on grease will wipe right off! Bear in mind I am NOT recommending Tide for laundry as the very ingredients that do this are toxic chemicals that will remain on your clothes and thus your skin!
Hey Anne,
This sounds like another great option for a no scrub way to clean your oven. Perfect for anyone who is sensitive to the fumes from household strength ammonia. Thanks for sharing it with us! Tracy
On the glass in my oven I use the flat top cleaner. You put it on like waxing a car… there is some scraping i do as I am applying it. If it is really bad I do it 2 times..’Works great… great shine and seems to help be a little easier to clean next time.
lol…your glass is worse than mine, but YOU would be scarred if your saw the bottom of my oven! Great post!
Lillian,
I would be thrilled to see any oven that looks worse than mine! Glad you enjoyed the post. Tracy – The Middle Child
I wish I had known about these methods when I had a grease fire in my oven not too long ago! Holy crap, that was definitely a mess and even the popular brand had a hard time getting off the gunk. I will try these methods next time around cleaning. A huge thanks!
You will LOVE how easy this makes clean up! Nothing worse than a grease fire, ugh! By the way I have been informed by my family that we are not allowed to have a special dinner without making your Loaded Baked Potatoes! Everyone LOVES them. Tracy – The Middle Child
Seriously? Ha-ha. Glad they liked them! I need to try your Lipton potatoes. I hear they are da bomb!
What a great cleaning tip! I think we all know and have that oven!Thank you so much for sharing on Show Me Your Plaid Monday’s!
Chandra,
Glad you enjoyed the tip. Thanks for the party each week! Tracy – The Middle Child
Can’t wait to try option #2 since my self clean didn’t quite cut it.
Luv ya, miss ya
Christie
Christie,
So great to hear from you! Can’t believe how all the kids have grown up! Yay to a clean oven! Tracy – The Middle Child
I haven’t tried this yet, but to keep the bottom clean-get an oven liner! Best $10 spent!!!
Norma,
I agree, oven liners are wonderful! Worth every penny 🙂 Tracy – The Middle Child
Please advise anyone who keeps birds not to use the ammonia method. It will kill your birds.
Kathy,
I’ve updated my post advising readers that ammonia is toxic to grass, plants and animals. Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Tracy – The Middle Child
Thanks for the great review! I am definitely going to try this tonight as even the icky store bought oven cleaner isn’t getting my oven clean…and it’s only been three years for me! :))) thanks again!
Anna,
You are welcome, let us know how this cleaning method works for you! Tracy – The Middle Child
Great info – I’m not a massive fan of those toxic chemicals you can buy – using baking soda and similar seems to be a pretty popular choice these days! I admittedly did resort to professional oven cleaner kent or oven cleaner birmingham based companies to do mine when it got bad until I read posts like this, so thank you! But I actually have a tip that I found really helped: EVERY time you use the cooker, just give it a quick wipe over, inside and out. I found a sponge (just water, nothing else) as the oven was cooling down to remove the spillages and grease from that cook really helped stop the build up and I don’t reach that horrible black, baked on stage any more! Thanks for the advice.
Mike,
So glad this cleaning method worked for you. Wiping the oven down after each use is a great idea, I’ll start doing this from now on! Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Tracy – The Middle Sister
HOW DOES THE AMMONIA AFFECT SOMEONE WITH ASTHMA?
Laurie,
I found this statement from the ATSDR “Some people with asthma may be more sensitive to breathing ammonia than others.” (Agency For Toxic Substances and Disease Registry – https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=10&tid=2)
One of my daughters has asthma, I do not know if ammonia would set off her asthma or not. My personal opinion is “it is better to be safe than sorry”, I wouldn’t risk using this cleaning method if you know you have any issues with asthma. The good news is I did a post “Magic No Ammonia Way To Clean Your BBQ Grill”. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you 🙂
Thanks for commenting and have a great week! Tracy – The Middle Sister
Just sprayed down my oven , will let you know how it turned out. Thanks
Tricia,
Can’t wait to hear how it works for you! Have a great weekend! Tracy – The Middle Sister
People with Asthma should never be exposed to Ammonia -nor should any animals . I have COPD now I have to be careful with bleach as well. Any chemical bothers me…FYI if you have family members with any breathing problems stay away from things like tide,downy,heavy scented dishsoaps or bath soaps and bounce. Anything heavy scented with make it hard to breathe…I use all natural cleaners for this reason. Vinegar will bother me if I am around it too long so I have to space out my cleaning. Again if you have family members with breathing problems and they are in the house while you are cleaning space out your cleaning with a good 45 minutes in between. Run a fan if you have to -I put a box fan turned around to draw out the smell in the window of each room I clean.[ especially if I am vacumming] Run the range hood fan when cleaning the kitchen. bathroom the same…
If you don’t have a breathing problem you really can not imagine what it feels like to have your lungs burn and gasp for air! Your pets will feel the same!
Hi CC,
I have 2 daughters with asthma and we are very careful to have the windows open and sometimes use a fan as well to properly ventilate the kitchen to prevent any breathing problems for them. I do not have asthma myself so I cannot speak from experience how frightening it is when your lungs close up. I do know as a mother how it feels when either of my girls have difficulty breathing, you can never be too careful! Thanks for your comments, Tracy
Hello! I have asthma; and have found that eating nearly no dairy products makes my breathing easier. I just tried it
after I read an article. After about 2 weeks, I noticed the difference. It pays to try eliminating dairy products, starting
with milk.
Frances
Would you know if this would work in a gas oven?
Lady G,
I’m sorry, but this method is not recommended for cleaning the inside of gas ovens. You could soak the oven racks in a plastic trash bag with 1/4 cup ammonia overnight. Rinse them clean in the morning. These articles talk about cleaning gas stoves: https://goo.gl/zXhixR,https://goo.gl/UaNvoZ. Best of luck! Tracy – The Middle Sister
Hello! I can’t get the above link to work, probably because it is from 2013. Can you send me an updated link, please? I have a gas oven. It’s in the worst possible shape ever!
Hi Kati! Wow. So sorry about that bad link. Try this one and please let us know if you are still unable to get to this! And I can totally relate to your oven! haha https://www.thisgrandmaisfun.com/oven-cleaning/
I put my racks in a garbage bag and spray a little oven cleaner in and let set a couple hours, then scrub in hot soapy water and they come real clean.
Sue,
Sounds like a great way to clean your oven racks. Thanks for commenting! Tracy – The Middle Sister
Baking soda worked fine for me, thanks
,I didn’t want to risk setting of my asthma so gave the ammonia a miss, and soaked the oven Racks in very hot bio washing powder over night then just a quick rub to knock the black bits off by which time was soft,
Just in case I diicide to use ammonia if the future where’s the best place to buy it ?
Kevin,
You can buy household ammonia at most grocery stores, Target or Walmart. I’m glad the baking soda worked so well for you. I have a child with asthma, so I understand wanting to be extra cautious with anything that may trigger an attack.
Have a great week! Tracy (the middle sister)
can you put your stove top drip pans in the oven while doing this method and clean them at the same time or does it work on those pans?
Sherri,
I think it should work on those pans just fine! Tracy (the middle sister)
Tried your Option 2. Worked okay, but not at easy as you said. Did have to use an SOS pad to get the grease spots out. Will try your Option 1 next time.
Best of luck with Option 1. Thanks for giving us a try!
I tried this method on my oven Monday night to this morning and it didn’t work at all. Even scrubbing as hard as I was wasn’t getting the dirty, grease and grim up at all. extremely disappointed
So sorry to hear that this method didn’t work for you, even after all that scrubbing! I hope you find something that works for your oven. Thanks for giving this method a try and leaving your comment. Have a great weekend, Tracy – (the middle sister)
I just use aluminum foil instead of paying for aluminum trays that are oven liners that you have to pay for.
Another great tip Marge! Thanks for passing it along.
It works on gas stoves too, or just electric??
Here is a note from a Reader’s Digest article on this cleaning method – “Do not use this cleaning method with a gas oven unless the pilot lights are out and the main gas lines are shut off.” But better safe than sorry, right? Thanks for this great question, Amber.
Could I use the ammonia and water method with my gas oven?
Funny, the person before you asked the same question. Here is what I found: Here is a note from a Reader’s Digest article on this cleaning method – “Do not use this cleaning method with a gas oven unless the pilot lights are out and the main gas lines are shut off.” Happy safe cleaning!
Hi, just wondering how long after you clean it with the ammonia can you safely use the oven again?
Melissa,
After you have wiped everything down with a clean cloth I would let your oven air out for about 2 hours. Thanks for stopping by – Tracy (the middle sister)
Can I use the ammonia method with my convection oven?
Erica,
After doing some research I found several people who have used this method on their convection oven without causing any damage. Just to be safe you can always contact the manufacturer of your oven and check with them. Best of luck! Tracy (the middle sister)
Could you leave the ammonia and water in for longer than just overnight?
Annellese,
Yes I think you could. However I think this would work better, after 24 hours wipe your oven down and then repeat the process again if needed. After 24 hours a good amount of the ammonia will have evaporated and there will not be as much cleaning strength left. I think wiping your oven down and repeating the process will give you the best results. Best of luck! Tracy (the middle sister)
oh no – Came back to read how much to put in, and it is sitting inside waiting – NOW I read the comments where it says not to use on Gas Ovens!!! With the oven OFF, how is this a problem? Dang, I hate to use the self-cleaning oven as it fries the gunk it stinks the whole house up. Will wait and see how awful this is with gas – can’t see the problem as long as the gas oven isn’t on or am I missing something very dangerous? Would take a before photo, but NINE years of build up hehehe Thanks, Love all the tips here!! Just cleaned my shower floor with baking soda and Borax 20 mule team overnight and it’s WHITE again Yeah!
Debbie,
I did some more research and found quite a few people who use ammonia to clean their gas ovens without any problem. I think you should be fine, however I would recommend contacting the manufacturer of your specific oven model and ask them about using ammonia to clean your oven. Leave your oven door open for a few hours after wiping it clean really well, that should take care of all the fumes. Nine years of build up? I wish I lived by you, we would become great friends very quickly! Thanks following us and leaving a comment, we LOVE it! Tracy (- the middle sister)
Read your owners manual before you place foil or a oven-liner in your machine. Some makes warn against such practice. I found out the hard way.
Thanks for the voice of warning, Dean! This is good info to know.
OMG… The ammonia worked the best! My oven is almost 20 years old and it looks brand new. Wiped down and also used SOS pads. I will pass this on to my 6 sisters.
Congrats on a clean oven! Isn’t that a great feeling?
I’m going to try this method. I used the self-cleaning part until about five years ago & then tried a couple of other ways which required a lot of elbow grease. I’ve cleaned the racks for years by pouring two cups of ammonia into a large garbage bag & placing them inside. Tie off & put the bag outside overnight. In the morning the racks are pretty much cleaned. Rinse them off & place back in the oven. For baked on spots that still had stains I used a brillo pad, but usually I don’t need to do more cleaning.
Hi Tricia,
This method should leave you with very little cleaning or scrubbing outside of some serious baked on gunk. Serious gunk will require some scrubbing but not much. We would love to hear your thoughts after you clean your oven with this method! Thanks so much for commenting, Tracy (the middle sister)
My oven is cleaned from method 2.. I used and SOS pad my racks and oven are beautiful I even took apart the door and cleaned in between the glass. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kathryn, so glad to hear that this worked for you. Thanks so much for your kind comment!
I wasn’t expecting it would turn out that way! Well, I know that baking soda can be very useful in cleaning kitchen stuff, but I was amazed with the before and after pictures that you had. It is indeed an intensive cleaning. I would sure try this one on my kitchen materials and most especially to my oven. This one is a good read!
Omg..you are NOT WEIRD!!!! lol I do the same damn thing… * A clean sink is a clean mind* <3 <3
Nia,
Nice to hear that I am normal, whatever normal means! Thanks for commenting, Tracy
Tried method 2 and it didn’t work that we’ll at all. Disappointed but the big problem now is that I can’t get the smell of ammonia out of the oven. Every time I turn it on it smells horrible and I’m afraid to cook in it. Any suggestions? I’ve tried letting a cup of vinegar soak in oven all night. I’ve washed it down with dawn and hot water and nothing is working.
Hi Becca,
Darn! So sorry method 2 didn’t work for you. Try making a paste with water and baking soda, rub it on the inside of your oven and leave overnight with the door open. Rinse off the baking soda paste the following day and see if this helps minimize the smell of the ammonia. Thanks for giving it a try and letting us know your results, Tracy
🙂 method 1 worked great for me, thanks 🙂
Joanita,
So happy this worked so well for you! Now you have some extra time to spend on yourself :o) Enjoy, Tracy
Thanks for the ammonia & water method. My oven tuned out beautiful! I boiled water and left a bowl of ammonia in the oven over night. I used a (new) grill brush, put some palmolive on it, dumped some ammonia onto the grossness and scrubbed away. Took me 45 mins. I wish I could post before/after photos! I dont think I even needed to leave it overnight it probably would have worked just by scubbing. Anyway, just wanted to thank you or your post! I’ll be using this method for the rest of my life!!
Casey,
I’m happy to hear that this cleaning method worked so well on your oven! I love having a clean oven again. Thanks for commenting, Tracy
What about cleaning the oven glass door
Hi SJ,
We have not tested a pin for cleaning the inside of the oven glass door. I found a pin that you might want to consider trying, go to the web site Busy-at-Home, take a look at this post “When Your Oven is
Way Beyond Self Cleaning” post. It gives clear directions on how to take apart your oven door so you can clean the internal side of the glass. If you try it out we would love to hear your results. Hope this helps! Tracy
this is the GREATEST information EVER!!! i’m ashamed to admit how many years it has been since i cleaned our oven. last night, i popped in a bowl of amonia and a bowl of water and this morning i scrubbed the daylights out of that oven (about 40 mins work). i now have the most beautiful lovely wonderful clean oven (i’ll probably peek inside about 100 times today)!! a million thank you’s for this sage advice. 🙂
Hi Rachel!
A million welcomes! MFP is a “no shame” blog, all that matters is how clean your oven is now. I love it when I open my oven and see it sparkling clean. Thank you for trying this out and leaving your comment, it makes our day! Tracy
Great idea – just wondering how safe is it to cook on the grills and use the oven after the ammonia method?
Do you have to scrub or clean it with dishwater before cooking?
Wondered if you get ammonia smelling food?!
Hey Rob,
I rinsed the grills throughly with my hose, any remaining ammonia should evaporate when you preheat your grill. I’ve never had any of my food smell or taste like ammonia. Happy grilling, Tracy
Hi, just wondering how you clean the oven and trays after wards to get rid of ammonia smell?
Surely having ammonia on it can’t be good for cooking on after?
Hi Rob,
I wiped the oven and trays down really well with hot water. If you still smell ammonia after wiping the oven and trays down, leave the oven open for about 24 hours and the smell should be gone. Thanks, Tracy
It would be a great thing to do but the ammonia one I’m concerned with the fumes – I have animals and the fumes might kill them. Possibly do in a well ventilated room – windows open – summer time.
Hi Linda,
I spoke with our Poison Control Center and they said if you leave your windows open and ventilate well there shouldn’t be harmful issues with pets or animals. Give it a try, you will be glad you did! Best, Tracy
The other day I used pam cooking spray and sprayed it on the warm over door window and wiped all the gunk off. It was like magic and I love looking at the clean door!
Would I be able to try the ammonia method during the day? Would 8 hours suffice? Thank you for sharing your findings.
Hey Lyn,
I left mine in about 10 hours, if your oven isn’t very dirty then 8 hours will do. If it is bad as mine was (horrific) you will need at least 10 hours. I love this oven cleaning method, it works like a charm! I would love to here back how it worked for you. Thanks for following us, Tracy
I cant get all the soap out, no matter what. Can I still cook inside the oven or will it poison the food.
Hi Cindy!
With this oven cleaning method you should only use ammonia and water. Can you explain how and where you used the soap? Thanks, Tracy
Can this method be used on a self cleaning oven?
Hi Carol,
My oven is self cleaning and I use this method all the time.. It always works perfectly for me! Hope you have a great holiday season, Tracy
Do I have to turn off the gas at the valve or just make sure the knob is off? and which process do I not have to turn everything off?
Hi Gloria!
Turn off the gas at the valve and make sure the pilot light is off for the ammonia cleaning method. The baking soda method does not require you to turn your gas oven off at the valve. We would love to hear which method works best for you! Have a great day, Tracy
I read the entire article first but some may not. There should be a “Warning” at the top of the page “not to use the Ammonia method” if you have a gas stove without reading the instructions first. Another way to help with cooked on grease is to use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser with your cleaning products. Its works amazing and they sell special Erasers for Kitchen and Bath.
I read through the majority of the comments but did not see anything on the minimum amount of time I should try method #2. I didn’t want to wait until bedtime to do it overnight and started it today about an hour ago. By the way…dumb decision! It smells really bad in here. At least being awake, I can chose to leave or just go outside.
Kristin,
Overnight works great because when you wake up you can open the windows to air out the ammonia smell. I usually clean my oven in the spring and beginning of fall so I can open the windows the next morning. Try overnight, your nose with thank you! Thanks, Tracy
Does anyone know how you clean in between the glass on the oven door?I cant seem to get in there to clean it.
Hey Hazel!
Here is the url to a pin that gives a great tutorial on cleaning between the glass and the oven door (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/36943659418635283/). We would love to hear how it worked for you! Thanks for following us and leaving your comment, Tracy
I have found another way to clean the oven burners and oven racks. Let them soak in dishwasher detergent works wonders 🙂
I am now going to try the amonia in the oven trick i hope it works like everyone says as its very very dirty. Anyway thanks for all the tips everyone has written about 🙂
Hey Debbie,
I love using this method to clean my oven! Instead of scrubbing my dirty oven I spend more time with my family. So glad you are following us, Tracy
Hi! I want to thank everyone for this wonderful post! It was great reading all the successes as well as not so successful. But most importantly, thanks for including gas ovens on this. We moved into a house where the oven hasn’t been cleaned in a while, but thankfully it didn’t look like the posted photos!! We’re hoping to change out the stove to electric in the future, but in the meantime, I’ll keep looking for the perfect solution to clean this one!! Thanks everyone, happy cooking, happy cleaning! Carla
I have used regular aluminum foil in the bottom of my oven for 20 + years to keep it cleaner. I’ve never had a problem burning out the elements or ruining my oven. It saves time in cleaning. I’m going to check out the trays too. But foil works just as good.
Hi Kathy!
My Mom used regular foil in the bottom of the oven too! Good thing about foil is I almost always have some, when I have to throw a dirty pan out I just slip in a sheet of foil until I purchase a new pan. Covering the bottom of the oven with either foil or a foil pan sure saves a lot of clean up time! Thanks for sharing, Tracy
Trick for those still using oven cleaner…I makes for a very greasy cloth. TIP fill sink with water and add dishwasher soap to water..whatever kind you use, powder, liquid, pods. when you go to rinse your cloth, its like magic the soap jumps right off it. So just rinse cloth in soapy water and return to oven. repeat till done. Another great advantage to this is that when you turn oven on to use, there is no oven cleaner smell…can be used right away.
Hey Jenny,
Thanks for sharing such a great tip, I’m going to do this next time I clean my oven! So glad you are one of our followers, Tracy
can i use this on the bottom of my fry pans
Hi Sharon,
You could put your fry pans in the oven overnight with the ammonia. It should loosen up any food/grease left on the pan. You may need to do a little scrubbing depending on how dirty your fry pans are. Just make sure to rinse them really well when finished. Thanks for following us, Tracy
Just checking that 200 degrees is Fahrenheit.
TIA
Yes, sure is!!
Yes, sure is!!
So sad -I seem to be the only one this didn’t work for 🙁 Not very well, anyhow. Some grease came off but none on the racks or even the window. I really did follow your method step by step, including leaving a window slightly open.
**My oven is a dual convection oven though & even though I pre-heated it to 200 F with the NON-convection dial, the fans seem to have cooled it down. (The fans cool the oven after use.) I think that made the difference? Perhaps the fans just blew the fumes out before they had a chance to work?
I’m going to try this method outside today with the bag & racks. I’ll figure out the oven part later.
Hey Bren,
Darn, I wish this had worked on your oven! You could consider giving it a second try to see if you get better results. Warm a wet washcloth in the microwave to use when wiping the oven out, it will help loosen some of the stubborn nasty gunk. Thanks for giving it a try and leaving your comment, Tracy
Can these methods be used on gas stoves as well? Thanks
Hi Vanessa,
Yes, you can use this method on gas stoves. Be sure the pilot light is out and the gas has been turned off. Then proceed as directed and it should work great! Thanks for following us, Tracy
Ashamed to say, I haven’t cleaned mine in EIGHT years so think I need to get on to that.
Is it 200 deg FAHRENHEIT or 200 deg CENTIGRADE?
Thanks
Hi Emma! It is Fahrenheit. A clean oven is such a simple pleasure!!!
How bad is the ammonia smell with the 2nd method? I cannot STAND the smell of ammonia. Plus I have four cats and if they smell ammonia at all they tend to start spraying…
Hi Stephanie,
Personally I don’t think the smell is that bad. You can minimize the smell of the ammonia by opening your kitchen windows. You can also place a fan near the oven and point it towards an open window to help minimize the smell. Hope this helps, Tracy
I have 2 ovens so I was excited to get them clean but the ammonia did not work on my oven at all and I did it exactly as described..I also have a Shih tzu and after about 30 minutes my eyes were burning so I was very afraid it was going to bother Harley’s eyes so I had to try to cover up any oven vents so the toxic fumes would not hurt us.
Hey Paula,
Sounds like this isn’t the oven cleaning method for you and your sweet dog Harley. Some people are more sensitive to ammonia than others. Did you leave a couple of windows open to ventilate your kitchen? That will make a big difference. You could also use a fan, place your fan so it will draft the fumes from the oven out the open windows. Depending on how dirty your oven was it may take trying this more than once. Hope this helps, Tracy
hello 🙂 my oven looks just like the picture posted and im pretty hesitant to try the dishsoap,vinegar and water but i’ll give it a try 🙂 this looks pretty easy and simple
Hey Kelly,
Glad to hear you are going to give it a go! We would love to hear about your results, Tracy
Thank you sooooo much! You told me just what I was wondering about whether option 2 would work the best. Thanks for doing this comparison and I don’t clean my oven that much either but with method 2 I will be able to easily keep it clean. 🙂
Hi Sherry,
Your welcome! I’m so happy to hear our post will help you keep your oven cleaner. Thanks for following us and leaving your comment, Tracy
A few years ago I moved into an apartment that had previously been occupied by three bachelors. They had left the dirtiest oven I had ever seen. Shortly after moving in, I answered a knock on the door, to find the neighbour from across the hall, standing there with a bucket, rags and cleaning supplies. She said: “I have come to clean your oven.” Best oven cleaner I ever met, and she turned out to be a life-long friend. Doreen
I tried the ammonia and water process, but found I had to scrub quite a lot and not much came off. Do you think repeating the ammonia process to loosen up even more will work? I’ve lived in my place for 5 years and never cleaned the oven, so it is i quite dirty. It looks a bit worse then in the pics of this post. What do you think?
Hey Courtney,
Yes, I would repeat the process to help loosen up the layers of gunk. You should have less scrubbing the second time around. Enjoy your clean oven! Tracy
hi everyone,
I learned this method a few years ago and learned that whenever your oven needs it, when you heated it to bake something in it, you let it cool down with a few drops of ammonia (in a cup) in it and close the door. Afterwards, when you have the time, you just wipe it with a cloth, rince it with clear hot water and… done! Never a dirty oven anymore!
I just got a new stove that is not self-cleaning. The one I got rid of was… I kinda went into panic mode when I started thinking back to the days of using Easy-Off and running for the door, gasping for air. Over the years there have been big improvements on DIY cleaning tips and I’ve used most with great success. I’m so glad I found this site! I used the ammonia trick for stove burners and the undersides of pots and pans. And boy, you’d have thought I’d discovered the cure for polio when that worked out for me. I’m a bit of a clean freak, and with the self-cleaning oven, I cleaned it about once a month. However, as clean as I like things, I know I won’t be as diligent when I’m going to be the “self” that cleans this one. I breathed a sigh of relief when I learned that ammonia and baking soda were once again the winners in tackling that part of the stove. Thanks for posting some great information!
Oh boy, we could so relate to this! And I totally remember Easy-Off and gasping for air! haha
One thing I forgot to say: To make wiping out the oven a little easier, I use a squeegee and rag on the smooth flat surfaces, letting some of that soupy grime “pool” and it can be wiped up in one swipe. It helps in keeping your arms a bit cleaner. In my opinion, there aren’t enough quick tips when it comes to cleaning.
Most of these are applicable, I can confirm as someone in the business. Great tip list.
I just cleaned my oven with option #2. My oven and racks looked as bad as yours. I was amazed at how the grim just wiped off the oven and glass with a damp paper towel sprinkled with baking soda. Now I looked at the racks on the counter and thought what am I going to do with these. I decided to try wiping them with a damp paper towel with baking soda like the oven (not really thinking this would work). WOW!!!! A lot of the black started coming off with only being wiped. My oven racks were really dirty, so some of the baked on crud required additional scrubbing (elbow grease).
I will definitely use this method probably every month or two, then I won’t have to do much scrubbing at all.
Thanks for my new favorite oven cleaning method! Now I won’t have to open and close my oven so quickly at Thanksgiving. I will be happy for someone to see my shiny oven!!!!
Oh man, you just reminded me. I need to do this before Thanksgiving!!! So glad it worked for you Barbie!
Option 2 is amazing I have used this method twice now and it really does work and is so easy
Thank you for the suggestion for doing a most hated task but needed
Our pleasure Karen!
I hate to be the bearer of Bad news, but this didn’t even come close to working for me. My oven is not even a year old and really not that dirty, but didn’t come clean at all. Bought conventional cleaner and am going to go at it again…
So sorry to hear it didn’t work for you Brent. It’s my go to way of cleaning mine!
Thank you so much for this post!! It makes me feel so much better about myself and my oven because I feel the EXACT same way you do about the kitchen and the oven. It has prob been about 3 years since I’ve cleaned mine and its the night before Thanksgiving, I’ve been working like Mad, and my in-laws just sprung on me they want to cook the Turkey in my oven! They will prob wonder why I dont do it. I am so disappointed in myself! Ugh! I tried to clean it best I could just now and it still looks horrible. They will prob think I’m disgusting. When I see it I say, I really need to clean this, but then I close the door and forget the next day. I also don’t want to use an oven cleaner so I plan on trying your method Friday!🤞 Wish me luck!
Oh we would love to know how it works for you! Fingers crossed!
I tried this oven cleaning method and found it softened up all the grease making it easy to remove. However, the removal process is very messy. I just spent about 2 hours up to my elbows in grease. The oven is pretty clean and would be cleaner if I was willing to scrub some more. I find it difficult to get on my hands and knees and reach into the back of the oven. I avoided using my automatic oven cleaner which I dislike using. Maybe if I cleaned my oven more often it would be easier. My oven window door is really shining and it is usually hard to get it clean. I may try the ammonia method for our barbecue grills. At least I can do this outside.
I’m so glad this cleaning method worked for you. I was also thrilled with how clean and shiny my oven door is. Your BBQ grills will clean-up just as well as your oven did, and your hose will get most of the gunk off leaving you with little or no scrubbing! Thanks for taking the time to comment, we love hearing from you. Tracy (the middle sister)
Have you tried removing the oven door before you clean?
It comes off easily, Just open it a bit and pull up. You may still have to get on hands and knees but it is a whole lot easier to get inside the oven, especially in the back of it. When finished just line up the bars on the bottom and slide in.
Hey Renate!
No, I have never tried removing the oven door before I clean my oven. Now that I know how to remove it, I can’t wait to give it a try, getting into those back corners will be so much easier! Thanks for sharing such a great cleaning tip with us, Tracy
I tried the ammonia and the smell was so strong we could smell it into the living room. Couldnt use that method.
Hi Nancy!
I always make sure to open some windows and “draft” a breeze through the house. I’m one of those people without a great sense of smell so this works fine for me. You are not alone, we have a few followers who do not use this method for the same reason. Maybe the first method (baking soda,vinegar and dish soap) would be a better solution for you. Here is the url to the post: https://www.thisgrandmaisfun.com/oven-cleaning/. Thanks for giving it a try and leaving your comment, Tracy