It comes by no surprise the amount of people who purposefully neglect their oven, however this is nothing to feel judged about.
For the majority of the time, the oven is shut, and when it is shut we are not noticing the gradual build-up of grease, grime and dirt.
It is inevitable to one day open the oven and be witness to layers and layers of dirt and at that point you are probably wanting to give up. What can be done?
Is your oven too far gone? Well, luckily there is always an answer. Here, we will be guiding you through on how to clean an oven as well as exploring how often an oven needs to be cleaned.
How Often Should You Clean Your Oven?
Although it may be easy to forget, cleaning your oven is very important. It is very easy for oil and grease to build up and cover the entirety of the inside of your oven, so cleaning your oven should be taken seriously.
The standard rule of thumb is to clean your oven once every three months, however you should always keep an eye on it and give it a quick wipe down at least once a month. By doing this, you will be making the deep clean much easier when it comes to that dreaded day.
Cleaning Your Oven
An oven can be daunting to anyone when being faced with layers of grease and dirt, and it can feel impossible to even know when to start. Even if you haven’t touched your oven for an entire year, there is still an answer.
There is no reason to give up when faced with such a task. All you can do is get your rubber gloves on and go for it.
Below, we will be taking you through a step-by-step guide on how to properly clean an oven.
What You Will Need
- Water
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Rubber gloves
- Spray bottle
- Cleaning rag
How To
Remove the oven racks – The first step is to remove all of your oven racks and place this to the side, out of the way.
Make your cleaning paste – Next, you need to make your cleaning paste. To do that, mix together half a cup of baking soda with half a cup of water.
After stirring this together, you will soon find yourself with a paste. This paste will be used to coat the surface of the oven, so don’t be afraid to make a larger amount if needed!
Apply your paste – After your paste has been made, you then need to apply it onto the surface of your oven. To do this, spread the paste all over the interior of the oven, making sure to get to every area.
The more grease there is, the more paste needed – spread the paste on thicker if it is needed. Once done, let this sit in the oven for 12 hours or overnight.
Clean the racks – Whilst your paste is sitting, you can then use this opportunity to start cleaning your oven racks; this is an easy task. All you need to do is run the tap of your sink with hot water and mix this with soap.
Once the water is hot and soapy enough, submerge the oven racks into the water and let this soak for 2 hours. After this is done, scrub the rack with soap before rinsing off and leaving to dry.
Wipe off the paste – It is finally time to wipe off that paste. For this, take a damp rag and wipe off the baking soda, taking off as much as you are able to.
Spray vinegar – The next step is to fill up a spray bottle with vinegar and spray into the oven on each surface. This works to loosen the vinegar up and make it easier to wipe off.
At this point, you should be able to grab your damp rag again and wipe the rest off until completely clean.
Cleaning the oven glass – We can’t forget about the glass door! For this, simply make another paste consisting of baking soda and water and use this paste to wipe on the glass. You will only need to wait 30 minutes before wiping off with a damp rag.
Final Thoughts
Cleaning an oven can be a huge task for anyone, and it is clear that the majority of us are more likely to avoid the oven than anything else. However, when you do end up opening that oven to see layers and layers of grease and oil, this shouldn’t be anything to fear.
Cleaning an oven is doable, so long as you have the right cleaning products and the drive to do so.
On average, you should be looking at cleaning your oven once every three months but it is still important to keep on top of it. At least once a month you should give your oven a wipe down and only save the deep clean for every three months.
Doing this means the job will be easier in the future!
There are many ways to clean an oven, but our favorite method is using baking soda. Baking soda is very effective in cleaning grease and grime and also works to get rid of any lurking bacteria.
It also only requires items that you probably already have in your home – water, baking soda, white vinegar, rubber gloves, spray bottle, cleaning rag.
Overall, if you are someone who has neglected their oven, just know you are not alone. It is very common to abandon your oven but that doesn’t mean it cannot be salvaged.
