Getting a Sparkling Clean Oven

By Maid Brigade of Northern Connecticut

Have you looked inside your oven lately? Does it need a little TLC?

You’re in luck! You can clean it with just a few simple things that you already have in your kitchen.

So grab your baking soda, vinegar, rubber gloves, and cloth and get to work!

The first thing you’ll want to do is remove the oven racks, pizza stone, oven thermometer, and anything else you have in the oven.

Next in a small bowl, mix half a cup of baking soda with a few tablespoons of water. Adjust the ratio of both as needed until you have a spreadable paste.

Next, spread the paste all over the interior surfaces of your oven, steering clear of the heating elements. The baking soda will turn a brownish color as you rub it in. It also might be chunkier in some places than others, which is fine. Coat the whole oven to the best of your abilities, paying attention to any particularly greasy areas.

Allow the baking soda mixture to rest for at least 12 hours, or overnight. Meanwhile, clean your oven racks.

After 12 hours or overnight, take a damp dish cloth and wipe out as much of the dried baking soda paste as you can. Use a plastic or silicone spatula to help scrape off the paste as needed.

Put a little vinegar in a spray bottle and spritz everywhere you still see baking soda residue in your oven. The vinegar will react with the baking soda and gently foam.

Then take your damp cloth and wipe out the remaining foamy vinegar-baking-soda mixture. Repeat until all the baking soda residue is gone. Add more water or vinegar to your cloth as needed while wiping to really get the oven clean and shiny.

Once that’s done, replace the oven racks and anything else you keep in your oven, and you’re done!