I’m going to tell you a funny-tragic story about my oven, that will either leave you shaking your head at how dumb I was, or make you laugh. I hope it’s the latter.
When I bought my oven (built-in design) I thought I had bought a self-cleaning oven. Because I thought it was self-cleaning, without looking up what that meant, I thought it meant that I didn’t have to actually clean it after each use because it’d take care of it itself.
Fast forward a few years (about 4 yikes!) and many oven uses later, I realised that the inside of my oven was, to put it mildly, filthy. I don’t bake cakes and biscuits, so my oven is primarily used for cooking savouries. Sometimes, as is wont to happen, spills and oil spatters occur. The inside of my oven was coated with a pretty gross patina of grease and oil.
Last week, after a particularly delicious roasted pork belly episode, I decided I’d tackle this cleaning malarkey once and for all. The story has been fully documented on Instagram (watch it on the Oven Chronicles Highlights tab to follow my adventures LOL! :D ) but I wanted to share in depth, why I chose to do what I did and its effects.
I looked up online for ways to clean a dirty oven, and found so many advocates for what is popularly known as the “natural way to clean your oven”, using a mixture of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) and vinegar. It promised a clean, sparkling oven without poisoning yourself and your family.
Let me tell you this – It’s bollocks :P
Baking Soda + Vinegar – What it’s supposed to do
The suggestion to use baking soda and vinegar to clean your oven is touted by many to be the best way to get your oven to look bright, spanking new. You just need to do a search, and reputable sites pop up like The Kitchn, CNet, Lifehacker and even Martha Stewart. Besides, a billion pins on Pinterest can’t be wrong right? :P
Well my question is this – Did they even actually TRY it?
This is how the baking soda and vinegar tip is supposed to work:
- Mix baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) and water to form a paste.
- Spread this paste all over the inside of your oven (remove the racks) avoiding the heating elements
- Leave it overnight
- Next day, wipe off and spray white vinegar all over.
- Wipe off foam and revel in your sparkling clean oven
In the picture above, that’s after I had left the product on overnight. I wasn’t expecting to actually blog about this, so I don’t have a ‘before’ photo, but trust me, it was dirty.
Baking Soda + Vinegar – What it really does
For me, all the baking soda and vinegar tip did was create an unholy mess.
The paste is everywhere (because they say to make sure you stick it EVERYWHERE) and cleaning it is a right pain. What I noticed was that the hardened paste barely lifted any of the caked on grease. It might have helped cut some lighter grease, but the bulk of the grime remained.
I spritz on white vinegar and all I was rewarded with was a foam that, you guessed it, did nothing either to lift the dirt and grease.
Frustrated, I looked it up further. I mean, a billion people on the internet claim it works. But what does the science say?
The Science
Vinegar is an acid. Baking soda is a base. Here’s what the science says:
So what exactly happens when you mix vinegar and baking soda? Since vinegar is an acid and baking soda is a base, they undergo an acid-base reaction. Now there are a couple of different theories that scientists use when discussing acid-base reactions, but generally when an acid and a base are mixed together, the result is that the acid and base neutralize each other to form water and a small amount of salt.
– Quick and Dirty Tips
Great. I just made water with salt in it <insert facepalm emoji>
Baking Soda and Vinegar does not work to clean ovens
So that was frustrating.
I learnt the very hard way that this Pinterest formula that so many people repeat ad nauseum as “the best way to clean your oven”, is basically bollocks.
I would venture a suggestion that baking soda, used on its own, with lots of elbow grease might work. But it still will take a while, and it isn’t as easy as what Pinterest or any housekeeping ‘guru’ will have you believe.
Are all those wonderful before/after pictures of dirty ovens turned sparkling clean that is attributed to this method a hoax?
I don’t know. All I know is that I was left with an unholy mess on my hands, an oven that was still just as dirty and grease-spattered, and a feeling of frustration. I also read this, which had me literally putting my face in my palm out of sheer despair.
So, how did I get my oven looking this clean?
The inside is relatively shiny and clean although there are spots of grease still caked on here and there. I plan to tackle them one day, but I’d happily say that it’s at least 97% clean.
How did I clean my dirty oven?
Please turn away now if you were hoping for me to wax lyrical about a “chemical-free”, natural solution. This is going to come down to good, dirty, chemical-laden cleaners. Some of you may frown on that, and really, that’s fine. I wanted something to do the job, and I got it which is what matters most for me.
First, when I was faced with the mess left behind by the caked on baking soda paste, I looked up strong cleaners. I did not mind that they were chemical. I’m like that.
Then, I hoofed down to my nearest Ace Hardware store, where I discovered that dedicated oven cleaners are not popular, or not sold at Ace Hardware. I looked around the cleaning materials, and picked up a product I’d heard of – Barkeeper’s Friend.
First Attempt – Barkeeper’s Friend
A disclaimer. Barkeeper’s Friend does not recommend its use for the inside of the oven. You must rinse the product properly after use, and you can’t do that inside of your oven, so they do not recommend it. However, I read on a few sites that they used it with success at removing grease and some caked on oil and grease, so I took a risk.
Barkeeper’s Friend cleaner comes in a powder form (I also saw it comes in cream form, which I read is milder) and is basically a scouring powder. Locally, you may find it similar in texture to powdered Zip or Cif.
The key ingredient in Barkeeper’s Friend is Oxalic Acid, and it is supposed to be less abrasive than many other powdered cleaners.
I had read often about Barkeeper’s Friend being used to remove stains, to clean stainless steel, hobs, glass, porcelain, tubs etc. So I figured that even if it didn’t work for my oven, I could use it elsewhere anyway.
One Important Tip: The holes are under the peel-off sticker. Please do not attempt to open it with a can opener like I did.
Did it work?
Yes it did. I shook the cleaning powder straight onto the burnt bits, or directly onto my sponge, and then put in a lot of elbow grease to scrub.
I used a soft scouring pad (not the green ones, nor steel wool) to help lift the dirt, without scratching the inside of my oven. I did not want to damage it. Ovens are expensive.
I also worked in small sections.
- Wear good thick gloves – Barkeeper’s Friend can be hard on your hands
- Shake some Barkeeper’s Friend powder on the sponge or directly on the stain.
- Scrub at it with a soft scouring sponge (If you use a more abrasive scouring pad or steel wool, it will lift off more easily)
- Keep a small pail or bowl of water beside you. Wet a piece of cloth, wring dry then wipe off dirt. Rinse a few times.
- Repeat on a separate section
I found that the Barkeeper’s Friend helped me lift at least 50-60% of the grease. This was lighter grease and not too caked on or burnt. There were sections with large burnt food areas that I could not remove (and was too tired to). But to be honest, I was already quite happy about it.
PROS:
No fumes nor chemical smell
With a scouring pad and lots of elbow grease, it gets rid of most of the grease
AffordableCONS:
Can be abrasive
Must be thoroughly rinsed with lots of water
Slow goingBEST FOR: Light to moderately dirty oven
PRICE: RM15+ | US$3.99 for 12oz/340g
WHERE TO BUY: Ace Hardware stores, iHerb
Second Attempt – Easy Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner
Not quite satisfied, and tipped off by someone on Twitter, I headed out again to see if I could find something called Easy Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner. I had read about it online but could not find a local supplier, and did not know if it was sold here. However, someone told me they got it locally, so I went to hunt it down.
Well, I did find it! It is not sold at Ace Hardware, but I got mine in BIG Supermarket. Try looking in Village Grocer too, as they are owned by the same people and carry many imported goods. I don’t think this is very popular, or that it sells very well because for some reason, ovens aren’t a big thing here in Malaysia. I noticed that my can was manufactured in 2016.
But I was so thrilled when I saw it, I quite literally squealed when snatching it off the shelf LOL! :D Lucky for me, not many people frequent the household cleaning section so I had the aisle to myself.
I strolled home and put it to work immediately.
First, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CAN. I cannot stress this enough. There are 2 ways you can use Easy Off Oven Cleaner – hot oven or cold oven.
I opted for the hot oven method and this is what I did.
- Pull on thick gloves
- Heat oven to about 100°C then turn it off.
- Shake can and spray over inside surface of the oven as evenly as possible without choking
- Close the oven door and wait
Easy Off Oven Cleaner says you need only wait 5-10 minutes for it to work. But I knew I had years of caked on grease in there so I gave it about an hour.
BE WARNED: The fumes will make your eyes water and make you want to sneeze and cough. Either hold your breath or wear a mask.
About an hour later, I opened the oven door and did not expect much. I used a wet cloth to wipe a little corner of the dirt and that is when I saw the magic happen!
Grease that I thought I’d have to live with for the rest of my life just melted and wiped away! You can see it in my Instagram stories (Highlights – Oven Chronicles) It was so amazing and so satisfying.
I suppose I could have gone in with a scouring pad for the tough bits but I didn’t. I might save it for another day instead. For now, just a wet piece of cloth did the job!
I do however have some warnings and precautions that you should pay attention to when using Easy Off Oven Cleaner.
- Wear gloves. Wear the thickest you own. I wear these, because I hate the smell of latex on my hands.
- The longer you leave it in the closed oven, the quicker the chemical smell dissipates. After about an hour, I did not smell much of the chemical nor did the fumes make my eyes water anymore. However, any less and you will likely still experience fumes.
- Rinse your oven thoroughly. I went over and over the inside with a wet cloth to ensure that I wiped away as much of the chemicals as possible.
- Heat the oven on high. Then, when satisfied, I turned the oven on high, and let it run for a while to burn off any smells
- Leave the oven open for a few days. I then left the oven door open for a day or two. There were no more smells but I just wanted to be sure.
- Keep children and pets away from the kitchen. You don’t want them overwhelmed by the fumes.
Easy Off Oven Cleaner is a very strong chemical cleaner that I was terribly impressed with, but which I can tell you is also something you should be very careful with.
While they say that you can use it to clean your oven after every use, I wouldn’t. I’d probably reserve this for use say once or twice a year, for a proper deep-clean of my oven. In between, I’ll be sure to clean it up after every use. I also bought the Cif Oven Cleaner for in-between uses, so I’ll see if that works – let me know if you want me to update! ;)
PROS:
Cleans off tough oven spills and grease with very little effort
Removed most of the grease and dirt in my ovenCONS:
Chemical fumes are very strong
Abrasive on hands
Hard to find in Malaysia and expensiveBEST FOR: Dirty ovens or a periodic deep clean
PRICE: RM28+ | US$5 a can
WHERE TO BUY: BIG Supermarket (Ben’s Independent Grocer’s)
After I shared my stories on Instagram, many of you told me that you wanted to buy the Easy Off Oven Cleaner, so this write-up is for you. I just felt I should include all the necessary warnings, because you can never be too careful!
Have you ever tried the baking soda and vinegar tip to clean your oven? Did it work for you?
If it worked for you, then well done. But I’m sticking to using them separately from now on. Baking soda and vinegar separately make good cleaners. But together? Meh. Nothing but an unholy mess and a bloody waste of time!
Paris B
Yay!!! You’re a kitchen cleaner influencer now! Hehe
Easy-Off is the Bomb! Love it!
LOL! Thanks for the tip off that it’s available here! I think it’s great, but I wouldn’t use it after each cooking episode :D
baking soda only has a ph of 8, thats less than soap you use on your body
so baking soda is more gentle than soap for washing yourself with (it doesnt strip the oil from your skin)
vinegar is an acid. acids dont dissolve fats (which is what is making your oven dirty) acids are used to clean mineral deposits, like hard water residue or salts
if you mix baking soda (a high ph chemical) with an acid (a low ph chemical) you create a neutral ph chemical (it’s basically salt water)
baking soda and water can clean an oven thats not really dirty
but you need a chemical that higher than ph 8 to remove stubborn grease or fats, such as ammonia
actually oven cleaners are very high at around 14, which isnt recommend for home use if you have no clue about chemical ph levels, or if you have children
Oh my word. Your tale brought back nightmares! Clean, yes. Fumes, oh my word, YES! The one time I used Easy Off I spread old newspapers all around my oven. I coughed, choked and thought it would be the end of me. But, it did clean my oven. It almost made me swear off cooking. You would think by now there would be less toxic things to degrease an oven. My heart truly goes out to you.
I hear you Jan! I did read about the fumes, so I was quite careful to not stick my head in the oven LOL! I do find that leaving it closed for longer than recommended helps the fumes dissipate so it’s not so uncomfortable after that. The problem for many of us is that we tend to leave these things too long. I certainly made a mistake simply because I misunderstood my oven’s settings. I don’t use it weekly, and usually in covered pots, but still, mess happens. On the bright side, it’s taught me to be more careful about cleaning up every every use!
I used bicarbonate of soda CIF cream and vinegar mixed to a paste the used a stainless steel wire scourer not much elbow grease and it was brilliant!!!
The Oven Chronicles are possibly my favourite of your insta-stories LOL! Had a good chuckle while watching. So aunty kan? Hope to see your experience with Cif too. I’m already using the liquid Cif for the bathroom and am, thus far, satisfied.
I attempted a rotisserie chicken a couple of Christmasses ago and it made a god-awful mess. Never again! I suspect some of the remnants are still stuck in the oven. I might give Easy-Off a go but I’m a little put off by your description of the eye watering fumes.
LOL! I met a few people recently whose first comment was about my oven and where could they buy the product? LOL! Cif is generally good. I’d been using it for ever and ever but I now get cleaners in fortnightly, so my personal use has reduced. Someone tipped me off to a fume-free Easy Off. And I was also told that the Cif oven cleaner is actually quite strong, not for regular use as I thought it would be. That promises to be fume-free so you can try that maybe? :)
Ah that’s great! I’ll be visiting my ACE Hardware store soon then. It has been my intention to get cleaners to come in too but have been procrastinating. Gotta get myself together and start hunting for reliable ones!
To be honest, cleaners never get your place as clean as you want it to be, or can do yourself. But if you are as bad a housekeeper as I am, then every little bit counts! At the very least, surfaces get wiped down (which I might never otherwise do LOL! )
Haha I’m glad I read this because I almost certainly would have fallen for it – my list of Pinterest fails is quite long now (mostly beauty related but the odd baking and household one too ?) So thank you – chemicals all the way on this one, I’m trying the easy off next time! ?
LOL I try not to fall for Pinterest remedies, but it’s hard when it’s EVERYWHERE online! Everyone is extolling its virtues, and it does make you wonder if people are just regurgitating what they read, or if they have actually tried it for themselves. I mean, I’m all for a less toxic remedy where possible, but hey, I’d like for it to work, and not to cost more! Good luck with the oven!
My nightmare with my new SMEG VICTORIA built in oven. Once the brand warranty had finished, the inside of my oven ( now, same with my microwave from the same line) started to peel of. After TWO years only! My first oven from Bosch lasted for 29 years and it was still like new.
Oh my! I’m so sorry to hear that Amalia. It does sound like it’s a defective product. Unless you scratch at it, I doubt any oven interior should peel of its own accord! :( And Smeg is expensive too!
I am renting an apartment unit & the Owner was not prepared to fork out money for oven cleaning, so I thought fine, I’ll google and do it myself! Came across the bicarb + vinegar method and my word, what a messy project it became!!! A lot of the oily residue were removed, but the bicarb powder got stuck behind the oven wall, where the fan is and I can’t get them out! So everytime I use the oven on fan-forced mode, I get bicarb all over :( so much for a toxic free attempt…. I probably have to get it cleaned by a professional before I move out in the future.
Ah someone who totally understands how I feel! I swear the bicarb of soda discovered new nooks and cranies I never thought existed in an oven! Have you tried running the fan oven on empty and see if that helps get the dust out? Someone actually told me they experience the same as you do, with bits of bicarb of soda flying everywhere when they cook. Makes me wonder sometimes, if those people who give these online tips actually ever try it out for themselves or if they’re just regurgitating fallacies for the hits :P
I have used Easy Off as well. It’s available in supermarkets in Sydney. But the fumes put me off. I have now found an oven cleaning service $180 who uses chemical free methods. A guy comes and cleans it thoroughly leaving it sparkling. Worth the investment and saves my time and elbow grease. I use this service every 2 years; to me it’s worth it.
Since ovens are not popular in Malaysia, I wonder if there’s this service available. Next time I renovate my kitchen, I’m going to install two ovens – one for savouries and one for sweets.
You know, I was so desperate I did look up professional oven cleaners here in Malaysia! You are right, because ovens aren’t a popular nor common kitchen item, they are very hard to get. I found one based on Facebook, but I suspect they are no longer in business, which is unsurprising. For now, I will do what I can, and maintain it with regular cleaning. I probably may never be able to shift the grease spots (I’ll keep trying!) but it’s better than having a grimy oven! I know someone who has 2 ovens, just as you say haha!
I have tried the bicarb method, and it has worked for me! But it involved LOTS of hard work and scrubbing. Used a vinegar spray after to dissolve and remove any remnants of the bicarb. It’s probably the safer way to clean your oven compared to using chemical products, but for really difficult, stubborn stains I have had to use a cream cleaner like Cif. The best way forward is to clean it more regularly before it turns into a disaster zone (easier said than done!).
In the UK there’s a product called The Pink Stuff, which is a mild abrasive cream cleaner. I tried that on stubborn grease stains on my hob, and it is amazing!
Hi April, thanks for chipping in! :) I absolutely hear you about keeping the cleaning regular – definitely a lesson learnt after this initial chemical-bomb! Also, I have heard of The Pink Stuff and have a friend looking out for it. I hope she finds it!
I’m inclined to believe that the vinegar + baking soda method is more for everyday or weekly cleanups more than years of buildup. But thanks for this. I’ve been putting off cleaning out my oven but with all this new found knowledge, perhaps it’s time!
I thought the same, but there are so many claims online that old, crusted over ovens have been cleaned using the bicarb method. It is actually too messy to use often LOL! If you try it, make sure you spread a lot of newspaper on the floor – although I’m not sure where you’ll get newspaper since so many us of don’t buy them anymore lOL
Saw your IG movie the other about your oven too! XD
I really don’t know what’s the hype about baking powder cleaning everything, as far as I know, the only thing the baking soda is good for – is for baking. Gosh, whatever cleaning with baking soda never worked for me!
I last cleaned my oven last CNY and the oven was not used for >3x for the past year, other than reheating some food, so I saved some elbow grease for this CNY hehehe.
IG Movie! LOL!! :D And thank you so much for telling the truth about baking soda! Coming from you, DIY queen, it assures me that I’m not crazy for not wanting to believe anymore baking soda cleaning tips :P
This story was delightful. As an American, Easy Off is something that I’ve used since childhood (I’ll probably get cancer from a life of breathing it in). Your story was a humorous reminder of how what we take for granted in one country can be unheard of in another.
Glad it amused you! And you are so right about how differently we perceive things in different countries. Ovens are only catching on here in recent years, so I’m sure we’ll start seeing Easy Off more in time to come LOL!
May I kno where did you buy the Cif oven cleaner? Is it available in Malaysia?
Yes, you can get it at places like Ace Hardware or BIG Supermarket
Just wanted to let you know that I also tried the baking soda and vinegar method and it was a total fail. The mess was unbelievable and it left a white film on my oven.
I had watched some YouTube videos about this method and was impressed; now, I’m convinced they didn’t really clean their ovens with this method. There is NO WAY.
I have used Easy-Off in the past and I agree that it does an amazing job.
Easy off may be a chemical but it is the best product I’ve used for oven and the racks. Big sponge makes cleanup easy and put racks on newspaper to spray. Turn on exhaust fan so you don’t smell the chemicals. I’ve tried numerous non chemical ways to clean oven and did not work or took back breaking effort to wipe off.
I’m a housecleaner and I’ve cleaned ovens with just baking soda and vinegar, as well as a little help from Barkeeper’s Friend for the more baked on grease. It DOES work. You do need to apply a generous amount of time, patience and elbow grease as well though. It doesn’t just magically clean the oven. As for the mess, simply let it dry and vacuum it up. Easy.
Please consider giving it another try instead of promoting the use of awful chemical oven cleaners. Your oven must have been really bad and needed the chemical cleaner, but now that it’s done, please consider upkeeping your oven more regularly without it. Thank you!
Yeesh! That’s nasty comment. I cook only for me and my 5 lb. dog. The oven gets filthy and no, vinegar and baking soda do NOT clean it. That solution cleans many things but NOT ovens.
In my PERSONAL experience, the baking soda mixture/vinegar spray DOES ABSOLUTELY work, and amazingly well, at that. Just short of a miracle, the gunk came off easily. However, I did not wait four years to test it.
Baking soda works great! You do not add vinegar, just a little water. Exactly like the websites you listed instructed to do(m.sterwart, lifehaker, etc..)
You’re just selling chemical products with this post, most unhelpful and unfortunate
I have just used bicarbonate of soda (baking soda for Americans), and it worked a treat. Add a little water only to make a paste. Let it sit for about ten or twenty minutes. Then I used a silicon spoon, and massaged it. It turned the white paste brown. Touching it, I can describe the process as similar to a salt scrub ??. You can see the dirt lifting (and boy was it dirty!). Used a kitchen paper towel to wipe away excess, rinse with microfibre cloth and judged if I needed a second coat. I fancied my chances, I had some bicarbonate of soda left, so I repeated the process. Voila! I was ecstatic with the results.
I will add that I am waiting a long time for a hob scraper, which I plan to use to remove the brown spots crusted on. I am quietly confident that this will work. I’ve been really unlucky with my post, and I cleaned the oven without it, because I just couldn’t wait anymore lol.
I will add, I ran out of time with the bottom of the oven. I plan on using a plastic scraper. I managed to keep that quite clean – it was the glass that needed attention.
I also cleaned the racks in soda crystals. This defintely involved elbow grease, but I’m going to buy a plastic storage box and fill it with soda crystals and let it soak overnight – apparently it comes off.
My nose is sooo sensitive, I just couldn’t use strong cleaners – even soda crystals are an irritant for me. Appreciate the page though. I like to share in case you ever want to give it a second go!
I haven’t done my whole oven yet, but I did do the door. I used hot water and baking soda and scrubbed with a baked up piece of aluminum foil. Worked like a charm with little elbow grease. I think the aluminum foil is the trick!
I have been taught to put the racks in a large garbage bag with a cup of ammonia seal and let set over night Then you can simply hose them off in the morning . I use Easy Off but hate the fumes . My question is how do you all get the roof / top of the oven . I can ‘t even see it.
Sharon Leimenstoll