oven cleaning???

[Llyra]

Help me please! I have a problem of my own making : . My oven is filthy, and I've been putting off giving it a good, thorough cleaning for far too long. I really really want to avoid using nasty strong chemicals in there, especially because I'm TTC and there's always the chance I might be pregnant. Does anyone have any ideas for what to use to clean an oven-- something that'll get the job done without being horribly toxic?

[whoamama]

I have had this conversation w dh this wkend--I have noticed over the past few years that harsh oven cleaning evil stuff doesn't really work! Although I no longer let my oven get really bad, I find that soaking with just water for a while combined with scrubbing is the best. I just use steel wool or sos and huge amounts of elbow grease.

[Spastica]

You can try using full strength white vinegar in a spray bottle - you can add some dishwashing soap and/or some baking soda in that solution and just douse everything in your oven with it. If you're feeling zesty, you can add some orange essential oil to boost the cleaning power and the yumminess factor.

Wait a day or so, and the crud will soften. You can then take a wet sponge and baking soda and scrub the nastiness away.

You can even warm up the vinegar mix before spraying - that will help soften even more.

[BonMaman]

I used a recipe I found in The Naturally Clean Home by Karen Siegel-Maier that included baking & washing sodas, salt, and a little water to make a paste you apply after heating up the oven. The paste sits on there for a little while, then you spray vinegar on it to scrub off the paste and all the gunk with it.

<As an aside, you might want to wear gloves when you put the paste on to steer clear of getting the washing soda on your skin -- it warrants checking into... maybe you could leave out the washing soda and just rely on the abrasive powers of the BS and salt.>

A tip if you go this route: plug up any openings in the oven before you slather on the paste so that it doesn't go where it isn't supposed to! The walls of our oven needed more scrubbing than the floor of it to get off gunk that pre-dated our ownership of the house, so they needed more paste than the floor of the oven did.

Here's a great idea I got from Karen Logan's Clean House Clean Planet: after the oven's clean and you've admired how pretty it is and everything, stick an oven liner in the bottom to catch any drips. That's a lot easier than breaking out the elbow grease again!

[klondikesky]

Thanks for the info, mamas! I was about to ask the same question. My oven has 3 years of our disgusting spatters, plus 3 years of the previous owner's disgusting spatters. I turned on the oven light this morning for dd1 to see the baking cookies. "Mommy, I can't see ANYTHING!" Ewwwww... :

[holliebug]

I just tried this yesterday/today. My oven was pretty dirty too!
I covered in baking soda, and then added water. I scrubbed everything up with a cloth, and made sure the oven was completely coated with the stuff.
Added more baking soda, and water before bed, and left until later today.
I wiped all of the excess crud out, and then rinsed with water. I now have a very clean oven! It really worked, and I'm both shocked, and thrilled!
There are a couple of smaller grease areas on the inside of the glass on the door that didn't come off completely, but I probably didn't coat enough with the mixture.

[emma_goldman]

I read something that really inspired me once: your oven rarely gets looked into. I guess I don't mind letting it be. (dirty, that is!)

[BonMaman]

Originally Posted by holliebug

There are a couple of smaller grease areas on the inside of the glass on the door that didn't come off completely, but I probably didn't coat enough with the mixture.

I had this problem too, even though I tried working on it a little with my pasty mixture and vinegar rinse (but was afraid the paste would scratch the glass). I thought about trying a little bit of dish soap diluted to get it off, but by then I was tired of the project and decided I would try it some other time...

[justmandy]

Here's what I did a month or so ago, I poured baking soda onto the oven door (that was the nastiesy place since I keep a drip pan under the element)
then poured boiling white vinagar onto that-made a steamy-foamy degreaser. After it cooled a bit, I scrubbed it and did that again, then used a piece steel wool to get the stubborn stuff.

It worked really well-I hope it didn't make any harmful gasses!