Cleaning a Self Clean oven

8 years ago

One of my clients asked me a question, that I wasn't sure how to answer.

He has a self cleaning oven, which he prefers not to use. They have been using EZ-Off in the past, which you are not supposed. Does anyone have a suggestion, for an effective, but safer oven cleaner?

Featured Answer

User

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I always have used a pot of water and some vinegar, heat my oven to 450*-500* and run my oven for about an hour. Once cool enough wipe down, for tougher stains use the method here below....I also never let my oven get too dirty so it's never a big problem for me getting it looking good. >>>>link to cleaning oven:

Soak The Grates

Remove all of the grates.
Fill a utility tub or bathtub with HOT water and a non-toxic cleaner like Simple Green. Let them soak, the longer the better – over night if you can. (Careful not to scratch your tub!)
Remove them and scrub off residue with a heavy duty scrubbing pad or fine steel wool.
For extra scrubbing make a paste made from baking soda and lemon juice and have at it.

Give Your Oven A Steam Bath

Remove the grates and wipe or vacuum out any loose debris.
Put back a grate on the bottom rack and place a large metal baking dish filled with water and about 1/2 cup of white vinegar.
Heat at 350° and let the water bubble, steam, and do its thing.
Turn off the oven, then carefully spray the inner surfaces with a water/vinegar solution (don’t burn yourself!).
Close the door and let it stand at least 30 minutes.
Once cooled enough to work, wipe it down. If stubborn spots persist, scrub with a paste of baking soda and lemon or vinegar.
If you want to get fancy, try Simple Green Heavy Duty BBQ and Grill Cleaner – it’s recommended for use in ovens too.

Bonus Info & Tips

The sooner a spill is cleaned, the easier it is to get rid of.
Put foil or a cookie sheet under stuff that can bubble over—prevention is the best remedy.
Self-cleaning ovens that use pyrolytic cleaning (heat) create a lot of smoke and odor. It’s also a feature notorious for malfunctioning. I personally never use it.
Steam cleaning ovens are a newer oven feature that clean in less time with no smoke and odor but are not quite as effective as pyrolytic ones.
Regarding microwave ovens, don’t use any cleaners inside the unit. Bring a cup of water to boil in it, then wipe it down.

In a nutshell, hot water, steam, a few natural ingredients and soak time can make your stinky ole oven fresh as a daisy… which makes me wanna go take a bath.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

hvtech42
8 years ago
Using EZ-off in a self clean oven won't damage the liner or anything, it's just that it leaves behind residual chemicals that could lead to toxic fumes if self clean cycle is run later. As long as they never use self clean again they should be good to continue with EZ-off. They also make a "fume free" version of EZ-off that they claim is OK for self clean ovens. I've never tested it so I can't comment on if/how its performance differs from the regular version.
Related Discussions
Need help how to do this niche
Q
Comments (22)
Since you have a focus light in that corner already, why don't you go for a big brass statue (goddess) or small brass statues on shelves or even indoor plants on shelves or brass bells on both sides with just statue in the center. Statue like the one below will give an aesthetic look. Wish you good luck.
...See More
need a help for my home design
Q
Comments (4)
Where to go for cheap furniture Goodwill, word of mouth from friends and family, yard sales, and moving sales. Wooden pieces I will buy from anywhere and will dive into a dumpster even, fabric/leather pieces much more picking with. Rugs are easy to clean or have cleaned. Always do the smell test, if you gag run away. You can paint anything, even fabric covered chairs. Get an idea of what you want your space to look like, and feel like. Create idea books in Houzz for each room. This will give you a guide to what you like. Less is more. You don't have to fill every room. Get basics first and everybody has a different idea of basics. Find yours. Put only things that you love in your house, and everything will look great. It will be a home filled with love.
...See More
what type of chimney will best suit my kitchen
Q
Comments (24)
@corner Stone designs. sorry if I had given an impression it mud slinging. but objectively speaking the suggestion to go for a chimney just because someone asked for it instead of addressing the real issue us not what I intended to do. one has to understand all the negatives as well veggie going in for a decision . just like you have the right to suggest there is nothing wrong in pointing out the issues in the proposed solution. none of us are internet warriors but most of us are "sold" items that we will never need in our life by creating an illusion. I know that dinner call it business but I am not in such one and I have the luxury to call a spade a spade. Even now the person who asked for is not sure in what they want but they think that a chimney will solve the issue. engineering doesn't work that way. unless we know what the real issue us, which isn't clear if it is the smoke or the smell and the your of food cooked, the frequency, the 80/20 utility of the kitchen we are not even close to understanding the problem. my intent is to emphasize the importance of understanding the problem and then look for issue and not provide a ready made solution. we can all suggest something by seeing a picture that fire will come and catch the chef if it is located in the window but do you think that what you say is practical. you may construct this as much slinging be as a novice I have a genuine question. how many houses have such a fire accident. we don't even know if the stove is electric or gas. if it is electric then they just no question of fire. so I encourage you to objectively approach and not see this as a mud slinging thing as that's not the point.
...See More
Suggestions for Good chimney and hob for Indian cooking
Q
Comments (44)
I am looking for Glass Hob, Vertical Glass Chimney and Built In Oven. I am getting mixed feedback across different forums so thought to reach here (impressed with some of the pointed comments so far). I am planning to choose between Bosch, Elica, Hafele and Faber. Can anyone please help ? I need to finalize it in next 3-4 days. I am purely going by the brand name (plus my previous experience with Bosch) so preferred the following 1). Bosch Glass Hob 2). Bosch Built In Oven (though it has aluminium burner but the one with brass burner 'Hafele/Elica' has the problem of making utensils black) 3). For chimney they do not offer 60cm Filter less chimney hence thinking to choose between Hafele or Elica. Please suggest if this is the right choice. Thanks in advance
...See More
nerdyshopper
8 years ago
Eazy-off makes a product called "Fume Free" oven cleaner in a BLUE spray can. It will clean the oven eventually. For light deposits, one spraying does the trick. It has no sodium hydroxide (lye) in it. Uses some combination of cleaners that I don't understand. I just know that I use it to clean the scum off bathtubs and sinks and from pans that get oil stains. Just needs to be wiped with a damp cloth repeatedly until there is no residue. Don't breathe the fumes despite the label.
rococogurl
8 years ago
I clean as I go, or try to. It's best to clean anything significant asap as it gets baked on with subsequent use and harder to remove.

Cleaning is easiest and most effective in an oven that's still warm to touchably hot.

I don't use any chemicals. For baked on stuff on the bottom I put a non-terry kitchen towel down, put some baking soda on that and then just moisten it with hot water. The baking soda action helps remove stuff from the oven floor which gets wiped away. Just not too much water.

For grease removal I use the orange degreaser and wipe it out.

Otherwise, I use a blue non-scrubbie scrubby -- blue NOT green -- some dish soap and a microfiber cloth.

For very difficult spots I very carefully use Astonish cleaner, an English product made to clean Agas. It also cleans fireclay sinks. I've used it very carefully on the oven glass and wiped it off with a damp microfiber cloth.

I use Astonish on the racks and the pan. Amazon sells it. Excellent product and very little known here. Read the Amazon review and questions.

Thing with the microfiber cloth is that the browned on stuff from the oven sort of bonds with the fibers so it's difficult to remove the stains. Don't use new ones IOW.

I wouldn't use those sprays as I don't want to breathe them in. Also, if you got the hot vinegar route watch out for fumes as well.
59 Dodge
8 years ago
"Also, if you got the hot vinegar route watch out for fumes as well."

Why do you say that, is there a danger in becoming a "Wine-O", if you breathe "said fumes", inquiring minds wanna know, (even old ones)!

Gary
User
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I'm not putting my head in the oven after the heat up process, hahaha. By the time things are cooled down and ready to wipe out it's not a problem.

Cleaning a Self Clean oven

User

Comments (6)

hvtech42

Related Discussions

nerdyshopper

rococogurl

59 Dodge

User

COMPANY

EXPLORE HOUZZ

CONNECT WITH US