How To Clean Your Oven

With the festive season far behind us and the joys of spring up ahead, it’s time to get motivated, roll up your sleeves and take on those spring cleaning jobs you’ve been avoiding for what may seem like an eternity! And where better to start than deep cleaning your oven?

Now, we know what you’re thinking “really? The oven… but that’s one hell of a job… and dirty too!”

Well, if you’re anything like us you may have been putting this one off for longer than you’d like to admit but fear not, we’re here to help and hopefully by following this handy guide you’ll discover not just how rewarding a thorough clean can be but hopefully you’ll be amazed by just how fast you can get the job done and well you can restore your cooker! 

So, what is the first step?

Well, normally in this kind of step by step guide you’ll find all over the web the first stage would be to acquire all the relevant materials to do the job, don’t worry, that’s coming but here at YTC, we like to be a little more realistic…

First off you should set yourself a deadline, hopefully you’ve got an hour free today, better yet now! In that case (provided you have the materials in the home) you can crack on as soon as you’ve finished reading this guide… Not before leaving a comment mind you! This can be a daunting job so well done on making it this far, you’re about to commit yourself to completing the task at hand and for that we commend you.

We recommend getting yourself psyched up for the job by playing some of your favourite music while you gather your tools and clean, something upbeat, if you’d like to be particularly dramatic then there are a number of classics to choose from, Eye of the tiger maybe?

1, Ok… So, we’re amped up and ready to go! We are winners and this oven grease is going down, let’s get our grime fighting kit together – you’ll need;

• A strong oven cleaner: There are plenty of miracle cleaning pastes, foams and sprays you can buy off the shelf or you can mix your own miracle paste using our ‘secret’ formula… Actually, it’s just Bicarb of Soda, Water and Lemon Juice!
• White Vinegar Spray: If you don’t already have some of this miracle worker in your home then now is the time to pick some up there isn’t anything it CAN’T do.
• Sponges, Scourers & Cloths: Whatever you have around the house is probably fine, you’ll want a decent scourer ideally and remember, they’re probably ALL going straight in the bin when you’re done.
• An Old Toothbrush: No really, you’d be surprised how well an old toothy b can clean some of the harder to reach areas you might normally miss.
• Rubber Gloves: Depending on how long it’s been since your last deep clean you likely want some protection from the grime, also this might seem obvious but you don’t want to be wearing a fancy frock!
• Water… and plenty of it: All that grease and cleaning product is going to want a thorough rinse so make sure the boilers on and you have good access to the sink.

2, Before you start cleaning it’s worth noting that you want the oven to be completely cool, ideally you want to do this on a day that you haven’t had the oven on at all. First of all, you want to remove all the racks and trays from your cooker, set them aside somewhere in a bowl with hot soapy water, if you can, leave them overnight to soak and they’ll be that much easier to clean.

If you plan on giving our Super oven cleaning formula a try then you’ll want to mix that up now; In a mixing bowl, take roughly half a cup of Bicarb of Soda then in a glass mix a couple of drops of lemon juice with two table spoons of water, mix this gradually with the Bicarb until you have a paste with a slight foamy texture.

Now you want to apply your cleaning product to the inside of the oven, taking care to avoid the elements, apply a generous coat to all of the inside surfaces paying special attention to the corners and other hard to reach areas.

Most oven cleaners need at least 12 hours to get to work but we’d recommend leaving yours overnight for the best results – so treat yourself to a take away for tea as a reward for a job well done and get yourself curled up on the sofa.

3, Now that your oven cleaner has had a chance to work its magic it’s time to get rid of that baked in grime once and for all! So get those marigolds back on and let’s get to it!

Using a damp cloth and a bowl of water, wipe down all the surfaces to remove your cleaner and all of the broken down grease – again, be careful to avoid any heating elements. You’ll probably find that there are some tougher burnt on stains that do not come off with just a wipe but fear not! Simply use a scourer with a touch of Bicarbonate of soda and gently rub away until they’re gone, for corners and harder to reach places get out ol’ reliable, you’re old toothbrush and put it to work.

Finally, cover the elements and sprits the interior liberally with your White Vinegar Spray, this does double duty, not only killing remaining germs but also highlighting any remaining cleaner – assuming they’re bicarb based you should see slight bubbling any areas where the cleaner remains so you can catch them with one final pass.

Bring your Racks and trays back to their former glory with plenty of soap, hot water and a vigorous scrubbing with a scourer and pop them back in the oven, by now the inside of your cooker should be gleaming! It’s almost time to pat yourself on the back and share your success on social media but we’ve come all this way so we should probably tackle the glass too.

4, For a gleaming, streak free finish to your glass door we recommend using a quality glass cleaning spray and a cloth or squeegee to wipe, we recommend not using any caustic cleaners on glass, plus there are plenty of decent options tailored for use on glass surfaces.

 5, Consider Hiring a Professional: If DIY cleaning seems daunting, think about hiring a local oven cleaning service . They use specialized tools and safe cleaning solutions to effectively clean your oven, saving you time and effort. You can easily find reputable services online or through local recommendations. Sometimes, its best to leave it to the experts!

Well done, it’s time to relax and celebrate your success! If you want to share your sparkling results online, don’t forget to tag @yorkshiretradingco to let us know how you got on

Here at Yorkshire Trading we have a wide range of home cleaning essentials, including everything you need to give your oven the once over it desperately needs CLICK HERE to shop our entire cleaning range.