Cleaning the oven is no fun, but it’s even less fun when your cleaning method is ineffective. Follow our step-by-step guide to clean your oven quickly and thoroughly, with no expensive products required.
Deep cleaning your kitchen isn’t the most fun way to spend your day, but we’re here to help make it as easy as possible! We’ve shown you how to clean your fridge, how to make your kitchen sink sparkle, and how to clean your microwave – but today we’re sharing our oven cleaning tips that are both easy and effective. This just might make you do a happy dance! 🙂
How To Clean The Oven The Easy Way
Ever wonder what all that grime is on the inside of the oven? How does it even get there? The residue is a combination of splattered food ingredients, grease, etc. and after being baked at 350 degrees+ it becomes next to impossible to get off!
Rest assured, I am here to help! Here are our favorite methods to clean the oven that are amazingly effective and so simple!
What is a Good Natural Oven Cleaner?
The best natural oven cleaner we have found is to use baking soda mixed with a little bit of warm water to form a paste. Cleaning the oven with baking soda is a homemade oven cleaner that is simple, safe, and effective!
What is the Best Oven Cleaner?
For oven glass with more stubborn stains, a homemade oven cleaner may not do the trick. For these instances, we recommend using paper towels soaked in Ammonia. While harsh, it really is the best oven cleaner. Simply set the ammonia-soaked paper towels directly on top of the glass, then let it sit for at least an hour. The ammonia will help break down the stubborn grease, and you can wipe it clean much easier.
How to Clean Oven Racks
The best way to clean your oven racks is to let them soak in a sink or tub full of hot soapy water. Here’s how –
- Pull the racks out of your oven and bring them to your bathroom.
- Plug up the tub, then add a towel to the bottom to protect it from potential scratches and stains.
- Gently lay each rack on the towel, then add super hot water to the bathtub until there’s enough to cover the oven racks.
- Add 1 cup of laundry detergent and let this soak for a couple of hours or overnight. Your water might start to look gross and murky – that means it’s working!
- Once soaked, let the water out of the tub, then wipe down each rack to get off anything that might be stuck. You shouldn’t have to scrub hard for this at all!
- Lastly, give each rack a good rinse, dry them with a towel, and put them back in your oven!
How To Clean Inside of Oven
Whether your oven is old and dirty and hasn’t been cleaned in years, or if you’ve had a recent cooking disaster that is requiring a bit more attention, we hope these tips on how to clean an oven quickly are helpful and effective!
How to Clean a Self-Cleaning Oven
Newer ovens have a more effective self-cleaning option than older ovens do. A self-cleaning oven basically heats up the inside to make all the grime burn to charcoal, making it easier to scrape or clean off. This can be helpful, or it can set off your smoke alarm! (Ask me how I know this!) To be honest, I really don’t like to use my oven’s self-cleaning function because it heats up our house and it usually smells bad.
But if you’re wondering how to clean a self-cleaning oven and you have a newer model, it is actually quite easy! Turn on the self-cleaning cycle and walk away! (Exact directions can be found in your owner’s manual. You can Google this if you can’t find yours) Do not add any cleaner – this is not needed as it will just burn and make your house smelly. (Again, ask me how I know this.) 😉
More Easy Cleaning Tips
- How To Clean Your Vents
- How To Clean Your Washing Machine
- Spring Cleaning Hacks
- How To Clean Your Refrigerator
- Vinegar Cleaning Hacks
How To Clean An Oven Glass Door
Depending on how dirty your oven is, we have 2 methods for cleaning your oven glass you need to try!
Cleaning Oven With Baking Soda
Best for mildly dirty ovens
SUPPLIES:
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- water
- clean rag
DIRECTIONS:
- Mix the baking soda & water in a small dish. Add just enough water to make the mixture the consistency of a thin paste. Keep in mind that you don’t want it to be too thick because you want the mixture to be spread easily. (Mine was a little runny, but it worked!)
- Next, spread the baking soda mixture all over the oven glass.
- Set the timer for 15 minutes and if your oven is REALLY dirty, set it for 20 minutes to give the baking soda a little extra time to work.
- When 15 minutes has expired, use a clean rag (I used a damp wash cloth) to wipe up the baking soda mixture. You will be amazed at how easily the grime just wipes right off!
Sparkling clean oven glass is just a few minutes away!
This method is especially effective if you’re giving your oven a quick refresh. I am always surprised at how easy it is to clean a glass oven door simply by using baking soda!
Easy Way to Clean Oven with Ammonia
Best for stubborn ovens
SUPPLIES:
- ammonia
- rubber gloves
- squirt bottle
- paper towels
- copper or steel scrubber
- clean rag
DIRECTIONS:
- First, make sure all kids and pets do not have access to the oven until you are finished, and if you have a smaller kitchen, make sure the windows are slightly cracked so any fumes can escape outside.
- Open the oven door and layout paper towel sheets so that they cover the entire oven glass, or if your oven is super dirty the entire door.
- Pour some ammonia into an empty spray bottle, and spray the paper towels until they are soaked completely.
- If you have any stubborn spots inside the oven, you can just place an ammonia-soaked paper towel onto the area.
- Leaving the door open/down, let sit for 30 min to an hour. (Which is why it’s smart to have the kids and pets out of the home for this)
- Using your gloves, remove the paper towels.
- Start scrubbing! With the steel or copper scrubber or the rough side of a damp sponge, begin gently rubbing in circular motions the stubborn areas. Apply more elbow grease if needed.
- Once finished, wipe down the entire oven with paper towels or a damp microfiber cloth, and voila!
Have any other tips or tricks on how to clean your oven?
Let us know in the comment section below!
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You have no idea how much I needed this!! This is so helpful and such great tips!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing and very helpful idea! Highly recommended!
I’ve got some water between the glass and it has dried leaving streaks. How can I clean this?
I’ve never done this, but there should be a way to unscrew your oven glass from the inside so you can wipe it clean. Another method I’ve seen is to secure a small rag or wet paper towel to a coat hanger and try to wipe it through the cracks/vents on the top of the door. Again, I’ve never done it, but I wish you all the best of luck! Cleaning the oven can be so frustrating!
Just make sure you catch the glass when you unscrew it. I managed to do this once and almost broke the glass when it dropped out the bottom of the door when I unscrewed it. I happened to have a pillow that I had put on the floor right next to the stove. Between that pillow and some fast reflexes I was able to catch it and prevent it from shattering!
Great tip!!!
I work with cleaning products and I used to refuse to try any sort of homemade cleaner until i started getting dizzy after cleaning my oven :0. I’m not sure if it was the scent of the product I was using but it was fairly strong stuff, now I’m ok with my oven not being as clean but I’m always willing to try new methods and less harsh homeade cleaners! I can’t wait to try this it looks like it does a really great job.
Let me know how it works out!
oven glass always should be clean and it can help the oven perform better all the time. useful guide and I found it easy to follow as well.
Thanks Alpha, I couldn’t agree more!
OK here we go for the 3rd time since I could not find the area where it said I concent it was so small and after the comment area…couldn’t you put it before the comment area?
I have tried all these things except Ammonia.
I inherited an oven when purchased this house with stained glass top and
NOTHING HAS Worked , and like one of you previous posters, now my oven door is stained INSIDE WHERE I CAN’T REACH IT BUT will try see if I can find a place to try.
Please let us know if there is even an expensive stove top cleaner that will remove it..im so downhearted over it. I am 75 and cannot believe I can’t get this stove top cleaned. 🙁
So sorry Jacqueline – that is very frustrating! I am unfortunately not any help as I don’t know of any expensive cleaners that work better than the methods I mentioned in this post. I’ve never moved into a house with a horribly dirty oven, and I never let mine get that bad, so I am at a loss at what to advise. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you can find an answer soon!
FYI ….. At the bottom of most oven doors there is a space that you can stick something up to clean in between the inner glass and the outer glass.
OK wow. I had some serious built up baked on stuff on my oven glass, could barely see through it. My first step was to spray a thick coat of Easy-Off on it and let it sit overnight. That got up only the surface grease which any soap and water would have done. I then tried the self clean feature on the oven. That did turn to ash any remaining grime/bits in the oven itself but did nothing for the oven glass grime, which I was now afraid I had baked on permanently. Then I tried the baking soda paste and vinegar, and in minutes I was able to easily scrape the now softened bits off with a razor blade. Wow. It looks like new and I had basically resigned myself to not being able to clean it. Just do it!
That’s so awesome, thanks for sharing!
Fabulous results – minimal effort. I am so grateful I sought a how to clean glass oven door! I probably added one 1/2 C more of baking soda to get the consistency I wanted, waited 30 minutes, wiped off and then used a plastic scrubbie for a few minutes to get remaining residue, cleaned with a glass cleaner to get rid of the streaks! YAY! Sorry for those this hasn’t worked for – maybe you should let the solution sit on it longer! Thank you for sharing this wonderful way to accomplish a dreaded task!!!
SO glad you found it helpful! Thanks for stopping by Liz!
I read all comments & decided it wouldn’t work, but would try anyway. My main oven glass door on double Smeg oven hadn’t been cleaned for 9 yrs – hush, it was in the garage for 4 yrs after I moved. No excuse but when it was fitted in new kitchen 2 yrs ago I couldn’t face the challenge. This morning I put on slightly too runny paste, got distracted and forgot about it until 3 hrs later. Went to wipe off and was amazed when it literally cleaned off with a damp cloth! Sure worked for me and I can’t wait to do the smaller oven tomorrow ?
Just tried YOGA’s method with the dishwashing liquid and baking soda. It worked great! Thank you so much for sharing!
Didn’t work for me either
Did not work for me. Was so excited thinking it would. So disappointed. Going to try baking soda and vinegar.
It worked for me.
I applied dishwashing liquid over glass with paper towel, then sprinkled liberally baking sofa and spritzed with water over top.
Let sit for about 30 minutes.
Then scoured off with a dish scorer and elbow grease. Didn’t take long and perfect result.
Thanks all for tips.
So glad you saw great results! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! 🙂
Didn’t work for me either. Had to use a straight edge razor.
My oven is 39 years old and the glass is totally covered with baked on grease. I tried baking soda, water and a little dawn with a rag. Let it sit for 20 minutes and wiped. Not much luck at all. This morning I put on some Weimen glass cook top cleaner and scrubbed with a scotch brite pad and got a little of it off. Without wiping it off, I then used a brillo pad and scrubbed and scrubbed. My oven glass is now 98 % cleaner. Took a lot of scrubbing but I am totally happy now. Thanks for the tips everyone.
Great cleaning solution. I had no luck with anything else! Thanks for your suggestion.
This does work, but there are a few changes I made. Instead of mixing a paste, I sprinkled the baking soda on the glass, then took a spray water bottle and sprayed it until it was a ‘pasty’ mix. My glass was really bad, so I left it on for 25 min. I had a feeling this was going to work because after 25 min it was a big greasy, sludge mix on the door. I then took a very sharp (new) razor blade tool (the tool that you use to clean off your ceramic cooktops, and scraped off the grease with ease. (Note: I tried scraping it previously without using the baking soda paste, and it didn’t work, with the baking soda paste soak, it then worked.)
Good to know! Thanks for your comment and suggestions!
Wish I’d read all of the comments before trying. This was a colossal waste of time and baking soda (and rags and water). First of all, the recommended 1/2 cup barely worked for 1/4 of the glass on the oven door. Made more of the mixture to cover the entire window and left it on for 25 minutes. Complete and utter fail. The writer must have magic Baking Soda.
I tried this and ruined my. Kenmore Elite gas stove door. The seal on the glass must have degraded and the baking soda and water seeped in between the inside and outside glass. Now I can’t see into the oven at all! User beware!
This worked great for me, thank you! It truely was effortless, however the key is not letting it get too dirty. Once you have it clean wipe with solution of vinegar + water + drop of Dawn after each use once the oven cools.
Excellent, cleaned the door in 15 minutes , looks perfect . Thanks
I just did tried this & it worked great – although I had to scub with a scrubber sponge. Looks like new. Thanks for the tip!!?
Don’t do the baking soda on your oven glass, IT DOES NOT WORK!
Really disappointing. Followed the directions exactly and my oven door looks exactly like it did before I tried it.
Although this seemed like a great idea, I think my oven window had too much grime for the baking soda to clean properly. The only solution for me was to use glass cook top cleaner (I used the one by Weiman). Even this method took at least an hour of elbow grease. Be prepared for a work out!
This did not work for me. After leaving on for over 20 min, I started scrubbing gently and that helped. Then I thought I’d try adding Dawn. I still had to gently scrub, but it worked really well. I did some test areas: Dawn alone = Nope. Next time I wont make the paste, but instead will spritz the glass with water, sprinkle a dusting of baking soda, then scrub with scrubbing sponge adding Dawn as I go.
Note: At the end I still had some brown areas in the corners. A razor blade and windex took care of that… And my toaster oven window!
This paste works like a miracle A little elbow grease but it did work.
I scrubbed the additional grease residue with a gob of the paste with my rubber gloves and it all came off.
So glad you found success with this! Thanks for leaving a comment and stopping by our blog!
Hi, definitely going to try this. I’m from England and would like to know if baking soda has a different name here? Thanks ?
I don’t think it has another name, but I could be wrong! Try Googling it. 🙂
Hi,
What else did you use? Because that solution did not work on my oven glass door. I used an sos pad and it worked better and didn’t even scratch my glass.
I used a scrubber pad with the baking soda mix and most came off the metal with some elbow brease. The window was still dirty. Repeated. Still dirty. Used a razor blade in a holder and it all came off.
I like reading posts of those who try it rather than some who say “I’m going to try it.” That helps no one.
Look at the tip below. I tried scrubbing and baking soda and nothing worked. 1 minute with a razor blade paint scraper and my oven door is perfectly and easily clean except for the scratches I made with all my other attempts.
Thank you SO much for this tip. I tried it and it worked! However, I will make one small change to the directions:
After the baking soda and water mix has set on the oven glass for 15-20 minutes, scrape it off with a metal dough scraper (I think mine is made by Bosch). This will eliminate all scrubbing and it didn’t scratch at all.
Tried this today and I’m ticked off that I wasted my baking soda on a tip that doesn’t work.
Geesch Talia. It’s 50 cents for an entire box of baking soda. I’d say it was worth a try based on how well it worked for so many others. 🙂
The easy way is to use a razor blade paint scraper. Go easy so that you don’t scratch your glass. This vacuum the residue and clean wit a glass cleaner. Somewhat simple !
I had 3 years of baked on stuff on my relatively new oven door that wouldn’t come off with any other method. I put it on thickly and waited 20 minutes. Then, I had to scrub for about another 15 minutes. I scrubbed in circles with a damp yellow microfiber rag and used my finger or thumb for pressure. I used clumps of the baking soda to scrub onto tougher spots. Mine came clean, although not as easily as the tutorial suggests it was for her. I have 2 ovens and wish I had only done one at a time since it took longer than I anticipated and much more elbow grease. BUT…nothing else has worked and I am so happy for this tip.
I thought it wasn’t going to work at first as well, but I had to rub hard and use the baking soda clumps to help me provide a bit of soft abrasion.
I like your blog. I found you on Pinterest!! Thank you for this great tip!!
Try using a hard dishwasher tablet if you have one (the gel pac type won’t work) and scrub the spots with the baking soda still on at the end of the 15 or 20 minutes. It works for me. Hopefully it will work for you too! ?
Awesome! Thank you for sharing! I am going to try this soon =)
Works GREAT! Thank you for sharing!
Easy oven rack clean: 1 Lg black plastic bag, 1 cup ammonia. Take racks and bag outside on a sunny day. Place racks in bag; add ammonia. Secure shut. Leave outside all day, or even until tomorrow! whoops.
Crud should just wipe off! also works for grill racks.
That’s a great tip! Thank you. 🙂
Anna
I’m glad this worked for so many people; it didn’t work at all for me 🙁
I’m sorry. 🙁 I wish I knew why sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t!
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
The caked-on grime didn’t even budge for me 🙁 And I let it sit for 20 minutes.
I’m sorry Karen! 🙁 I have no idea why it works for some people and not for others. :/
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
Try it with vinegar and baking soda instead. That should do it. Also I’d use (I do use) one of those Scotch blue sponges with the scrubby on one side. Won’t scratch and will take the grime off very nicely.
Thanks Maeve!
Anna
I read somewhere to sprinkle baking soda in the oven and spray it w water and let it sit overnight. It wipes right off! It is so easy and takes so little time! :0)
I used my glass stovetop cleaner. It worked like a champ, and I didn’t have to let it sit for 15 minutes! Fast & easy!
That’s a great tip, thank you!
Anna
I didn’t have luck with the soda and water paste, but I did add the dish soap to the paste I’d put on the window and, with some elbow grease, it cleaned up beautifully! Yeah!
I’m sorry. :/ I’m glad you found something that worked though!
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
I’ve done this on pans and burners, only instead of water, I use dish soap for the liquid to make the paste. I’ll have to try it in the oven.
That’s a great idea! I’ll have to try it with the soap next time. 🙂
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
What a great tip, can’t wait to try it!
Awesome, thank you! 🙂
Anna
I have a self cleaning oven and everything comes clean except for the window. I tried this and it took every bit of the burnt on food off. Baking soda is a must have around the house!!!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
Any suggestions on a easy way to clean up the inside of the oven? I don’t even know the last time it was cleaned because I cannot use oven cleaner because of my asthma. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!!
Yes Sarah, I would recommend the same technique for the inside. For tough spots use Arm & Hammer toothpaste and a little elbow grease.
Anna
Great ” green” idea! I don’t like using chemicals unless absolutely necessary. I also do not like the self-cleaning option….smells of strong chemicals,too:(
Thank you Sandy!
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
Awesome because I will not use those horrid chemical cleaners because they make me sick. I use baking soda for everything and this is a great idea. Will use it on the woodstove glass tomorrow when it is cold too 🙂 Thanks for the tip!
It didn’t work on mine either. I think it’s due to the year(s) of build-up 🙁
Gotta be better about cleaning it!
Works well on all kitchen grease. If you have space between your cabinets and the ceiling than you know how grimy decor gets up there. Baking soda paste takes it right off. Same with hand grime on the cabinet doors, wipes right off. If you keep on top of it you’ll never have to spend hours scrubbing again.
That’s a great idea! Thank you. 🙂
Anna
Best tip ever! Worked like a charm. I have been trying for forever to get that off. Thank you! It’s a great trick to have up your sleeve before company comes!
Yay! I’m so glad it worked so well for you! 🙂
Anna
I have to try this. I have to try it on my stove top grates too.
Such a simple solution for a not so simple problem. I just found your site and I am excited to look around.
Thanks Jennifer! I look forward to “seeing” you around on my blog. 🙂
Do you set the oven on 350*?
You don’t have to turn the oven on to do this. Just leave it open while it sits for 15-20 min.
Anna
yikes! good thing I asked! I’d have baked baking soda on there as well! 🙂
yes, but I cannot clean the glass door of my oven
Oh I cannot wait to try this! Thank you for sharing!
wow! looks great.
Hahaha! This is fantastic – I love it! I cleaned out my oven about 2 weeks ago, and it looked great – except for the oven window! I scrubbed, and scrubbed, and scrubbed some more, for a LONG time, and hardly made a difference. I finally gave it up as a lost cause (even though it looked NAS-to-the-T!). Thanks so much for this cleaning tip – I’m TOTALLY trying this out this weekend! (or tonight – which means I must be REALLY excited about it lol)
~Chelsea
That exactly what used to happen to me! I was THRILLED when I finally learned this trick, it saves so much frustration. 🙂
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
Well a before photo would be too embarrassing, lol.
I have to try this, I hate oven cleaners and my husbands famous last words are, I will do it, haha.
I wonder if it would work for the stove top burners too? We like to fry and it does make a mess on the burners and scrubbing is a pain.
Debbie
Debbie I think it would work great on the burners and on the rest of the stove top too! So if your before picture is too embarrassing then I can’t wait to hear about how great it worked for you!
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
with the kids starting school today i was looking for a quick and easy project to get me back in the swing of things-off to try this out-love it!
Awesome! This is a great task to start with because it’s easy and quick. 🙂
Anna
http://www.askannamoseley.com
Ana, I tried this on my double ovens and the good news is that it works.
Two observations… 1) The paste must be dry for the abrasive action to work.
2) This is a disaster if you have an oven that has no gasket between the glass and the metal of the oven door. The paste leaches between the glass and the metal. I’ve got avery expensive oven with globs of paste visible thru the exterior glass. Not at all pretty. I guess I’ll be replacing the doors at $350 each +/-.
It wasn’t working for me because mine was so caked on and baked onto the glass. So after reading the suggestion to add vinegar and scrape with a razor blade, I tried that, and it worked. I kept spraying more vinegar and sprinkled more baking soda and just kept on scraping. I’m so thankful for your suggestions and I didn’t have to smell caustic fumes of oven cleaner, nor worry about my skin.
I’m glad it worked for you! Thanks for stopping by Sharon!