Cleaning your oven (and oven glass) doesn’t have to involve a lot of time or effort. We tested 8 of the most popular natural oven cleaners to find the best oven cleaner. Learn the easy, healthy way to clean your oven and oven glass today!

The oven is a kitchen spaces that always seems to be forgotten… until it is so grimy and dirty that you’re shamed into completing the task.

Those mystery splatters and blackened bits seem to build up overnight!

When we moved into our current house we purchased a beautiful new gas oven that I vowed to keep sparkling clean… then life happened!

What can I use to clean my oven?

If you own a self-cleaning oven, you can run the auto-clean setting occasionally to keep your oven clean. This setting uses an extremely high temperature to burn the oven clean (you wipe the remaining ashes out when the oven cools). Auto-clean works fine, but it makes my oven glass look even dirtier, takes hours to complete, and makes the kitchen HOT and smelly.

There had to be a better solution!

I began to search for a homemade oven cleaner that would get the oven (and oven glass) sparking clean with no scrubbing and no harsh chemicals.  (The fumes from commercial oven cleaners give me a terrible headache and make the house smell for days!)

But there were so many oven cleaning tutorials and such conflicting advice on Pinterest and Google that I was overwhelmed!

The Best Oven Cleaner Experiment

I decided to test the 8 most popular no scrub oven cleaners online to find the best oven cleaner. The oven cleaner had to be made with safe, all-natural ingredients and require no scrubbing.

Methodology

Each oven cleaner was tested on the same surface (a grimy oven door) and using same process to test each cleaner:

1. The oven door was divided into 8 sections using painters tape. Each section was numbered with a post it note. (Yes, I’m a nerd.)
2. Each diy oven cleaner was prepared in a separate, clean bowl then applied to one section of the oven door.
3. Each homemade oven cleaner was given 20 minutes of “dwell time” to work then wiped off the oven door with a clean paper towel. (I did not scrub!)
4. Finally, I recorded and photographed the results.

The differences between the natural oven cleaners were mind blowing! Some of the cleaners made absolutely no difference, some worked okay, and two left the door spotless.

The Natural Oven Cleaners Tested

Oven Cleaner #1

Ingredients: White vinegar (1 cup), cornstarch (1 tablespoon)

Directions: Stir together vinegar and cornstarch, heat until thickened, cool to room temperature. Apply to oven, let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

Oven Cleaner #2

Ingredients: Lemon juice (1 cup), cornstarch (1 tablespoon), dish soap (1 teaspoon)

Directions: Stir together lemon juice and cornstarch, heat until thickened, cool to room temperature, stir in dish soap. Apply to oven, let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

Oven Cleaner #3

Ingredients: Baking soda (1/4 cup), white vinegar (1/4 cup)

Directions: Sprinkle baking soda over surface until covered, spray baking soda with white vinegar until wet and bubbly. Let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

Oven Cleaner #4

Ingredients: Baking soda (3 tablespoons), white vinegar (1 tablespoon), dishwashing soap (1 tablespoon)

Directions: Stir together baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap. Apply to oven, let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

Oven Cleaner #5 (Winner!)

Ingredients: Baking soda (3 tablespoons), water (1.5 tablespoons)

Directions: Stir together baking soda and water. Apply to oven, let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

Oven Cleaner #6

Ingredients: Rubbing alcohol (1/4 cup), water (1/4 cup), dishwashing soap (8 drops)

Directions: Stir together, spray oven, let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

Oven Cleaner #7 (Runner up! My favorite all-purpose cleaner.)

Ingredients: Baking soda (3 tablespoons), hydrogen peroxide (1 tablespoon), dishwashing soap (1 tablespoon)

Directions: Stir together baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap. Apply to oven, let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

Oven Cleaner #8

Ingredients: Baking soda (1/8 cup), salt (1/8 cup), dishwashing soap (1 tablespoon)

Directions: Stir together baking soda, salt, and dish soap. Apply to oven, let sit for 20 minutes, wipe clean.

The Oven Cleaner Results

The Winners

The best oven cleaner is the most simple: baking soda and water. Oven Cleaner # 5 and #7 both use this combo and had great results.

Why this combo works:

• Baking soda is a mildly abrasive cleaner that absorbs grease and is good for scrubbing. It helps to break up and remove the dirt that is stuck to the oven surface without causing damage.
• Water softens the grime and baked on food particles so they can be easily wiped away.

Baking soda is one of my favorite green cleaning ingredients. It’s in my DIY  Natural All-Purpose Cleaner that works great household cleaning and is perfect for stain removal. You can learn more about cleaning with baking soda here.

The Losers

The most disappointing oven cleaners mixed the reactive ingredients of vinegar and baking soda.

• This combo creates a reactions that cancel out the cleaning power of both ingredients. (Read more in Green Cleaning Ingredients That You Should Never Mix.)
• If you want to use vinegar for oven cleaning save it for the final step: after the baking soda has been wiped away, spray the oven with a little white vinegar to neutralize any that remains, then wipe dry with a paper towel.

I was also let down by cleaners that took a lot of time to make (such as heating and cooling vinegar or lemon juice) and didn’t do much cleaning. I’d rather stick with simple cleaners that are easy to mix and apply!

How to Clean an Oven with Baking Soda

Baking soda makes a great oven cleaner. It’s cheap, won’t damage the oven surface, and has great scouring power without harmful chemicals. Here’s how to clean an oven and glass oven door with baking soda:

1. Combine water and baking soda to form a thick paste.
2. Spread the paste across the glass and other dirty areas of the oven (avoid the heating element).
3. Let the baking soda paste work (dwell) for at least 20 minutes (or overnight) then wipe away with a clean rag or paper towel.

You may also love: how to clean your oven rack naturally

… and easy tips for cleaning with baking soda

How to Clean an Oven Quickly

 Getting ready to clean? These oven cleaning tips will help you get fast results:

1. Remove the loose debris. Vacuum or wipe out the bottom of the oven before applying the baking soda cleaner. This will remove some of the black ashes and stuck on grime. It will also loosen the dirt making it easier to clean.
2. Give the oven cleaner some dwell time. You’ll get the best results if you allow the wet baking soda some time to work (also called dwell time) before you start wiping. Let the cleaner sit on the surface for at least 20 minutes then wipe out the dirt.
3. Use a circular motion. Oven grime can be baked on, caked on grease. Remove most of the baking soda cleaner then wipe any hard-to-clean spots firmly with a rag using a circular motion.
4. Make chemical reactions work for you.  Baking soda can leave a bit of grit in your oven. Spray the oven with white vinegar after wiping out all of the baking soda cleaner, the vinegar will react with any leftover baking soda so you can easily wipe out the bubbling remains.
5. Clean first then shine. Finish by buffing the oven surface with a damp microfiber rag. Your oven will look as good as new!

Oven Cleaning FAQ

How do you clean the glass on the oven door?

• Combine 3 tablespoons baking soda and 1.5 tablespoons of water. Open the oven door. Spread the mix across the glass on the oven door. Wait 20 minutes then wipe clean.

What is the fastest way to clean the inside of an oven?

• Remove as much loose dirt as possible from the inside of the oven with a wet paper towel. Mix together water and baking soda. Spread the paste over the dirty areas of the oven. Wait 20 minutes then wipe clean.

What is the best natural oven cleaner?

• A paste of baking soda and water.

Can you clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar?

• There are a lot of online cleaning tips that recommend mixing baking soda and vinegar to clean your oven. This fun bubbling reaction is actually the baking soda neutralizing the vinegar. The resulting mix cleans about as well as plain water. Save the vinegar for the final rinse.

 

Do you have oven cleaning experience? I’d love to hear your favorite method. Comment below with your favorite cleaner or stop by my Facebook page.

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