The absolute best homemade oven cleaner uses a simple, non-toxic paste of baking soda and water. It naturally breaks down acidic grease and baked-on grime. Combined with a distilled white vinegar spray, it easily lifts stubborn stains without harsh chemicals or fumes.
Using baking soda and vinegar together creates a powerful foaming reaction that helps lift stubborn grease and burnt-on residue. This homemade oven cleaner method works beautifully for oven walls, racks, trays and glass, but the oven will need to be left overnight for best results.
Sprinkle baking soda liberally over the stain. Spritz with water, or a 3:1 water to white vinegar solution. If you use vinegar, baking soda will bubble. Let sit for 15-20 minutes, after your oven has cooled.
To quickly remove stubborn black burnt-on grease from the bottom of your oven, apply a heavy-duty commercial oven cleaner, or a homemade paste of baking soda and water. Let it sit for several hours to break down the grime, then scrub it gently with a scouring pad.
For a very dirty oven, Easy-Off Professional Heavy Duty Oven and Grill Cleaner or Zep Heavy-Duty Oven and Grill Cleaner are the most effective store-bought options. For a natural alternative, a thick paste of baking soda and water works wonders.
For easier cleans:
Wipe out the crumbs with a paper towel or rag. Wet the sponge and squeeze about five drops of dish soap directly on the sponge (scrubber side) or spray a liberal amount of Dawn Spray on the sponge. Wipe the bottom of the oven and walls. Scrub off baked-on particles.
Cleaning a heavily neglected oven requires patience and a heavy-duty degreaser. Skip the hazardous, high-heat self-cleaning cycle, which can produce toxic smoke and break components. Instead, use an overnight Baking Soda and Vinegar method, or opt for a store-bought Heavy-Duty Oven Cleaner like Easy-Off.
Glass is not well-suited for baking soda, due to its abrasive nature. In fact, you might accidentally scratch your mirrors or windows if you attempt to clean them with baking soda. If you're looking for an all-natural cleaner for these surfaces, vinegar is a better bet.
Dishwasher tablets contain concentrated dishwasher detergent formulated to dissolve oven grease, baked-on food, and grime effectively. The abrasive powder in these tablets helps scrub away tough residues without scratching the oven's interior surfaces or oven glass.
The best oven degreaser depends on whether you want heavy-duty chemical power or a fume-free, natural clean. For professional-grade grease cutting, Zep Heavy-Duty Oven and Grill Cleaner and Easy-Off Heavy Duty are top picks. For a natural, odor-free approach, Method Heavy Duty Degreaser is highly effective.
Clean your oven naturally using only baking soda, water, and white vinegar to create a paste that breaks down stubborn grease and grime without toxic fumes. Apply the paste, let it sit overnight, then spray with vinegar and wipe clean for a sparkling finish.
With a rag or dishcloth, you can clean your oven by wiping the interior and exterior of the appliance down using common household materials like baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice. To wash the racks, simply soak in soapy water before giving them a good scrub with a stiff bristled cleaning brush.
Yes, baking soda and vinegar are perfectly safe and non-toxic, but mixing them together ruins their cleaning power.
Steam clean with white vinegar
To use this oven-cleaning hack, pour one cup of white vinegar into a bowl and place it on the bottom rack of your oven. Set your oven to 250°F and steam it for 30 minutes. Then, let the oven cool before wiping away the grease stains.
5 Common Oven Cleaning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Cleaning an oven with baking soda and vinegar requires about 10 to 20 minutes of active work, plus 8 to 12 hours (or overnight) of inactive waiting time for the paste to break down the grease.
To clean a burnt oven bottom quickly and naturally, make a paste of 1 cup baking soda, 1 tablespoon water, and 1 tablespoon dish soap. Spread it over the burnt spots, let it sit for a few hours (or overnight), scrub with a non-scratch pad, and wipe away with white vinegar and water.
The dishwasher tablet will start to dissolve the limescale and you can continue until all marks have disappeared. It's a lucky coincidence that smol dishwasher tablets are designed to tackle hard water marks so the limescale deposits in your toilet bowl are completely fair game.
Those stubborn brown stains on your oven glass are usually layers of baked-on grease and carbon. You can easily lift them by creating a thick paste with 12one-half12 cup of baking soda and a little water, plus a few drops of dish soap. Spread it over the glass, let it sit for 20 minutes, then scrub and wipe clean.
The ultimate lazy shower hack is the "Shower and Soak" method. Mix equal parts distilled white vinegar and original blue Dawn dish soap in a soap-dispensing dish brush. Keep it in your shower, and while your hair conditioner sits, give the walls a quick scrub. Rinse as you shower for a perpetually clean bathroom.
Never mix baking soda (a base) with acids like vinegar or lemon juice for cleaning. While foaming, the acid and base neutralize each other, leaving you with useless salt water. Also, avoid mixing it with chlorine bleach, ammonia, or in aluminum cookware to prevent dangerous reactions or damage.
Baking soda and vinegar work best when used separately. Baking soda is a gentle, alkaline abrasive used for scrubbing and deodorizing, while vinegar is an acidic liquid used to dissolve hard water stains and grease. Mixing them neutralizes their active properties and makes them far less effective.
Alternatively, cover the inside of the oven with a baking powder and water paste, mix and leave it to work overnight. Spray the paste mixture with vinegar or lemon juice and wait for it to foam up for a few minutes, then wipe away with a clean, damp cloth.
The Best Way to Clean an Oven Naturally
Mix 1/2 cup baking soda with a few tablespoons of water to make a paste, coat the oven with it, and let it sit overnight. In the morning, wipe out the oven, clean the racks, and spray it with white vinegar. Wipe down the oven once more and replace the racks.
Cleaning an oven without scrubbing relies on letting time, steam, or chemicals break down the grease for you. Use either the Dishwasher Tablet Steam Method for a quick 1-hour fix, or the Baking Soda Paste if you have stubborn, baked-on grime that requires overnight soaking.