The Very Best Oven-Cleaning Tips We’ve Learned So Far This Year

published Jun 14, 2022
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image
Credit: Joe Lingeman/Kitchn

Oven cleaning might be the worst cleaning job in the kitchen. It’s also one of the easiest to put out of sight and out of mind by literally shutting the oven door. Eventually, you can’t put it off any longer, and by then it’s a tough job that requires time, persistence, and a lot of elbow grease!

The one thing that makes this task a little bit better is knowing that you’re using the most effective techniques. After all, you don’t want to expend more effort or time than absolutely necessary to get the job done. The good news is, we’ve covered some great oven-cleaning strategies so far this year. Take a look!

Credit: Joe Lingeman

1. Use a pumice stone for a low-mess clean.

Want a simple, no-fuss solution to cleaning your oven? Look no further than a pumice stone, a cleaning tool made from porous lava rock. It’s often used to soften rough feet or to erase marker from your skin, but it’s also a formidable household cleaning tool. To use it, just dampen the stone and scrub dirty areas. The best thing about using it to clean the oven — besides how well it works to lift burnt grease stains — is how little mess there is to clean up afterward. Unlike other methods, which require repeated rinsing and wiping, a pumice stone leaves behind a few crumbs at most. 

Credit: the kitchn

2. Mix up an inexpensive DIY solution using dish soap.

Dawn dish soap, vinegar, and baking soda make a dynamic cleaner. Combine 1/2 cup Dawn dish soap, 1 1/2 cups of baking soda, and 3/4 cup of white vinegar in a bowl. Wait for the foam to subside, and then coat the interior of your oven with the mixture. Let it sit for about three hours, and then scrub and wipe clean. In addition to being a fume-free solution to your biggest oven messes, you probably already have everything you need on hand.

Credit: Ashley Abramson

3. Reach for an Eraser Daddy.

This year, we tested the Eraser Daddy, which consists of melamine foam on one side and a Scrub Daddy sponge on the other. The results? It was one of the easiest and most effective oven-cleaning options around. The dual-sided tool offers two ways to attack burnt-on messes. And like a pumice stone, the Eraser Daddy requires hardly any cleanup.

Credit: L. Daniela Alvarez

4. Look to Etsy for a popular cleaner.

The popular, five-star-rated Everneat Oven Scrub Natural Cleaner gives your oven a “spa treatment” and leaves it squeaky clean. This oven cleaner, sold on Etsy, is made of pumice stone, coconuts, citric acid, and baking soda, and scented with peppermint, lemon, and eucalyptus essential oils. It also comes with a metallic scrubbing sponge, which helps get the job done quickly.

Credit: Joe Lingeman

5. Rely on the power of a classic.

Easy Off makes mincemeat of a dirty oven. Many people prefer to avoid cleaners that require gloves and ventilation, but sometimes you need the strong stuff to get a handle on an extremely dirty oven. The active ingredient is sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, and it’s super effective at melting baked-on grease from your oven interior. Using Easy Off is as simple as spraying the foaming cleanser in the oven, letting it sit, and then wiping the grease all away. 

Credit: the kitchn

6. Zap grease with a cleaning paste.

The Scrub Daddy PowerPaste Cleaning Kit is everything you need to get your entire oven in tip-top shape. It consists of an abrasive paste and a two-in-one Scrub Daddy sponge packaged in a convenient round container that keeps the two together. To use it, you just wet one side of the sponge and circle it around in the paste. Apply the paste to your oven messes and scrub as needed with the scrubby part of the sponge. The PowerPaste works wonders — all without much elbow grease, mess, or odor.

How do you clean your oven? Tell us your tips in the comments below.