- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Salt
- Bowl
- Natural Dish Soap
- Scrub Sponge
- Spatula or Small Cheap Paint Brush
- Plastic Scraper (Metal works too just be careful not to scratch your oven)
- Old Towels
- Cleaning Rags or Paper Towels
Optional but helpful
- Lemon or Tea Tree Essential Oil
- Old Toothbrush (for nooks and crannies)
- Gloves
- Aluminum Foil (to wrap up the heating elements)
Directions for How to Clean an Oven Naturally
Make Baking Soda Paste
Add 3 parts baking soda with 1 part water (2 cups baking soda to 2/3 cups water is about enough to cover the bottom, sides, door and back of the oven). Mix baking soda and water together until it forms a smooth paste. You don’t want it too watery or too thick. Optional: add in several drops of tea tree or lemon essential oil. Tea tree and lemon are good clean smells and they will help with cutting through the grease. Stir together.
Make Vinegar Spray
To an empty spray bottle, add 2 parts vinegar and 1 part water (2 cups vinegar and 1 cup water) and several drops of lemon or tea tree essential oil. Shake before spraying as the essential oils will rise to the top after resting.
Clean Oven Racks
Remove the oven racks and soak them in dish hot water and dish detergent. A bathtub works great for this. Line your tub with an old towel to keep it from getting scratched. Then place your oven grates on the towels. Add 1 cup of liquid dish detergent and fill the tub to cover the racks. Allow the racks to soak for several hours or overnight if you can. Then take a scrub brush or sponge and scrub all the grim off the oven grates. The grim should come over very easily after soaking for several hours.
Clean Out Crumbs and Protect Heating Elements
Clean out all the crumbs from the bottom of your oven with a vacuum or damp cloth. Then take pieces of aluminum foil and carefully wrap up the heating elements. This will ensure that the heating elements won’t come in contact with the baking soda solution. In the case of a gas oven, use the foil to block the interior vents to keep the baking soda from falling down there.
Apply Baking Soda Paste
Spread this paste onto the bottom, sides and door of your oven using a silicon spatula or a thin cheap paint brush. Sprinkle a little salt onto the really dirty portions of your oven. Let the paste sit for at least one hour, but it you have the time, overnight is better.
Scrub the Oven
After letting the baking soda paste soak the cooked grease and grime on the oven, it’s time to clean it up. Take the spray bottle with vinegar, water and essential oil mixture and spray the area of the oven you are going to scrub.
Be sure to avoid the heating elements or in the case of a gas oven, be sure to keep the baking soda from falling into the heat vents on the bottom of your oven. For any really baked on bits, use a stiff plastic or metal scraper. Be careful not to scratch the oven while scraping. The stubborn spots should come off fairly easily with the scraper.
Tip: Add an old towel under the oven door to catch any mess that your might make during the scrubbing phase.
Note: When baking soda and vinegar come in contact with each other they have a chemical reaction and will fizz. This is not harmful.
Wipe Out the Baking Soda and Vinegar
After thoroughly scrubbing and scraping your oven, take old rags or paper towels and wipe up as much of the baking soda off as you can. Then use the vinegar spray and spray down the all the surfaces again and wipe it clean with a cloth or paper towel. Then remove the foil from around the heating elements.
After wiping down everything really well, put the cleaned oven grates back in and start baking again.
It was worth the effort!
Can you believe this is the same oven? I can’t.
Using baking soda and vinegar worked so well to clean all the grime off the oven. It’s almost like having a new oven!
Let me know if you try cleaning your oven with baking soda and vinegar. Be sure to drop any tips or tricks you learn along the way down below in the comments.
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