A Streak & Stain-free Oven? Naturally!
Don’t like the overpowering fragrance of shop-bought oven cleaners? Worried chemicals will fill your kitchen with nasty odours, or you’ll reduce the longevity of your oven by relying on harsh cleaning detergents?
First things first: don’t panic! There are a couple of completely natural ways to clean your oven and we’re about to tell you all about them. The good news is by choosing natural ‘ingredients’ with which to scrub up your oven, you’ll also be saving a little bit of money. Try one of these methods and enjoy a streak-free oven in no time…
Lemon Juice
Useful for all sorts of cleaning jobs around the house, lemons are more powerful than you think – and they’re cheap! You can pick up a whole bag of them for about a pound, so it really won’t set you back much at all. Plus, your house will smell just lovely.
What you’ll need:
- A baking dish
- Scourer or dish cloth, and…
- …you guessed it, some lemons (just two should be fine)
What to do:
Start by halving the lemons and squeezing their juice into your baking dish. Now, add the remnants of the lemons and pour in some water to cover about a third of the height of the dish. Place this in the oven at around 250°C and for half an hour.
Is your oven particularly grubby? Just leave the dish in the oven for a little longer, before removing it, letting your oven cool down and scrubbing away – using good old fashioned elbow grease – at the grime that’s left. Finish the process by wiping the oven with a clean and damp cloth – et voila, a perfectly clean oven!
Baking Soda and Vinegar
Tried the lemon method and find you didn’t really get the results you were hoping for? Next, why not give the baking soda and vinegar trick a go? The great thing about this method is you don’t need to run out and buy anything special; you’ll probably already have the following two ingredients close at hand.
What you’ll need:
- Baking soda
- A bottle of vinegar
What to do:
Start by dispensing the vinegar into a spray container, before spraying it arond the oven. Now, sprinkle the surface area of your oven with the baking soda – use the whole tub if you need to.
You’ll notice the mixture will start to fizz. Don’t worry; just leave it to stand for around an hour (30 minutes if you can see it’s working slightly earlier) and use a scourer to scrub the area.
Finished? Now simply wipe with a clean, damp cloth!
Not sure how to keep your oven clean more long-term? Why not buy a self-cleaning oven? It’ll do the hard work for you, which sounds just great doesn’t it? Think of all the time you’ll save by not having to manually clean your oven.
Looking for some more tips? Keep an eye here on the My Appliances blog; there’s everything from cocktail recipes to hints and tips on becoming a better home cook – keep your eyes peeled!